5 people from different era's to remembered in one weekend

Kirwan Park in Touraneena is the place to be this coming weekend if you have an interest in the G.A.A. in Waterford.

A ‘Jamboree Weekend’ in association with the Gathering will take place in the Parish over the weekend. Kicking off on Friday evening, activities are planned for right throughout the weekend till Monday evening.

The weekend’s activities get underway on Friday evening with a ‘Memories’ evening in the Sliabh gCua Community Centre in the village starting at 8pm.

While this is the opening activity of the weekend, it for many could well prove to be the main highlight of the weekend for many that will be present in Touraneena over the weekend. And as a gesture of good will to those that attend on Friday evening admission to the Community Centre is Free to everybody, so if you want to be assured of a seat, make sure you are in before the 8pm scheduled start.

The weekend will get underway with an exhibition of set dancing. Over the past four plus decades, Monnie Hallahan has worked extremely hard to keep Set Dancing alive in the Sliabh gCua area and has coached many teams to win numerous County, Munster and All-Ireland finals at Juvenile and adult levels of competition.

The name Donnacha O Dulaing will be a familiar name to many older people in the area. Donnacha in the past worked with RTE and over a period of time walked in many areas of Ireland including through Touraneena. In the early 1980’s having got to know a number of people in the area, he brought the RTE Camera’s to Touraneena and set up at the homes of Tom Cowmey and Danny Cotter in Tinalira where a programme was recorded and later shown on television.

Many will have long forgotten about this programme, but on Friday evening it has been arranged that the programme will be shown in the Community Centre and will remind older people of characters like Ned Parker who appeared in the show.

Local woman Teresa Fitzpatrick will later lead a group of people in an array of traditional Irish Music, while Brendan Tobin and other members of the Aisteoirí Sliabh gCua Group will entertain those that are present with a short play.

Throughout the evening a number of photo’s will be on display in the Community Centre. Some of these are of fairly recent times but others will be a reminder of times past to those present, especially ones which include people from the area or who worked locally who are no longer with us.

The high light of the night could well prove to be the 20 minute snippet of the recently recorded documentary type programme of the history of the Sliabh gCua/St Mary’s G.A.A. Club. There were some fantastic stories on the night of recording from its contributors namely Michael Quinlan, Declan Fitzpatrick, Tom Power, Fr. Brendan Canon Crowley, Tommy Hickey, Piery Butler, Monnie Hallahan and John Walsh.

The evening will allow people the chance to come along and enjoy the relaxed atmosphere and meet and chat with friends new and old

To finish up the night, there will be a free draw for all the people who joined the club as a member this year with the winning member receiving a €200 voucher for Ger Wyley Sports. There will also be a draw for the juvenile members who joined our senior club this year.

And as is always the case in the Sliabh gCua area, tea and refreshments will be served on the night.

On Saturday, the attention switches to Kirwan Park, and football will be the main theme of the day.

At 2pm, the Na Déise Ladies Football Club will play near Neighbours Ballymacarbry. The winners of this game will be presented with the Touraneena Parish Perpetual Trophy. The team will include a number of players that were part of the Na Déise team that won the Under 12 ‘A’ County Final recently against Comeragh Rangers in Stradbally, so it will be a chance for many to congratulate them on their success.

At 3pm, the first ever Marathon in the Sliabh gCua will take place at Kirwan Park. 84 people have signed up to take part in the event and maybe on the day some others may even be roped in to take part.

Don’t worry if you have not been in training for this event. Nobody will be asked to walk or run a distance of just over 26 miles or 42kms. Each person taking part will be asked to walk or run just half a Kilometre. Cards were available over the past few weeks and people were asked to guess the accumulated finishing time of all taking part. The person who predicts the time or who comes closest to the overall time will walk away with €250. There may be some that may not have seen the cards but I am sure that one or two will be available on the day up to the time that the marathon starts.

On the day, there will also be a fun run for the kids and teens with a view to promoting simple fitness and fun and there is word doing the rounds that a certain mouse from Disney will be participating in this event also!!! Last year, you might remember Mickey Mouse visited Touraneena for a few hours and was a hit with the children present on the day.

At 4pm, the attention turns back to football. The Barlow Cup which the Sliabh gCua/St Mary’s G.A.A. Club played for in the past will once again be played for in 2013.

This is going to be a game with a difference as the game will be fought out by those two great rivals, The Comeragh Warriors and the Finisk Fighters.

The Comeragh Warriors will comprise of a ladies football team north of an imaginary line through the centre of the parish while the Finisk Fighters will be from south of the line. 

The rival selectors for this game have gone into battle in recent weeks to try and get the best players available to them. The Warriors team will be selected by Theresa Butler, Marie McDonald and Nuala Dunne while Kate Tobin, Eleanor Hickey and Deirdre Coffey will be in charge of the Fighters.

At 5-30, the men from both sides of the line will enter battle. Three Knockboy men will be in charge of the Warriors – Tom Power, Tomás O’Meara and Michael Quinlan will be pitting their wits against Joe Coffey, Mossie Cliffe and Seamie Skehan who are in charge of the Fighters.

It is understood that in the past few days, some players have taken out their boots and had them polished and we are told that John Fitzpatrick, Albert Burke, the Butler brothers and cousins, the Whelan’s. Condon’s and the Hearne’s could be ready to battle for the Jimmy O’Keeffe Memorial Cup.

And if you still have the appetite for some more football, at 7-30pm, Sliabh gCua’s Intermediate Footballers will play Kill for the Ned Burke Memorial Cup.  There will be an added incentive for the winners as the along with the trophy, the winning team will also walk away with an impressive €500 gear voucher.

On Sunday, the attention switches to Hurling. Five clubs will be present in the field to take part in three competitions, Brickeys, Ballygiblin (from Cork), Naomh Brid, Fourmilewater and Saint Mary’s.

The first game of the day is fixed for 1-30pm when Naomh Brid’s under 10 hurlers take on their counterparts from the Brickey Valley. After the game will take be presented with the Michael Kiely Memorial Cup.

At 2-30pm, Naomh Brid are back in action, this time in under 12, when they take on Ballygiblin from North Cork for the Bob Keane Memorial Shield. Twelve months ago this competition was played for the first time and resulted in a win for the North Cork side who finished with a late surge to win the shield.

This will be followed by the meeting of Saint Mary’s and Fourmilewater for the Bob Keane Memorial Cup.

This is the second time that this competition will be competed for. Last year, Saint Mary’s proved too strong for Mount Sion.

In addition to the Cup, just as in the Saturday evening game there will be a €500 gear voucher for the winning team.

Through Sunday, a Sharpshooter competition will also take place at Kirwan Park. Entries to this competition will be taken up to 2pm on Sunday with the competition getting underway at 2-15pm.

The Competition will be run as a knockout competition with an open draw. Each player will get 10 shots at a target with the player that puts the most sliothars through the target progressing to the next round. Men, women and juveniles are all entered into the one draw. It is open to everyone, so if you would like to see how accurate you are with your shooting, why not show up at Kirwan Park on Sunday before 2pm and enter. A degree of luck is attached to this competition and in the final, a budding Paul Flynn with the same eye for goal could well finish behind someone that never caught a Hurley before Sunday.

On Monday evening, the Annual Dan Fraher Long Puck will take place. Teams of three cost €60 for adult teams and €30 for a team of three who are under 16. Registration is in Kirwan Park at 5-15pm on Monday evening and once the competition is over, a free BBQ will be held at Kirwan Park afterwards.

This coming weekend is a platform to remember and acknowledge the contribution both as players and volunteers of former members who are now deceased of the Sliabh gCua/Saint Mary’s G.A.A. Club.

The memory of five such members will be central to the weekend’s activities as memorial trophies in their honour will be presented to winning captains of various teams over the duration of the weekend.

Two of these legendary figures were near neighbours and good friends for many years in the townsland of Clonegegale. Ned Burke and Jimmy O’Keeffe were members of the Sliabh gCua junior football winning team in 1936.  Their exploits on the playing pitch have often been relayed in stories over the years. Ned went on to hold down positions on the clubs executive board including a very successful stint as club chairman.

Bob Keane’s contribution to the club will never be forgotten. He was the “kit- man” for near on 40 years and the club’s original “first aid” man while the Renault 4 was packed to capacity when following the Sliabh gCua/St. Mary’s teams around the county for many years. Bob it could be said was better than any doctor. Many will recall the day when a player went down injured and he went in with his bag, only to discover that he had not put freeze spray into the bag before leaving home, instead putting in an air freshener, fly spray or some other such product which he covered up and spayed to the injured players injury after which he got up and was able to play the remainder of the game with no side-effects.

Michael Kiely was a playing member of the local football and hurling teams in the late 70’s/early 80’s before going on to play for the Thurles Kickhams club. Dan Fraher came from Skeheens and as a young man he moved to Dungarvan. He worked at his own shop at Grattan Square, and after the Gaelic Athletic Association was founded in November 1884, he quickly became one of its most active members filling a number of different positions. Fraher Field in Dungarvan is named in his honour.

The names of all five will be fittingly remembered next weekend and their contributions to the club over the years will be rightly acknowledged.

Waterford are Munster Camogie Champions

Camogie in Waterford received a major boost over the past weekend, when the counties Intermediate team beat their counterparts from Tipperary at Cahir in this year’s Munster Final.

Over the past few years, great strides have been made with Camogie in the Déise County.

Three All-Ireland Junior finals in a row were reached between 2009 and 2011, when Waterford beat Down having lost the previous two against Offaly and Antrim.

Last year in their first year playing in the Intermediate grade, Waterford reached the All Ireland semi final which they lost to Galway who in turn when on to play and loose to an excellent Derry side in the All-Ireland Final after a replay.

Already this year Waterford reached the Division two league semi final which they lost to Kildare on a terrible day some weeks back and in the run up to last weekends Munster Final, Waterford qualified for this years All-Ireland semi final which is fixed for late August at a venue yet to be confirmed.

These successes coupled with a good run by the Counties underage sides, and Galltir’s recent success at Féile suggests that Waterford have a promising future in the game in the years ahead.

Waterford reached this year’s Munster Final having recorded an excellent win over Cork at Pairc Eamon de Paor in Tallow.

While Waterford went into the game as the favourites against Tipperary’s second string team, few if any could have predicted that Waterford would win in the manner they did as Camogie in the Premier County is pretty strong.

Waterford throughout the hour caused all sorts of problems for the Tipperary backs while at the opposite end of the field the Waterford defensive unit were very hard to break down.

Saint Anne’s club member Zoe O’Donoghue finished the game as the top scorer for Mark Cooney’s charges. Her club mate Karen Kelly also featured strongly on the scoring stakes finishing the game with seven points, four of which came from frees and one from a forty-five, while Lismore’s Nicola Morrissey who finished the game with four points behind her name was judged to be the Player of the Match.  

Both sides took time to settle. Both defences were on top in the early exchanges as neither wanted to give anything away too easily.

The first score of the game did not arrive till the sixth minute when Karen Kelly put over a free, but from here on the scores came at regular intervals.

Maria Ryan levelled matters for Tipperary before the influential Karen Kelly pointed twice, one from play the other from a free for a foul on Lorraine Bray, to give Waterford a 0-3 to 0-1 lead but this lead was cut to one when Ciara McGrath pointed for Tipperary.

Waterford enjoyed a period of dominance over the next number of minutes. Karen Kelly put over two more frees and once from play to stretch Waterford’s lead and team captain Jennie Simpson also got in on the act before Zoe O’Donoghue got her first score of the evening after she was picked out by Nicola Morrissey.

Leading 0-8 to 0-2, Tipperary pulled a point back through Aoife Ryan, but it was the side in the white and blue shirts that finished the half the stronger of the two as they were for much of the opening thirty minutes as Zoe O’Donoghue hit a goal and then a point to give Waterford a 1-9 to 0-3 lead at the break.

Waterford came out for the second all guns blazing and was somewhat unlucky not to have hit an early second goal but Karen Kelly saw her shot saved by Orla McEniry in the Tipperary goal and the ball was put out for a forty-five.

Tipperary hit back with an early second half goal through Ciannait Walsh, but the Premier Women found it hard to get on top of the Déise ladies who continued to control the game in all sections of the field in the second half and with Zoe O’Donoghue, Valerie O’Brien, Trish Jackman, Nicola Morrissey and Karen Kelly all landing second half scores for Waterford, they were able to run out comfortable 2-18 to 1-8 winners.

Next up for Waterford is their All-Ireland semi final against Galway. No venue or time is fixed for this game yet. Waterford will go into this game in a confident mood.

While team manager Mark Cooney and his selectors Des O’Meara, Rachel Ahearne and Niall Devereux will continue to work hard over the next month of so, and may fit in a number of challenge games to keep the side ticking over, they may have liked the time difference between the Munster Final and the All-Ireland semi final to be that little bit closer, as regardless of the amount of challenge and in house games you play at times, its hard to beat a championship game to keep a side on their toes for their next challenge.

3 big camogie games this Saturday for Waterford.

What a past few weeks its been for Waterford Camogie and they keep on coming.

In the last few weeks, Waterford’s Intermediate team have qualified for the All-Ireland semi final for the second year in a row where the opposition will be provided by Galway for the second year in a row, and the county’s under 16 team have also qualified for an All-Ireland ‘B’ semi final. Who Waterford will play in that semi final will be determined this coming weekend.

This Saturday promises to be a big day for Camogie in Waterford with the county fielding teams in three competitions at two different venues.

Putting out three teams in two venues is far from ideal for Waterford. Ideally, all games should be played at the one venue, but it’s not to be as two of the games are Provincial competitions while the third is in a National Competition.

Of course there is going to be a cross over of players between the teams which begs the question, will Waterford be able to field a full strength team in all three games. It would be a big as of players to line out in more than one game, but have no doubt, whatever Waterford side will take to the fields in Cork and Cahir, they will be giving it their all.

The first Waterford team that will be in action this weekend will the counties under 16 team. They have already qualified for an All-Ireland semi final, but because they finished on seven points from a maximum of eight after the league section of the competition along with Cork, the two counties will have to play off to see which of the two sides top the group and get what is perceived as the easier of the two semi finals because in underage games, score difference cannot be used to determine positions when two or more teams finish level on points. If score difference could be used, it is Waterford that would have topped the group.

The two sides met a few weeks back again at the Cork Camogie Grounds at Mahon in Cork, the same venue that will be used this weekend.

Waterford that day got off to a blistering start with a point from Molly Curran from a forty-five inside two minutes of the game starting but it was soon cancelled out when Rachel Harty pointed from play for the Rebels.

Waterford after this exerted a lot of pressure on the Cork defence and it paid off as Kate McMahon pointed from play and Molly Curran put over a hat-trick of placed balls to give Waterford a deserved lead.

While Waterford proved to be efficient in front of the Cork goals with the chances they had, at the opposite end, Waterford were very hard to break, with Brianna O’Regan between the posts for Waterford standing out when called upon.

However, two errors in the Waterford defence resulted in frees to the home side which Aoibhinn Kidney converted to leave the home side trailing 0-5 to 0-3 at the break.

Cork came out of the for the second half like a greyhound out of the traps and made all the early running, but they could not break down the Waterford defence. It was Waterford who opened the second half scoring with a brace of points from Beth Carton who is in brilliant form in recent weeks to extend Waterford’s lead to four.

Cork tagged on two points to rein in Waterford’s lead to what it was at the break, but Beth Carton hammered home a goal for Waterford to put five points between the sides, but the lead was cut almost straight away when Emma Flanagan pointed after a good run through the Waterford defence.

With eight minutes to play, a testing ball was lobbed in around the Waterford goalmouth which was not dealt with as the Waterford defensive unit would have likes and Chloe Sigerson was first to react and put the ball in the Waterford net.

Trailing by one, Cork put a lot of pressure on the Waterford defence in the closing minutes of the game and it looked as though Waterford would hold out for a win, but in the closing seconds of the game Cork won a close in free which Aoibhinn Kidney made no mistake with, putting the sliotar between the uprights. The full time whistle quickly followed and the two sides had to settle for a share of the spoils.

In Waterford’s other games in the championship it was wins all round, with good wins recorded over Westmeath at Bushy Park and then wins over Derry and Armagh at venues in Dublin in recent weeks.

This is a game that could go to the wire and if it was to finish after sixty minutes in a similar manor to the previous meeting between the two sides, it would not be the biggest surprise in the world. In the group stages Waterford scored more than Cork did in their four games, but Cork conceded less than what Waterford did.

The sides met on one other occasion this year, clashing in the Munster ‘B’ final at the Gold Coast Grounds, and the game resulted in a 3-10 to 0-4 win for Waterford having lead 1-7 to 0-2 at the break.

The Waterford panel that is used for much of the campaign to date and that which the team is most likely to be picked from on Saturday is - Brianna O'Regan (De La Salle), Rachel Donnelly (Brickeys), Sarah Geoghegan (Lismore), Courtney Healy (De La Salle), Megan Dunford (Brickeys), Roisin Cahillane (Cappoquin), Bronwyn Grace (St. Anne’s), Iona Heffernan (Ferrybank), Caoimhe McGrath (Brickeys), Molly Curran (Brickeys), Jessica Glavin (Cappoquin), Aisling Power (Cappoquin), Niamh Ahearne (Ferrybank), Beth Carton (De La Salle), Elizabeth McGrath (Butlerstown), Clodagh Glavin (Cappoquin), Hannah Murphy-Nix (Brickeys), Kate McMahon (Butlerstown), Sarah Murray (Tramore), Ciara Twomey (De La Salle), Emily Power (Cappoquin), Catherine Hahessy (Brickeys), Taylor Murray (Dungarvan), Sibeal Harney (St. Anne’s), Aoife Shanahan(St. Anne’s), Saoirse Bonner (St. Anne's), Kayleigh Veale (Dungarvan).

After the game in Cork it is a quick trip for Waterford back onto the Southern Ring Road, through the Jack Lynch Tunnel and M8 and head north turning off at Junction 11 and making the short journey into Cahir Town for a Munster Intermediate and Minor ‘B’ double where the opposition will be provided by Tipperary and Kerry respectfully.

The minor game against Kerry is the second of the double header, which makes a little sense as it allows those involved with the under 16 game earlier in the day some breathing space between the games.

This game was originally due to be played back in March but it was called off at relatively short notice.

The sides clashed at the same stage of the competition last year and the game ended in a victory for Waterford in Cork.

Waterford will be able to call on some of the players involved in that win and their experience should stand to them in this game.

In the build up to the original fixture Waterford had a lot of preparation done, having played the likes of Wexford and Kilkenny in training games.

Since then Waterford have played in the All-Ireland ‘B’ Championship, where they played Dublin who they lost to by two points and a strong Offaly side who had twelve points to spare and in the All-Ireland Plate Final they took on Down who again proved too strong running out 3-7 to 0-3 winners.

Since then, many of the team have had Junior and Leaving certs on their mins, but in the past few weeks they will have this game on their minds.

They will be able to call upon players who are involved with the senior set up this year and they should prove an invaluable asset to this panel. However, as from the can be seen with the panel, listed which was the one that was in action in the All-Ireland Plate Final, there is some cross over of players from the under 16 game earlier in the day and it remains to be seen how many will line out for both sides.

Waterford Minor panel: Jade Fraher (Cappoquin), Bonnie Keating (St Anne’s), Sarah Geoghegan (Lismore), Aoife Houlihan (Lismore), Johanna Houlihan (Lismore), Roisin Cahillane (Cappoquin), Sarah Coughlan (Lismore), Lorraine Bray (Cappoquin), Clare Murphy (St Anne’s),Valerie O’Brien (Roanmore), Mia O’Flynn (Tallow), Angela Flynn (St Anne’s), Jessica Glavin (Cappoquin), Sinead Cummins (St Anne’s), Rebecca Kavanagh (St Anne’s), Elizabeth McGrath (Butlerstown), Sara Judge (Gaultier), Iona Heffernan (Ferrybank), Shauna Fennessy (Lismore), Eimear Walsh (De La Salle), Hayley Cox (De La Salle), Aishling Heffernan (Ferrybank), Caoimhe McGrath (Brickey Rangers), Labhaoise Dunbar (St Anne’s) and Michelle McDonnell (St Anne’s).

The main game of the weekend could well be the Munster Intermediate final between Waterford and Tipperary.

Tipperary has had an indifferent All-Ireland Championship. They began with a 2-10 to 2-7 win over Wexford at The Ragg.

This was a game that Tipperary looked like winning with some ease, but Aoife Shiel who had come on as a sub for Wexford in this game hit 1-1 late in the game to make it a nervous finish for the home side.

Tipperary got off to a flying start in the game and at the break lead by seven points with Maria Ryan, Aoife Ryan, Ciara Johnston and Aoife McLoughney all raising white flags with Ciara Johnston getting the umpire to reach for a green flag.

Wexford continued to put Tipperary under pressure in the second half and enjoyed much of the procession but despite a brace effort in particular by Aoife Shiel, they were unable to cut the home sides’ lead at the break to get anything from the game.

Tipperary followed this win up with a heavy defeat away to Meath at Rathoath loosening 4-14 to 0-6 and in their last game, they suffered a 1-11 to 1-10 defeat to Galway at Ballinasloe, a game which had they got a positive result, they would be in an play off at worst to see could they win a place in the All-Ireland semi finals.

Despite bowing out of the All-Ireland Championship at the group stages, Tipperary will be up for this game and will be looking for big games from the likes of Antoinette Kennedy, Ciara Johnston, Aoife Ryan, Maria Ryan and Aoife McLoughney.

However they will be up against a Waterford side that are playing well at the moment. They lost last time out against Limerick and will want to get that result out of their system as quickly as possible ahead of the meeting with Galway towards the end of August in the All-Ireland semi final.

In the championship Waterford put good wins together over Cork, Kilkenny and Antrim ahead of the meeting with Limerick last week.

Prior to this, the Waterford team had an excellent run in the National League, reaching the semi finals where they were somewhat unlucky to have gone under to Kildare in a terrible day for any game to take place.

In the semi final of the Munster Championship they had a good 4-14 to 1-11 win over Cork at the Tallow Club Grounds.

Waterford played with the wind at their backs in the first half on the day and at the break held a 1-7 to 0-4 lead, the goal coming from Karen Kelly after some good work by Lorraine Bray.

Waterford continued to dominate in the second half as Zoe O’Donoghue was again set up by Lorraine Bray to score a second goal, and the Cappoquin lady went from goal provider to goal scorer shortly afterwards as she hit a third for the Déise girls having been set up by Nicola Morrissey. Waterford’s fourth goal on the day was scored by Nicola Morrissey.

Waterford manager Mark Cooney and his selectors have given a lot of players a run out so far this year and they are likely to be picking from the following this weekend in Cahir - Deirdre Brennan, Emma Hannon, Fiona Morrissey, Vicky Falconer, Marie Russell, Charlotte Raher, Jenny McCarthy, Jennie Simpson, Shona Curran, Trish Jackman, Nicola Morrissey, Zoe O'Donoghue, Lorraine Bray, Valerie O'Brien, Mairead Murphy, Aishling O'Brien, Laura Buckley, Ciara Keogh, Deirdre Nugent , Clair Murphy, Orla O'Neill, Nicola Fitzgerald, Labhaoise Dunbar, Sarah Coughlan, Sara Judge, Clare Whyte and Johanna Houlihan.

Fixture Details for this Saturday

Under 16 All-Ireland ‘B’ Play off: Waterford V Cork in Mahon at 1pm.

Munster Intermediate Final: Waterford V Tipperary in Cahir at 5-15pm

Munster Minor ‘B’ Final: Waterford V Kerry in Cahir at 7pm.

Ballinacourty and Stradbally reach Championship Quarter Finals.

The first two teams to reach the quarter finals of this years County Senior Football Championship were confirmed at the weekend when three delayed games in the third round of this year’s championship were played at Fraher Field.

Ballinacourty were first to reach the last eight when they easily accounted for last years beaten finalist’s The Nire.

Ballinacourty were always on top in the clash between two of the counties so called big three.

Mark Ferncombe proved to be Ballinacourty’s leading marksman on the night hitting five points of his sides tally of 1-15.

Ballinacourty lead 1-11 to 0-3 at the break. The games only goal came on twenty one minutes when Mark Gorman finished to the net after some good work by Patrick Hurney and Sean O’Hare.

The Nire who played minus a host of their leading players, faired somewhat better in the second half as Shane and Dermot Ryan as well as Craig Guiry shared nine points between them, but Ballinacourty who were without Gary Hurney for this game held out for a deserved win.

In the first of a double header at the Shandon Road venue on Sunday afternoon, Kilrossanty came out on top against Ardmore who finished the game with fourteen men after former Inter county hurler Declan Prendergast was sent off on a straight red card seven minutes from the break.

At the end of a very dour first half, Kilrossanty held a 0-3 to 0-2 advantage. Ardmore however could consider themselves to be very unlucky not to be at front at the interval as with the first attack of the game with just over a minute on the clock, Darren Mulhearne in the Kilrossanty goal did brilliantly to keep Clinton Hennessy’s show which appeared to be destined for the back of the net from reaching its destination.

The second half proved to be as equally as close as the first, and with the hour played it looked as though both sides would have to settle for a share of the spoils, but in added time at the end of the sixty minutes, Joey Veale standing in for regular free taker Paul Whyte who played no part in this game kicked a free from fifty metres to give his Kilrossanty the brace of points on offer, winning on a 0-8 to 0-7 score line.

The last game of the third round of games saw the previously unbeaten Clashmore take on Stradbally who were also unbeaten going into the game.

Both sides were into the game minus a number of players that would normally be first choice players for both sides.

After sixteen minutes, Stradbally held a 0-4 to 0-2 advantage. John Prendergast and John Coffey swapped early scores before Tadhg Bourke with a delightful score and Kevin Lawlor swapped scores.

However, Robert Aherne and Paddy Kiely were to hit the next two scores to give Stradbally a two point lead.

Declan Allen pulled a point back for Clashmore following some good work by Noel Smyth to pick him out. David Grey resorted a two point lead for Stradbally but a brace of frees from John Prendergast ensured that the sides retired at the break five points each.

Stradbally began the second half the better of the two sides as Shane Lannon and Robert Aherne hit scores to give the champions a two point lead.

John Prendergast pulled a point back for Clashmore before a long ball from Tony Grey on thirty nine minutes was finished to the net by the fist of John Coffey which gave Stradbally a four point lead.

John Prendergast cut Stradbally’s lead to three when he put over a free, but they were lucky not to go six points down ten minutes later when Eddie Rockett attempted to rattle the Clashmore net but he saw his shot rebound off Ciaran Bourke and go out for a forty-five.

Noel Smyth who replaced county minor panel member Paul O’Connell from the team named on the programme cut Stradbally’s lead to two, but on the hour mark Tony Grey hit a point to give his side a 1-8 to 0-8 victory.

Games in the fourth round of the league section of the competition are due to take place from this Thursday evening till Sunday afternoon.

In group one, Ardmore take on Stradbally, Kilrossanty take on Gaultier and Saint Saviours take on Clashmore.

In group two, Rathgormack are due to play Brickeys, An Rinn play The Nire and Ballinameela play Ballinacourty.

With the Waterford Minor hurlers set to play Limerick in the Munster Final replay tomorrow evening (Tuesday) in Thurles, should they loose they will be out again on Sunday and with a number of key players involved with a number of teams it will be interesting to see will the championship games go ahead as planned, or whether may the Sunday afternoon games will be moved around to allow people to support the minors if they so wish.

The best advice for supporter’s maybe to keep an eye on the County Board’s website and to keep an ear on W.L.R.fm for any announcement s made over the next forty-eight hours or so.

 

5 in a row for Waterford Ladies Footballers, defeat for the Counties Intermediate Camogie Team and Beth Carton impresses again

Waterford won a fifth successive Munster Intermediate Ladies Football Championship on Saturday afternoon last when they overcame the challenge of Tipperary with three points to spare.

This was the third meeting of the two neighbouring sides this year. The previous two encounters resulted in hard fought victories for Waterford, and this game was also expected to be close and the players on show did not disappoint.

It was Tipperary that began this game the brighter of the two sides, and raced into a very early 1-1 to no score lead, Edel Hanley hitting the point inside a minute of the game starting with Gillian O’Brien rattling the Waterford net two minutes later.

Waterford hit back with a Michelle Ryan point from a free on four minutes, and moments later the Déise side were somewhat unlucky not to have drawn level as a Linda Wall effort came crashing back off the Tipperary cross bar. Points from Shona Curran and Aoife Landers did follow for Waterford to leave the minimum between the sides in the Challengers favour with ten minutes on the clock.

A brace of scores by Gillian O’Brien sandwiched between a Michelle Ryan effort from a free gave Tipperary a 1-3 to 0-4 lead with the game just after the game entered its second quarter.

Both sides were doing well to deal with the sweltering conditions the more the game went on. Shona Curran gave Waterford the lead on twenty three minutes, blasting to the net after she got onto the end of a brilliant Elaine Power pass. This was followed with efforts from Edel Hanley and Michelle Ryan which kept Waterford 1-5 to 1-4 in front.

Tipperary’s centre forward Gillian O’Brien levelled the game with three minutes of the half to play, but Waterford kicked the next two points through Linda Wall and Michelle Ryan to give Waterford a two point lead, but before the break, Patricia Hickey a first half substitute for Kelly Hackett put over a point for Tipperary to leave Waterford 1-7 to 1-6 in front at the break.

In Waterford’s two previous games in the competition, they put in very good performances to ensure victories, and with just the minimum between the sides at the break, Waterford were going to have to make it three in a row of good second half performances if they were to win a fifth successive Provincial title in a row.

It was Tipperary however, that made all the early running in the second half and it was for a while looking as though the Premier County Women would break Waterford’s dominance in this competition in recent years.

Lorraine O’Shea hit an early brace of points to give Tipperary the lead once again and this lead was extended when Gillian O’Brien and Patricia Hickey hit further scores with Elaine Power and Michelle McGrath responding with points for Waterford to leave Waterford trailing 1-11 to 1-9.

A point from Aoife Landers on 42 minutes brought Waterford to within one of Tipperary, but it was followed with efforts from Gillian O’Brien and Patricia Hickey, a score which proved to be the challengers last of the game.

Waterford however were to finish the game the stronger of the two sides.

Aileen Wall, a player who if the All-Starts were to be announced at the end of the provincial championships last weekend would surely secure at least one award for Waterford, crashed the ball to the net nine minutes from time to give Waterford the lead once more. And it was followed with a point from Michelle McGrath which gave Waterford a deserved 2-13 to 1-13 victory after sixty minutes of football.

Waterford: Aimee Jordan; Nora Dunphy, Ann Dunphy, Mary Foley; Roisin Tobin, Grainne Enright, Karen McGrath; Michelle McGrath, Elaine Power; Aoife Landers, Shona Curran, Mairead Wall; Aileen Wall, Michelle Ryan, Linda Wall. Subs: Shauna Dunphy for Shona Curran, Dearbhla Ni hAodha for Mairead Wall.

Scorers: Michelle Ryan 0-4 (4 frees), Shona Curran 1-1. Aileen Wall 1-0, Michelle McGrath, Aoife Landers 0-3 each, Elaine Power, Linda Wall 0-1 each.

Tipperary: Helen Kennedy; Brid Condon, Samantha Lambert, Rachel Kenneally; Anne O'Dwyer Jennifer Grant, Barbara Ryan; Mairead Morrissey, Sheelagh Carew; Lorraine O'Shea, Gillian O'Brien, Niamh Lonergan; Edel Hanley, Kelly Hackett, Aisling McCarthy Subs: Patricia Hickey 0-2 for Kelly Hackett, Katie Lyne for Rachel Kenneally.

Scorers: Gillian O'Brien 1-4, Edel Hanley 0-3(2 Frees), Sheelagh Carew, Lorraine O'Shea, Patricia Hickey 0-2 each.

Referee: Sean Joy (Kerry)

In Camogie, Waterford lost their unbeaten run in this year’s Intermediate Championship when they lost to Limerick in Killeedy.

The first half proved to be a very even affair with the sides retiring at the break 1-8 to 1-8.  However, having made the long trip to Co Limerick inside a bus in what was what surly was the hottest day in a long number of years, took its tool on the Waterford players.

Limerick was first out of the blocks in this game hitting an early point, but it was cancelled out with an effort from Karen Kelly free.

Points from Deirdre Fitzpatrick and Niamh Mulcahy followed to give Limerick the lead once more, but Waterford again responded with another Karen Kelly free.

A Mary O’Callaghan goal for Limerick followed, when a high ball into the Waterford goal mouth was not dealt with properly.

Trailing 1-4 to 0-2, Waterford however, were to finish the half strongly. Karen Kelly struck another point for Waterford and Zoe O’Donoghue hit the Déise’s first goal of the game.

Four points from Trish Jackman and one each from Karen Kelly and Jennie Simpson with the home side hitting one in return had Waterford leading by two with the break fast drawing close.

Limerick who was best served by Niamh Mulcahy on the day hit back with three points, but Zoe O’Donoghue hit a response for the visiting side to send the sides in at the break on level terms.

After the break, the visitors found themselves put under a lot of pressure by the home side.

The brilliant Niamh Mulcahy put over five points inside the opening minutes of the second half for Limerick. Waterford had a chance to reduce Limerick’s lead but Nicola Morrissey saw were effort tail wide of the posts.

The Limerick attacking players were putting Waterford under a lot of pressure and the ball was encamped in the Waterford side of the field for much of the second half.

Limerick hit a further 1-4 before Waterford struck their first score of the second half ten minutes from time when Karen Kelly converted a free following a foul on Nicola Morrissey.

Three more Niamh Mulcahy points followed for the home side which brought their tally on the scoreboard to 2-20, but credit to Waterford, the side refused to throw in the towel and they were rewarded for their perseverance near the end when Trish Jackman saw a high ball which she sent in around the Limerick goal fall into the net.

This win secures Limerick’s passage into the semi finals of this year’s championship as group winners. They have their four games played in the league section of the competition, finishing on six points, but Waterford can join them on six points if they beat Antrim this Saturday at O’Toole Park in Crumlin (1-30pm). A defeat for Waterford in this game will mean that Antrim or Cork will join Limerick in the semi finals from Group one, while a draw would do Waterford if Kilkenny were to beat Cork this weekend.

Meanwhile the County’s Under 16 Camogie team have secured a place in the semi finals of this year’s ‘B’ Championship after they recorded another huge win (5-13 to 2-3), this time over Derry at the Trinity Gaels Club Grounds in North Dublin.

Waterford was again best served by Beth Carton in this game, finishing the game with 2-4 to her name. The De La Salle Club player has been in devastating form this year in the sides wins over Westmeath, Armagh, Derry and the sides draw with Cork, and will surely have caught the eye of the various selection committees of the different awards presented each month. Others to impress in this game were included Molly Curran who hit four points while Elizabeth McGrath, Iona Heffernan and Aisling Power also impressed hitting a goal each.