Waterford qualify for first All-Ireland Intermediate Camogie Final

There was Drama aplenty at Nolan Park on Saturday afternoon as Waterford at the fourth time of asking qualified for a first ever All-Ireland Intermediate Camogie Final where they will play Kildare at Croke Park on September 13 with the game having a 2pm throw in.

At the break, there must have been many that were saying to themselves ‘not again’ as Waterford who have lost the last three semi finals to Galway twice and Limerick last year trailed a strong defensive Meath side who lead 3-4 to 0-5.

But while Waterford tailed by eight and would go none down early in the second half it must never be forgotten that there is something special about this present Waterford panel assembled by Sean Fleming and his management team and they showed it in the second half as not once did the heads drop nor were the towels thrown in.

Right throughout the year when the need rose, different players have come to the core when it was most needed.

With little between these two fine sides, it was no great surprise to see the two respective managers make changes to their line outs before this game.

Usually in Camogie teams line out as per the handout or programme patrons get going into the games, but in this game both management sides did their utmost to upset the plans made by the other when they would have seen the respective published line ups in print.

The Leinster side began with the fifteen players named to start but made positional changes.

Meath brought Jane Dolan from the middle of the field to the edge of the Waterford square and replaced her in the middle of the field with Aoife Maguire who was selected to start at centre forward.  Edel Guy who was selected to start at Full Forward was moved to the Centre Forward position.

Sinead Hackett moved from her pre-match selected position of left corner forward to the right half forward position while Aoife Minogue switched from the right half forward to the opposite side of the field and Megan Thynne moved from left half forward to the right corner forward position and with Cheyenne O’Brien moving across to the left corner forward position from her pre-match selected position of right corner forward.

Waterford too made changes, making two changes in personnel to the team printed on the programme.

Jennie Simpson came in for Jenny McCarthy and Niamh Rockett came in for Sibeal Harney.

As a result changes positional changes were made as Trish Jackman moved from Centre Back to the middle of the field with Iona Heffernan moving to wing back in place of Jenny McCarthy. Nicola Morrissey moved from Centre Forward to the right half forward position and Niamh Rockett filled in where the Lismore player was selected.

Meath had a great start to this game as Jane Dolan fired over the first of her seven scores in this game with a point inside fifty seconds and it was quickly followed up with a similar effort from Aoife Minogue.

Waterford pulled a point back from a Trish Jackman free, but Meath soon extended their lead when a long range Kristina Troy free fell short and when it fell in the Waterford square Jane Dolan was on hand to hand-pass past Deirdre Brennan for the first goal of the game to give Meath a 1-2 to 0-1 advantage with eight minutes played.

A brace of Trish Jackman points, one from a free, the other from play brought Waterford to within two of Meath and the advantage that Meath had on the scoreboard was halved before the end of the first quarter when Jennie Simpson fired over.

However despites Waterford’s fightback after Meath’s great start, it was the Leinster side that had the better of the second quarter as they hit 2-2 with Waterford responding with a single point.

The Royal County side hit a second goal on twenty-three minutes when Megan Thynne flicked to the very impressive Jane Dolan and she made no mistake in beating Deirdre Brennan.

Seconds later, the Leinster side added a third goal when an Edel Guy long range effort fell short but was not cleared as the Waterford defence would have liked and Megan Thynne went from score provider to scorer getter as she followed up on the loose ball and finished to the net to give her side a seven point advantage.

In the time that remained Jane Dolan who was causing Waterford lots of problems added two further points with Trish Jackman landing one, to leave the eventual winners trailing 3-4 to 0-5 at the break.

Meath started the second half by opening up a nine point advantage when Aoife Maguire hit her first of the game, but Waterford was soon to take control.

At the break the Waterford selectors replaced Nicola Morrissey with Becky Kavanagh and Shona Curran came in for Dungarvan’s Dawn Power.

Niamh Rockett hit Waterford’s first score of the second half with a point and it was soon followed up with efforts from Shona Curran who made a huge impact after her interdiction and then Lorraine Bray to leave Waterford trailing 3-5 to 0-8.

Sinead Hackett pulled a point back for Meath to break Waterford’s flow of scores but it was only a short rest-bite for Meath as Waterford began to show their experience.

Shona Curran hit Waterford’s first goal on forty-one minutes after she blasted low and hard past Emily Mangan after she was set up by Aisling Power, the captain of Waterford’s All-Ireland winning team from 2014.

Just as Megan Thynne did in the first half, the Cappoquin player would go from goal provider to goal getter four minutes later as she drilled low and hard past Emily Mangan in a crowed Meath goal area to leave just one between the sides at the end of the third quarter.

Trish Jackman levelled soon afterwards and what was turning out to be a good afternoon for Waterford got even better on forty-nine minutes when teenage sensation Beth Carton hit Waterford’s third goal of the game, the best of the three as the De La Salle player ran in from the sideline and beat Emily Mangan with a low shot.

Aoife Maguire and Beth Carton swapped scores to keep Waterford three up with time ticking down.

There was gasp’s from the Waterford Support inside the ground when it was announced on the hour mark that there would be four added minutes to be played.

Meath in added time put lots of pressure on the Waterford defence.

Jane Dolan hit two late points for Meath to leave just one between the sides and when referee Jenny Byrne continued to let the play run past the four announced minutes, the Waterford support inside the ground moved to the edges of their seats.

Meath continued to put pressure on the Waterford backs but Waterford brought all fifteen players behind the ball and it paid off as the Waterford defence held tough to win by one and to set Waterford up for a first ever Intermediate Camogie All-Ireland Final appearance.

In the final Waterford will play Kildare who had a 1-12 to 0-11 win over Cork in the second semi final to be played at Nolan Park on Saturday afternoon.

A goal just before the break from Emer Reilly proved to be the crucial score in that game as it gave her side a four point advantage in what was a very close opening thirty minutes.

Waterford: Deirdre Brennan; Kate McMahon, Claire Whyte, Vikki Falconer; Charlotte Raher, Jennie Simpson, Iona Heffernan; Trish Jackman, Lorraine Bray; Nicola Morrissey, Niamh Rockett, Beth Carton; Aisling Power, Catriona McGlone, Dawn Power. Subs: Becky Kavanagh for Nicola Morrissey, Shona Curran for Dawn Power, Valerie O’Brien for Jennie Simpson, Jennie Simpson for Aisling Power.

Scorers: Patricia Jackman 0-5 (3fs), Beth Carton, Shona Curran 1-1 each, Aisling Power 1-0, Lorraine Bray, Jennie Simpson, Niamh Rockett 0-1 each.

Meath: Emily Mangan; Emma Coffey, Claire Coffey, Grace Coleman; Áine Keogh, Kristina Troy, Louise Donoghue; Aoife Maguire, Katie Hackett; Sinead Hackett, Edel Guy, Aoife Minogue; Megan Thynne, Jane Dolan, Cheyenne O’Brien. Subs: Amy Gaffney for Edel Guy, Marie Keogh for Emma Coffey, Fia O’Brien for Amy Gaffney, Aoife Thompson for Megan Thynne.

Scorers: Jane Dolan 2-5 (2fs), Megan Thynne 1-0, Aoife Minogue 0-3 (2fs), Sinead Hackett 0-1.

Referee: Jenny Byrne (Dublin)