Two wins in Walsh Park would secure Two All-Ireland Semi Final Spots for Déise Camogie sides

Waterford’s Intermediate Camogie Team can secure their place in the Semi Finals of the Liberty Insurance All-Ireland Championship for the fourth year in a row at Walsh Park on Saturday afternoon if they can get the better of near neighbours Kilkenny.

Waterford got their campaign off to an excellent start when they beat Antrim at the same venue three weeks ago having a massive twenty points to spare at the end of the hour.

A Waterford win this weekend would mean that when they play Kildare in the last game of the league section of the competition it would be to see who finishes top of the group and to get what is often perceived to be the easier of the semi finals.

In the last three years, Waterford in the All-Ireland semi finals were given tough draws playing Galway twice and Limerick last year with the winners in the last two years going on to win the All-Ireland Final.

This will be Kilkenny’s last game in the league section of the competition and go into the game knowing that a defeat would see them drop out of the competition.

The Cats began the year loosing out to Kildare at Thomastown on a 3-7 to 1-6 score line but they made up for it last weekend when they beat Antrim 2-15 to 1-9 at Ahoghill.

The clash at Walsh Park is the second big clash of the two this year.

When the sides met at the WIT Campus in Carriganore in March, Waterford ran out 2-13 to 1-8 winners, a win that secured the sides place in the semi finals of the league, a competition as we all know at this stage that Waterford went on to win, beating a strong Laois side at Dr. Cullen Park in Carlow.

In the game at Carriganore between the two sides, Jennie Simpson was superb playing at Centre Back and put in a Player of the Match performance. Claire Whyte, Deirdre Brennan, Trish Jackman, Lorraine Bray, Nicola Morrissey, Beth Carton, Dawn Power and Niamh Rockett all put in big performances for Waterford and if Waterford are to win here, they will be looking for these players if selected and others to put in a similar shift.

For Kilkenny that day their best players were Niamh Brambrick and Sarah Ann Quinlan who shared 1-1 and 0-4 respectfully of Kilkenny’s tally of 1-8.

Kilkenny going on the team selected to play Antrim last weekend will be a much different and stronger outfit to the team that played in the league against Waterford.

Just five of the side that played in Carriganore – Bridget Brennan, Edel Frisby, Rebecca Cleere, Sarah Crowley and Sarah Ann Quinlan were selected to start against Antrim last weekend.

The side is also likely to include Edel Frisby from the Ballyhale Shamrocks side which lost out to Lismore in the All-Ireland Intermediate Club Final replay at Clonmel in 2014 as well as Kelly Ann Doyle and Laura Norris from the Piltown side which defeated Lismore in this years final at Croke Park, while Therese Muldowney was part of the Kilkenny side that lost out to Limerick in last years Intermediate All-Ireland Final at Croke Park, while there was also plenty of experience in the named subs last weekend.

Waterford too could well prove to be a much changed team from the side that played Kilkenny at Carriganore in the league.

Of the side that beat Kilkenny in the league, nine of the starting team that day started in the win over Antrim three weeks ago with a number of the nine players who started in both games playing in a different position last day out.

For the record, the nine that started against Kilkenny in the league and Antrim in the championship are Deirdre Brennan, Vikki Falconer, Jennie Simpson, Jenny McCarthy, Trish Jackman, Lorraine Bray, Nicola Morrissey, Beth Carton and Dawn Power.

For the game against Antrim Kate McMahon, Charlotte Raher, Iona Heffernan, Catriona McGlone, Aisling Power and Shona Curran all came into the team with Emma Hannon and Valerie O’Brien both of whom are out of the country, Claire Whyte, Claire Murphy, Becky Kavanagh and Niamh Whyte the player loosing out on a starting place from the league win over Kilkenny.

Against Antrim Beth Carton with 1-3 and Catriona McGlone with 2-0 finished as top scorers for Waterford. Dawn Power, Trish Jackman, Molly Power, Lorraine Bray and Aisling Power also got their names on the score sheet.

Waterford will know that against Kilkenny this weekend they will be served up a much tougher test than what Antrim served up. Sean Fleming’s charges will know that if they are as efficient this weekend as they were three weeks ago in front of goal while remaining just as tight at the back to break down then there is an excellent chance that the win needed to secure a semi final spot can be achieved.

In the first of two games to be played at Walsh Park on Sunday, the counties Under 16 team will be hoping to keep their none loosing record in this years championship in tact when they face Dublin in a top of the table clash.

This will be Waterford’s fourth and final game in the league section of the competition and the side will know that a win here will give the side a semi final spot and the chance to retain the All-Ireland ‘B’ title that the side so brilliantly won twelve months ago, having lost out in the final twelve months earlier.

Waterford has recorded wins over Antrim and Clare in rounds one and three, both by a point with a draw against Cork recorded in between.

Dublin will travel to Walsh Park with two wins from their two games played so far, beating Clare and Antrim in their two previous games. The side from the capital will travel to Walsh Park safe in the knowledge that they have a round five game to play against Cork, a round where Waterford will have a bye and should they loose in Walsh Park the winner of the game between the sides from the counties with the two biggest populations in the country will join Waterford in the semi finals against two sides from the opposite group.

The Dublin side will travel to Waterford in a confident mood and are playing some good camogie in their games to date with the likes of Megan Thomas, Aoife Farrell, Emily Browne, Laura Morgan, Zoe Couch, Caoimhe Hughes, Aisling Andrews, Beth Whyte, Sinead Wylde, Sarah Murphy, Aoibhe Dillon and Chloe Mullen impressing.

If Dublin are impressing then so too are Waterford.

In the last few years Waterford have brought forward some very impressive young players, some of whom will feature in the Intermediate game, and it looks like another exciting group could be coming through with the likes of Ciara Jackman, Taylor Healy, Aisling Madigan, Niamh Murphy, Anne Corcoran, Faye Curley, Kaiesha Tobin, Saoirse English, Aisling Baumann amongst others all excellent players who will be looking to do the same as what were part of last years panel did.

Camogie in Waterford is enjoying some good times of late and hopefully there will be many more great days to come.

A win for both of Waterford’s side in Walsh Park on Saturday would book the two sides in action place in the semi finals of their respective competitions. Don’t rule it out happening.