Waterford set for first Division One Camogie Game this Sunday

Sunday afternoon next sees history made in Waterford Camogie as the Counties Senior Team will play its first ever game in the Division One League when they take on Kilkenny in the second round of games in this years competition.

Last weekend Division Two League and All-Ireland Intermediate Champions from 2015 had a bye in the first series of games; while their rivals from across the River Suir had a very comfortable 5-9 to 0-1 win away to Derry.

In that game the side managed by Ann Downey, Paddy Mullally and Conor Phelan were very quick out of the traps pointing inside thirty seconds through Sarah Ann Quinlan from a free and from that point there was no turning back for the Cats.

Denise Gaule followed up with a point and Ann Dalton gave the winners a three point lead after just nine minutes.

The first of Kilkenny’s goals came on twelve minutes as Áine Gannon latched onto a Denise Gaule pass tapping home from close range.

The same player followed up with a point before Ann Dalton got her second of the game on eighteen minutes. Kate McDonald pointed for the visitors on twenty five minutes and Kilkenny turned around with a 2-6 to 0-0 lead at the break when Denise Gaule hit their second goal of the game on the stoke of half time when he latched onto a Michelle Quilty pass.

Three minutes into the second half Derry hit their only score of the game when Karen Kelt split the posts from thirty metres out.

Kilkenny however were quickly back on top as Denise Gaule put over a brace of points, before Sarah Ann Quinlan hit her sides third goal of the game eleven minutes after the restart following some good work by Michelle Quilty in the build up.

With the game well won at this stage, Kilkenny eased up somewhat in the final quarter but were still able to ass scores from a Sarah Ann Quinlan point from distance, and in the final minutes the considerably helped their score difference if it was to come into play as Michelle Quilty hit her sides fourth goal of the game five minutes from time after Sarah Ann Quinlan had done some good work in the build up and in the second minute of added time it was Sarah Ann Quinlan that got her sides fifth goal of the game with Denise Gaule doing much of the spadework in the build up.

Waterford this year will find the going much tougher than they did last year when they won the second division of the league and in the years previous to this when they went close to winning the league and Championship, but in saying this it should be noted that Waterford are well equipped to perform well in this grade.

Waterford will field much the same side which won the league and All-Ireland finals last year, but reports have indicated that the Lismore pair of Shona Curran and Nicola Morrissey will not feature this year.

The pair will be a loss to Waterford, but some excellent work is being done at underage level within the county and some of these players will relish getting the chance to fill the boots of the experienced Lismore pair.

Last year under the management of Sean Fleming, some of the brightest young prospects within the county were given their chance to impress and they took that chance and as a result are not the proud owners of league and championship medals.

A year older this time around, the experience they picked up last year will stand to them this year and it is expected that the likes of Beth Carton, Aisling Power, Sibeal Harney, Saoirse Bonner, Brianna O’Regan, Dawn Power, Iona Heffernan, Kate McMahon and Molly Curran to feature prominently again this year alongside the more experienced players such as Caithriona McGlone, Charlotte Raher who captains the side this year, Claire Whyte, Deirdre Brennan, Jennie Simpson, Jenny McCarthy, Lorraine Bray, Niamh Rockett, Trish Jackman, Valerie O’Brien and Vikki Falconer.

And don’t be surprised if we see some of this year’s minor team who won under 16 ‘B’ All-Ireland medals two years ago to maybe get a chance, the likes of Courtney Healy, Clodagh Galvin and Aisling Madigan included.

Make no mistake this is not going to be an easy game for Waterford. The likes of Sarah Ann Quinlan, Denise Gaule, Áine Gaule, Michelle Quilty, Ann Dalton, Emma Kavanagh and Jacqui Frisby all did well for the Cats last weekend in their win over Derry and were able to keep in reserve the likes of Kelly-Ann Doyle and Katie Power, players that will be known to camogie supporters in Waterford.

While this is the second series of games in this years league, its Waterford’s first game, and often against strong and fancied opposition, the best place to get such a team if you are the underdog is in your first game.

How many times in the past have we seen the underdog beat the fancied side when it comes to the G.A.A?

Can it happen again that the unfancied side will beat the fancied side in their first game? Don’t rule it out, but remember it won’t happen easy.