Camogie in Waterford during 2014 - Part 4

While most players aspire to play for their county at some stage in their playing career, some as at a high level as is possible, the reality is for most player this aspiration will not be achieved. They therefore so have an aspiration set to play with as high as possible level with their club and to contest a county final, and if they are lucky on the day to collect a winners medal.

In Waterford when it comes to Camogie we have some exciting adult championships played off at Junior, Intermediate and Senior Levels.

Within these grades there is some excellent players coming through thanks in no small part to the excellent work being done at club level and again at under county level.

In 2014 within Waterford we again had some excellent championships. We saw two clubs move up a grade for the 2015 championships and they will be an addition to the grade they play at in the year ahead, and in the coming weeks, months and years ahead many will be looking to see how the players in these sides develop.

In the Junior grade it was two of the emerging sides in the city that reached the final, Roanmore and Ferrybank.

Both of these clubs only in recent years began to field teams at adult grades after competing at underage levels successfully for a number of years and in 2014 such is the progress both are making they had players that played a part with the County Intermediate Team. 

The final proved to be an exciting affair.

Maybe at junior, some might expect scores to be rather limited, but in this game with both sides going at each other as best they could, scores came thick and fast.

Between the sides they averaged a score every two minutes, and both sides shared ten goals as even as you can.

It was Ferrybank that started the stronger of the two, racing into a 1-3 to no score lead with ten minutes on the clock.

Roanmore however would strike back and soon the sides were level after the side in sky blue shirts hit two quick goals.

The eventual winners would then take the lead but they would turn around trailing by one, as Ferrybank lead 3-3 to 2-5.

In the second half both sides continued to go at each other ‘hammer and thongs’ as they traded a succession of scores.

Roanmore took the lead when they knocked in a third goal but with the measure of any good team, Ferrybank hit with a fourth goal.

Could Roanmore show that they too were a good side? Too right they could, as they knocked over four points in a road to go ahead once more.

Ferrybank responded by hitting the next four points and to the delight of the assembled supporters who were being served up as good a game as you will see anywhere to draw the side’s level again with just over five minutes to play.

Roanmore struck another goal to put day light between the sides, only for Ferrybank to hit back with their fifth goal of the game to steal into the lead.

However no game is over till that final whistle is blown and Roanmore continued to attack the Ferrybank defence at every opportunity, and they were rewarded when Jodie Keane (you have to be good with a surname like that) finished to the Ferrybank net to seal a win for the Sky Blues.

The same two clubs met in the Junior League Final at Walsh Park and the result of this game was reversed, as Ferrybank put in a strong finish to win the game 3-7 to 2-8.

If the Junior Final was exciting so too was the Intermediate final between An Rinn and Cappoquin at Fraher Field.

Both of these sides were no strangers to appearing in finals at this grade.

An Rinn won the 2012 final at Ardmore and were looking to go back up to the senior grade after dropping down after playing in it for one year, while the Corner-stone ladies were looking to win the final at the third attempt, having lost to An Rinn in 2012 and Butlerstown in 2013 at the Dungarvan Club Grounds.

An Rinn went into the final without having to play a semi final after they topped the group at the end of the league section while Cappoquin advanced after they beat the 2013 Junior champions Portlaw in the semi finals.

It was An Rinn that were first to score in the final when Deirdre Fahey split the posts with a free after just two minutes.

From the restart Cappoquin attacked the An Rinn goal. Tracey Kiely’s puck was worked into Jessica Glavin who with precision slotted past Fiona Kiely for the first goal of the game.

That score gave Cappoquin a lot of confidence. Waterford’s under 16 captain Aisling Power pointed on seven minutes to extend her sides lead to three and they continued to exert pressure on the An Rinn goal creating goal chances through Aisling Power and Jenny McCarthy but neither raised any green flags.

Cappoquin did not have to wait too long till they did add a second major score. On thirteen minutes using a skill that is allowed in camogie to her advantage, Jenny McCarthy flicked to the net using the palm of her hand to give her side a 2-1 to 0-1 lead.

The brilliant Aisling Power followed up with a brace of points for Cappoquin to extend her sides advantage on the score board and it was further stretched when Jessica and Clodagh Glavin knocked over points.

Credit An Rinn however as they never gave up and they were rewarded for the efforts they were showing when Deirdre Fahey knocked over a brace of points in a four minute spell to leave her side trailing 2-5 to 0-3 at the break.

It was important that An Rinn started the second half strong and if they could, things could be made more difficult for Cappoquin who were looking comfortable at the break.

However, for An Rinn it was not to be as Cappoquin once more began to put pressure on their opponents net from the throw in which resulted in them scoring a third goal through Clodagh Glavin sixteen seconds into the half.

Aisling Power pointed again for Cappoquin from a free to extend their lead, but An Rinn responded with a brace of points off the hurley of Shannon Dunford.

Points from Jessica Glavin and Lorraine Bray followed which opened up a 3-8 to 0-5 lead mid way through the half, but just as they did in the first half, An Rinn finished strong.

Roisin Manahan, Clodagh McGovern and Lorraine Whelan all had white flags waved for An Rinn, but it was goals that they needed and they did not arrive.

It was the impressive Aisling Power that closed the scoring five minutes from time when she opted to put the ball over the crossbar from a penalty.

Goals win games they tell us and so it proved to be here as Cappoquin won 3-9 to 0-8. The Corner-stone ladies represented Waterford in the Munster Junior Club Championship and although they were defeated by Kerry side Clanmaurice there can be no disputing that 2014 was a good year for the club by the bend in the River Blackwater who showed that their ladies are every bit as good as their men, who also had an impressive year.

In the last few years, Lismore and Saint Anne’s have come to dominate the highest level of Camogie within the county.

Both sides have shared the last five county finals becoming fierce rivals along the way with little if anything separating the sides.

Lismore lead the way in recent head to heads between the two in county finals and they also lead the way in the last three league finals played between the two, Lismore currently win the head to head two titles to one.

This years League Final was played in Lemybrien where Saint Anne’s gained some revenge for defeats in the 2012 and 2013 finals by taking the Denny Buckley Cup for the first time.

It was no surprise that the two clashed in the Championship final at Fraher Field. The game was expected to be close and so it proved to be. Maybe for some, the game was too close for comfort as it neared its conclusion.

Saint Anne’s made a lot of the early running at Fraher Field but failed to show their early dominance on the score board.

It was Lismore that scored first when Caitriona McGlone who was no stranger to hitting important goals in 2014 banged in what proved to be the only goal of the game.

The side from the Heritage Town followed up with a brace of Aoife Hannon points from frees which gave her side a five point lead with eleven minutes played.

As pointed out already a few times in these reviews of the year, the measure of a good side is how you bounce back after a set back and the mid county side bounced back in a fashion you would expect from a fine team.

Karen Kelly hit Saint Anne’s first score of the game on sixteen minutes from a free and fellow inter county players Jennie Simpson and Zoe O’Donoghue followed up with points to leave two between the sides by the twenty-first minute.

Karen Kelly levelled matters with a brace of points and on the half hour mark Lismore’s early lead was evaporated as Karen Kelly with her fourth point of the game put Saint Anne’s in front.

However, the sides would turn around all square as Aoife Hannon not for the first time split the post for the third time in the game.

The start of the second half was a nervous time for both sides as neither wanted to make a mistake that would give the advantage to the other side.

Niamh Rockett eight minutes into the second half looked as she had put her side back in front, but her effort which from the stand looked as if it had cut inside the near post as she looked on, but the umpire on the same post was adamant that the ball was outside the post and the referee agreed.

The first score of the second half did come on forty one minutes and just like in the first half it went to Catriona McGlone who split the posts to give her side the lead.

The same player three minutes on would again split the posts to increase Lismore’s advantage (1-5 to 0-6) and it was beginning to look as though they were going to pull away.

Saint Anne’s however were having none of it and they were soon level as their most industrious and dangerous forward on the day Karen Kelly landed a brace of frees on fifty and fifty-one minutes.

Aoife Hannon landed another point for Lismore seven minutes short of the hour mark. The accurate striker of a ball however was unlucky not to have raised a green flag with her effort and possibly would have but for the brilliance of Ciara Phelan who deflected the ball over the crossbar.

One minute on, Laura Buckley hit possibly the most crucial ball she has ever hit which went over the crossbar to give her side a two point lead.

The game was not over yet and Saint Anne’s came back once more.

Karen Kelly lander her seventh score of the game to leave just one between the sides.

The sizeable attendance in the stand were now wondering would the game need longer than the standard hour to find a winner.

With no sideline officials in club camogie games to indicate how much time was left. The amount left was known only to referee Ger Browne.

Three minutes into added time Saint Anne’s won a free between their own sixty five metre line and the half way line, and dead straight in front of the Lismore goal.

As Karen Kelly made her way back into her own half of the field few doubted the way she was striking the ball so crisply all afternoon that ball would not reach its intended target.

Taking her time the inter county player picked and struck the ball as well as she had all afternoon. Plenty of elevation was put on the ball and it looked as though it was going to steak inside the post nearest the dressing rooms corner at the field, but at the last second, the ball was carried wide of the upright.

Saint Anne’s remained 1-7 to 0-9 behind and soon the full time whistle followed. Lismore won a fourth county final in five years.

They went on to represent Waterford in the Munster Intermediate Club Championship where they played Tipperary champions Borrisoleigh on their own patch in the semi finals.

The Heritage town side won the game but were given a stern test.

Cork Champions Sarsfields were Lismore’s opponents in the Munster Final at Fermoy.

Lismore played with the aid of a strong wind at their backs in the opening half and at the break held a handsome league.

The Glanmire based clubs did come more into the game in the second half but were not able to fully eat into the lead Lismore held at the break, who won their fourth title in six years at this level.

Lismore in February will contest the All-Ireland semi final against opposition from Galway.

Overall, 2014 was a long but very successful year for Camogie in Waterford. Will 2015 be as successful? Lets hope it will.

 

Waterford’s Roll of Honour in 2014:

All Ireland Intermediate Club Champions             Lismore                              
All-Ireland Minor B Champions                             Waterford

All-Ireland under 16 B Champions                       Waterford under 16            
Winners of All Ireland Blitz                                   Waterford under 14            
National Feile na nGael Div. 2 Champions          Gailltir               
National Feile na nGael Div. 3 Plate Champions De La Salle
All-Ireland Long Puck Champion                          Trish Jackman                
National Volunteer in Sport Award Winner           Tony Cummins  (Gailltir)

Feile Skill’s Champion                                           Kaeisha Tobin (Dungarvan)

 

Club Champions                             Winners                     Runners up
Senior Championship                    Lismore                   St. Anne’s                  
Intermediate Championship          Cappoquin                An Rinn  

Junior Championship                     Roanmore                 Ferrybank

Senior League                                 Saint Anne’s             Lismore

Senior Plate League                       Gaultier                      Brickeys

Junior League                                  Ferrybank                  Roanmore

Non County Player League           Gailltir                         Cappoquin

Minor ‘A’                                            Cappoquin                Gailltir

Minor ‘B’                                            Lismore                      Ferrybank

Under 16 ‘A’                                      De La Salle                     gailltir

Under 16 ‘B’                                      Lismore                      Tramore/Butlerstown

Under 16 ‘C’                                     Saint Molleran’s       Modeligo

Under 14 ‘A’                                      Gailltir                         Dungarvan

Under 14 ‘B’                                      Tramore                     Lismore

Under 14 ‘C’                                     An Rinn                     Butlerstown

Féile na nGael                                 Gailltir                         De La Salle

Féile Shield Final                            Dungarvan

Under 12 ‘A’                                      Gailltir

Under 12 ‘B’                                      Lismore

Under 12 ‘C’                                     An Rinn

The under 12 competitions were run on a league with no finals.