Waterford Ladies Football - A look back at 2014 - Part 4

The review of 2014 here began with a look at how the counties intermediate team faired in the early stages of year. To finish the year we return to look at the Intermediate team and how they faired in the championship.

Between 2009 and 2013 Waterford’s Intermediate Ladies Football team won the Munster final five times in a row and appeared in the All-Ireland Final on two occasions loosing to Donegal in 2010 and Armagh in 2012.

The question to be answered in 2014 was could they make it six in a row and to maybe add a win at Croke Park to their roll of honour, or would one from Limerick who had a stronger team in 2014 than in 2013 or Tipperary who were beaten in the 2013 All-Ireland final against Cavan end Waterford domination of the competition.

Played on a round robin basis, Waterford’s first game saw them make the journey to Adare to play Limerick on a Friday evening.

Waterford were first off the mark in this game with a Michelle Ryan point on three minutes, but Marie Curtin would soon cancel it out but putting over a free for Limerick.

Liz Devine having played well in the league and impressing in the minor grade was given her championship debut against Limerick and she rewarded the selectors for the fete shown in her by edging Waterford in front once more, before Hannah Landers slotted to the net to give Waterford a four point lead.

Aimee Jordan pulled off a terrific save for Waterford to keep her side in front from a Marie Curtain and from the follow up, Karen McGrath did well to keep the ball out of the Waterford net.

Limerick hit a brace of points in quick succession to narrow the gap but Liz Devine followed up with her second score of the evening on the quarter of an hour mark.

For the next eight minutes, Limerick were on top, but they only hit two points in that period to leave the minimum between the sides. Aileen and Mairead Wall followed up with points for Waterford after which Elaine Power, Michelle Ryan and Marie Curtain all knocked over points to leave Waterford leading 1-7 to 0-7 ahead at the break.

In the second half, it was Limerick that started the better of the two sides, kicking two quick points to leave one between the sides.

Linda Wall put two between the sides on forty minutes, Limerick responded but Mairead Wall was to follow up with another score for Waterford.

Limerick refused to throw in the towel to a more experienced side and hit back with another point. Liz Devine, Aileen Wall and Elaine Power then landed points for Waterford to all but secure the points on offer.

If there was any doubting the final outcome, the game was wrapped up for Waterford two minutes from time when Linda Wall caught the Limerick defence napping and made no mistake in hitting a second goal for Waterford to secure a 2-12 to 0-11 victory.

Waterford secured their place in a sixth successive provincial final when they beat Tipperary 4-23 to 1-8 in their second round robin game at Carrick-on-Suir.

Waterford went into the game as favourites to advance and they did not disappoint. It was Tipperary through Gillian O’Brien that opened the scoring which Aileen Wall quickly replied to. That score was set up by Shona Curran and she set up the next as well winning the kick-out following the score and setting up Aileen Wall again for her and Waterford’s second score.

Aileen’s sister’s Mairead and Linda then chipped in with points to extend Waterford’s lead, before Aisling McCarthy pulled one back for Tipperary. Hannah Landers hit three points in the following minutes and Michelle Ryan kicked one to extend Waterford’s lead to five.

Tipperary hit the next two scores a point form Gillian O’Brien and then a Niamh Lonergan goal to leave the minimum between the sides with 20 minutes played.

But from here on in, it was Waterford all the way as Hannah Landers, Elaine Power, Michelle Ryan and Linda Wall hit a barrage of points to sent Waterford five up.

The game was ended as a contest when Linda Wall found her sister Aileen unmarked in front of the Tipperary goal and she duly obliged in slamming to the Tipperary net.

Gillian O’Brien pulled a point back for Tipperary but points from Michelle Ryan, Linda Wall (two each) and Hannah Landers followed to give Waterford a 1-16 to 1-5 lead at the break.

If Tipperary were to stand a chance of winning a place in the Munster Final, they needed a good start to the second half. It did not happen. However Waterford did have a great start as Aileen Wall hit a second Waterford goal after which Louise Ryan kicked a wonderful point.

Liz Devine hit another wonderful score on thirty-nine minutes, after which Tipperary scored consolation points from Bernie Ryan and Gillian O’Brien at the end of the third quarter.

Waterford hit points from Linda Wall, Michelle Ryan, Elaine Power and Aileen Wall to further extend their lead.  In the closing minutes with the game long over as a contest, Caoimhe McGrath, Amy Whelan and Megan O’Connor were sent on for their championship debuts.

With four minutes to go Waterford won a penalty and opted to bring goalkeeper Aimee Jordan up the length of the team to face her Tipperary counterpart one on one, having already nailed a spot kick against Sligo in the league, and she made no mistake.

Shauna Dunphy kicked a good point for Waterford after this and before the end Waterford won a second penalty and again opted to bring Aimee Jordan up fire to strike from twelve metres, again making no mistake. Maybe reading this will win you a table quiz in the near future as you now know what goal keeper was last to score two goals in the one game in an inter county championship game.

Having run Waterford close in the first game of the championship, many expected Limerick to do much the same in the Munster Final at Rathmore in Co. Kerry.

Waterford opened in whirlwind fashion. Michelle Ryan opened the scoring on three minutes by putting over a free. Hannah landers followed up with a second point and Michelle Ryan then got her second of the game on four minutes.

Megan Kelleher hit back with a goal for Limerick catching the Waterford defence off guard levelling the game 0-3 to 1-0.

Waterford served up a first class display over the next quarter of an hour. Mairead Wall got the ball rolling with a point. Liz Devine followed up with a point after she was picked out by Linda Wall. Elaine Power stretched Waterford’s lead to three points after which Aileen Wall and Michelle Ryan with a glorious effort from thirty-five metres extended Waterford’s lead. Hannah Lander followed up with another point after which Michelle Ryan kicked her fourth of the game with just thirteen minutes played.

Linda Wall, Michelle Ryan and Liz Devine kept the referee, umpire and score board operator busy by hitting further points. A further two points, both from Michelle Ryan followed. Waterford were in cruise control.

Waterford were twelve points to the good at this stage, but Limerick managed to cut that lead before the break as Marie Curtin (twice) Niamh Richardson and Dympna O’Brien landed points to cut Waterford’s lead to 0-15 to 1-4 at the break.

Marie Curtain and Elaine Power swapped early scores in the second half after which Hannah Landers struck Waterford’s first goal of the game following some good work by Róisín Tobin. Two further points for Waterford followed, both from Michelle Ryan, her eight and ninth of the game followed by the mid way point in the second half.

Linda Wall extended Waterford’s lead before Elaine Power thundered Waterford’s second goal of the game which put fifteen points between the sides.

Limerick hit the last six scores of the game, all points, four from Marie Curtain and one each from Claire O’Riordan and Stephanie Carroll proved to be mere consolation scores for Limerick as Waterford ran out 2-20 to 1-11 winners.

Waterford must be sick of Ulster opposition in big knockout games. So many times in recent years, they have denied Waterford deserved silverware on a national level that the players deserve.

Cavan in 2010 and Armagh in 2014 have beaten Waterford in Division Three league finals. In the Championship, Donegal in 2010 and Armagh in 2012 beat Waterford in All-Ireland Intermediate Finals. Cavan beat Waterford in the Quarter Finals in 2013 and went on to win the All-Ireland beating Tipperary in the decider, while this year it was Fermanagh that caused heartache on the double (Armagh had won the League final) for Waterford beating them in the quarter finals, but unlike Donegal, Armagh and Cavan, while they reached the final, they failed to win meaning that they will be one of the favourites to win in 2015.

Played at the St. Peregrine’s Grounds in Blanchardstown, the final outcome in this game was in doubt till the closing minutes.

Fermanagh’s Áine McHugh was first to score after just 18 seconds, put it was soon cancelled out with an effort from Aileen Wall on two minutes. Michelle Ryan edged Waterford ahead on four minutes after which Hannah Landers but that lead was wiped out with a brace of Sharon Little points on nine and twelve minutes.

A long delay soon afterwards following an injury to Caroline Little seemed to break the concentration of the Waterford players and as a result Sharon Little struck for a goal on the resumption which put Fermanagh in the driving seat.

However Waterford were soon back to their best as Michelle Ryan and Liz Devine tagged on points and Michelle Ryan levelled matters with a point on the stroke of half time.

Waterford opened the scoring in the second half with another Michelle Ryan point, but were rocked soon afterwards when Fermanagh struck a second goal when Michelle Monaghan broke forward and blasted the ball to the Waterford net, giving Fermanagh the lead once more.

Lynne McFredricks stretched Fermanagh’s lead but when Waterford won a penalty on forty-one minutes Aimee Jordan was not for the first time this year called forward to face the one on one with her Fermanagh counterpart and she made no mistake in restoring the lead for Waterford, 1-9 to 2-4.

Points from Aisling Moane and Lunne McFredricks followed for Fermanagh to give the Ulster side the lead once more, but was followed up with efforts from Liz Devine and Michelle Ryan to give Waterford lead once more.

Noelle Connolly levelled matters with two minutes to go after which Sharon Little put Fermanagh back in front.

Fermanagh refused to sit back on their lead and in injury time Noelle Connolly struck a third Fermanagh goal which sealed the win and Caroline Little pointed to secure a 3-10 to 1-11 victory.

Sometimes its hard to know are players better off playing on a regular basis or if a break between games.

Waterford for what it was worth had a six week lay off between the Munster Final and the All-Ireland quarter final loss to Fermanagh.

Let’s not have any sour grapes here. Fermanagh on the day deserved their win, but did a six week lay off from competitive action play a factor in the defeat for Waterford.

Maybe the way the championship is structured should be looked at. Maybe it might be possible to cut the gap between provincial finals and the date the provincial winners are next in action.

Could it be worked out that teams that fail to reach a provincial final be cut to four by the weekend of the provincial finals which could all be played on the same weekend? Could the four sides that failed to reach a provincial final remaining in contention for All-Ireland glory play in a round with the four provincial losers the following weekend with the four winners of these games joining the four provincial winners in the quarter finals two weeks later? Would a structure like this work? Well we wont know till be try.

2014 say Waterford win the plate final of the Jim Kennedy Cup. Waterford won a sixth successive Munster Intermediate final, reached a League final, as well as reaching an All-Ireland quarter final.

Can Waterford go a step or two further in 2015. Well all of the above are positives. So to is the fact that former manager Pat O’Brien helped blood some exciting new young talent in competitive games the teams played.

Waterford were not far from reaching where they want to be in 2014. Maybe 2015 will be the year. Let’s keep or fingers crossed.