County League Finals To Take Place At Ballinameela And Ferrybank

            The middle weekend in May has become known for one thing in sporting circles in Waterford in recent years, the playing of the County Senior, Intermediate and Junior Camogie League Finals at venues across the county.

            This year’s finals are pencilled in for Saturday evening at two different venues.

            The Junior and Intermediate Finals will take place at the Ballinameela G.A.A. Grounds, off the main Dungarvan to Cappoquin/Lismore Road, while the Senior Final which has a new look to it this year will take place at the Ferrybank Club Grounds.

            Great strides have been made when it comes to the development of Camogie in recent years, and great credit must go to County Chairperson Ita Murphy and all who work with her at the Committee Table and on the field of play for all the hard work that they are doing.

            The County Board recently played their Munster Championship game against Cork at the Modeligo Community Field and on the day a bumper crowd showed up and it would be great to think that those present at a Camogie game for the first time, or maybe for the first time in many years were suitably impressed and will be back to watch some of the counties brightest stars again this week.

            For that game with Cork the Modeligo Club pulled out all the stops in making the day a great success, and I have no doubt that the Ballinameela and Ferrybank Clubs will be pulling out all the stops this weekend to ensure that the games that they are staging run off just as effectively as they did in Modeligo.

            The first final down for decision this weekend is the Junior Final between Butlerstown and Dungarvan at Ballinameela, the game having a 5pm throw in.

            Butlerstown a few short years ago won the Intermediate title and went on to play in the senior grade for a while but were relegated to the junior ranks last year.

            They have within their ranks a number of players who have played for the County at different levels over the past number of years and will be looking to go back up the Intermediate grade later this year by winning the Intermediate Championship.

            Kate McMahon who is a regular on the Waterford senior team with the past few years is the player within their ranks that will be best known, but they also have others like Sadie Mai Rowe who is also part of the Waterford set up and Shauna Farrell will also be wearing the Blue and Gold shirt this coming Saturday evening.

            Dungarvan also have inter county players within their ranks. Kaiesha Tobin has made a massive impact for Waterford this year playing in the inside forward line where she hit some very important scores and is clearly a player that could well have a major role to play in the white and blue shirt of Waterford in the years to come.

            Orla Hickey is another player that Donal O’Rourke has in his Waterford panel this year and has gotten some game time under her belt in the league and in the Munster Championship and her side will be looking for the experience picked up in those games to come to the fore in this game. Another player that will be important to Dungarvan is Kayleigh Veale who has played underage Camogie for Waterford and is one of the sides most experienced players.

            The Intermediate final between Cappoquin and Saint Anne’s at 6-45pm in Ballinameela could well prove to be a real cracker.

            The two sides have played in the senior grade in recent years and will be of the thinking that they should be playing in the top flight.

            Both sides just like in the junior game which precedes this game have a number of players that have played for the county in recent years.

            For Cappoquin Lorraine Bray is their most experienced player. She has being involved in the Waterford set up with a number of years now and is a player that has achieved a great deal and could well achieve a lot more in the years to come.

            Aisling Power is another player that has achieved a great deal in the last few years at club and county level and her performance in and around the Saint Anne’s goal will be key to Cappoquin, while at the other end of the field Tracey Kiely will be key.

            The Mid county side are the only team apart from Lismore to win the senior final of this competition, beating Lismore at Lemybrien a few years back.

            Saint Anne’s have always produced some very good players down the years and while they might not be as strong as they were a few years back, they are still a very good side.

            They have players like Claire Whyte, Claire Murphy and Sibheal Harney in their ranks and could prove to be a very difficult side to beat in this final.

            The Senior Final is without doubt the main game of the weekend, and it would be nice to think that a bumper crowd would make their way to Ferrybank in advance of the 7pm throw in.

            Lismore and Saint Anne’s have dominated this competition since it started a few years back and whether it is Gailltir or De La Salle that will get to engrave their club name on the Denny Buckley Cup after this game will be worthy winners.

            De La Salle are a relatively new club in the county but they have achieved so much over the past few years at underage and adult levels.

            They are playing in the adult grades with four years and in that time they have won a Junior League and Championship double in their first season and followed it up with an Intermediate League and Championship double twelve months later. Last year in the senior grade they reached the semi finals of the championship, and in reaching this final they are again making progress.

            They are lucky in that they were able to put together a brilliant group of players from the formation of the club and kept the most of them together over the last number of years.

            At one end of the field they have one of the best goalkeepers in the country in Brianna O’Regan and at the other end of the field have one of the most dangerous forwards in the country in Beth Carton. In between they have Niamh Murphy, another player who has made her way onto the Waterford senior panel in recent years after coming up through successful underage teams.

            Gailltir are a club that has put a log of eggs in their underage basket in recent years and are reaping the rewards of that hard work over the past few years.

            They have won numerous County and National Féile titles and the players involved in these successes have gone on to win honours at a higher level, with Club, County and College sides in recent times.

            Just two years ago they won a first County Senior title since 2008 and went on to win the Munster Intermediate title, only to lose out in the All-Ireland Semi Finals.

            Many of the players involved in those successes are key to them this weekend including the likes of Ciara Jackman, Áine Lyng and Aoife Fitzgerald.

            As to who wins the County Senior, Intermediate and Junior County titles this Saturday evening is anybody’s guess. Whoever does take the trophies home with them will be worthy winners, but let’s home that the real winner will be the game itself, and that all six sides on the day will be supported from within their respective clubs and by neutrals.