Waterford Ladies look for Seven in a row

A person could be forgiven for thinking that it was only one Waterford side that were involved in a Munster Final this weekend.

All the talk seems to centre around the county senior hurling team and their Munster Final Clash with Tipperary in Thurles on Sunday.

But equally as important to G.A.A. Supporters in the county this weekend is the fact that the County Intermediate Ladies Footballers are also in action this weekend in a Munster Final.

Mallow is the venue early on Saturday evening (4pm) for a clash with what is a strong Clare side.

Should Waterford win this Saturday’s game it will be the seventh title in a row that the county has won at this grade, but it could well prove to be the hardest one of the seven to win.

Clare it should be pointed out are a very experienced side. They have played in the senior grade for much of the last decade and only dropped down a grade at the end of last years Munster and All-Ireland Championships.

They have qualified for the Munster Final with two wins from their three games in the Round Robin Series of the competition.

However in the league they had somewhat of a disappointing campaign, finishing third from bottom with just four points from a possible twenty-one.

The Banner Ladies began their Munster Championship campaign with a 3-13 to 0-17 win over Tipperary and then beat Limerick 4-9 to 3-8 before going under to Waterford last time out 2-12 to 0-11 at Fraher Field.

Clare this year however are playing out without four players that have served them well in the last few years and it remains to be seen how many if any will play a part in Mallow this Saturday.

Three of the four players are very accomplished players and are involved in other sports as well as Ladies Football.

Niamh O’Dea has played Camogie for Clare in the past but she is in America for the summer and it remains to be seen if she will be home for the game.

Eimear Considine is part of the Irish Women’s Rugby team that are attempting to qualify for next years Olympic Games in the coming weeks and it remains to be seen if she will be released from Rugby commitments to be part of the this weekends big clash.

Another player attempting to qualify for next years Olympic Games is Naoimi Carroll. She is part of the Irish Hockey set up and again it remains to be seen if she will be released to be part of the Clare panel this weekend.

The fourth player that player that has not played a part for Clare in recent weeks is Louise Henchy and again it remains to be seen if she will be involved this weekend.

While if the quartet of players is missing for Clare it will be a blow to their chances, it has to be said that the Clare management team will have plenty of options available to them for the game.

In the recent game with Waterford at Fraher Field players like Grainne Nolan, Niamh Keane, Ellie O’Gorman, Kate Coughlan, Róisín Howley, Marie Considine and Ciara Cahill all impressed in the Saffron and Blue shirt.

For Waterford, 2015 is proving to be a good year.

Pat Sullivan’s charges had an excellent league winning seven of the eight games played, the only loss coming in the competition decider against Sligo at Parnell Park.

Since then Waterford’s panel which has a nice blend of youth and experience has recorded three good wins in the Munster Championship, beating Limerick 3-16 to 4-7, Tipperary 6-18 to 1-4 and then Clare last time out 2-12 to 0-11.

A win for Waterford on Saturday afternoon would make it a memorable afternoon for a host of players.

Karen and Michelle McGrath, Linda, Mairead and Aileen Wall, the latter who is still in her early 20’s, Nora Dunphy, Elaine Power, and Michelle Ryan would all win their seventh final in a row in the white and blue of Waterford. Three of the eight would also have won two senior finals with Waterford in 2000 and 2002.

Another two panel members Grainne Kenneally and Mary Foley will have won a sixth medal. The Ballyduff Upper player missed out in 2013 when she missed the year with an injury, the Abbeyside player missed out on a medal twelve months earlier.

A win for Waterford on Saturday afternoon would see Katie Hannon, Megan Dunford, Emma Murray, Mary Kate Morrissey, Aoife Murray, Kate McGrath, Emer Scanlon, Mairead Power, Aoife Dunne, Lauren McGregor and Katie Murray win a first medal at this level.

When the sides met at Fraher Field recently both sides had advanced to this weekend’s final ahead of the game, both having beaten Tipperary and Limerick in the first two games of the competition.

Clare made five changes to their starting line out from the hand out given to patrons entering the ground, while Waterford made eight personnel changes to the published team.

With neither side wanting to show their full hand ahead of this weekend’s game, there was a degree of shadow boxing attached to that game, but none the less, a good game of attacking football was fought out by both sides.

This weekend, both sides would be expected to be as near full strength as is possible.

If the players mentioned above for Clare do miss out this weekend it should mean that the challengers will line out along the lines of Ciara Coughlan in goal with a full back line of Emma O’Driscoll, Laurie Ryan an Claire Hester. The half back line could well read Ellie O’Gorman and Grainne Harvey on the wings with Louise Woods operating at centre back.

Niamh Keane and Becky Mahon could well be selected to start in the middle of the field while Róisín Howley, Ailish Considine, Orlaith Devitt, Grainne Nolan, Eimear Hillery and Carol O’Leary could well form the forward line.

Looking at the Waterford panel, the question has to be asked, what exactly is a full strength Waterford panel? No matter what way you pick the team there is going to be some excellent players left on the side lines as back up.

Katie Hannon is the only recognised goalkeeper in the panel, so is set to start between the posts.

Megan Dunford, Michelle McGrath and Linda Wall could well form the full back line with Mairead Wall, Elaine Power and possibly Caoimhe McGrath playing just outside them.

In the middle of the field Karen McGrath would be expected to start, with fellow Ballymacarbry player Louise Ryan playing alongside her.

In attack Waterford have plenty of options.

Maria Delahunty is likely to be restored to the centre forward position with Aileen Wall and Grainne Kenneally playing either side of her.

Sinead Ryan has added strength to the team this year on her return and she has been in fine form this year playing on the edge of the square. Mary Foley has proven to be a revelation since her move into the forwards while Aoife Murray could be given the nod to start in the other corner.

Throughout the year, all of Waterford’s players have been given their chance to shine and they did not fail to deliver.

That could mean that the likes of Emma Murray, Shauna Dunphy, Nicola Fennell, Michelle Ryan, Nora Dunphy, Hannah Landers, Kate McGrath, Mary Kate Morrissey, Emer Scanlon, Mairead Power, Aoife Landers, Aoife Dunne, Lauren McGregor and Katie Murray could all be asked to stand in for any of the players mentioned above and they would not be out of place as there is considerable experience amongst them with the likes of Michelle Ryan, Nora Dunphy, Hannah Landers and Aoife Landers all having played in All-Ireland Finals at Croke Park.

Normally, when two sides clash in close proximity I have a tendency to favour the team that lost the first day in the second game, but this does not always happen.

This is one of these occasions.

Clare will improve on the round robin game between the two at Fraher Field but it should be remembered that on the day, Waterford were without a number of very experienced players with the likes of Megan Dunford who was selected on the Division three Ladies Football National League team of the year, Elaine Power, Louise Ryan, Grainne Kenneally and Maria Delahunty all missing that game while Sinead Ryan played further out the field than the full forward position where she plays her best football.

You would expect these five players to be included from the off this Saturday afternoon and if happens, it will considerably strengthen the Waterford team.

No game is going to be won these days just by the fifteen players selected to start. What is sprung from the bench when needed could be the winning of the team as it’s important at times to maybe strengthen the team rather than weaken it when making changes and Waterford could well do this.

Waterford has won seven ladies football finals in a row in the past. The great team of the 90’s did it between 1994 and 2000 adding to the two finals they won in 1991 and 1992.

If this present team was to win seven in a row, the names of the players involved will go down in the history of the game when it is written within the county. The present panel may be playing at a grade lower than those in the 90’s, but a Munster final win is a Munster Final win in any grade.

It’s Waterford for me to win in Mallow this Saturday afternoon, but expect it to be close.