Late Delahunty score gives Waterford Second chance in League Final

A late point from Maria Delahunty means that Waterford and Tipperary will have to do it all over again to see who will take this years National Ladies Football League Division 3 crown and with it promotion to Division two for next years league.

This was a game that both sides will have felt they could have won but at the end of the hour the fairest result all round was served up.

The two sides will now meet at Parnell Park in Dublin at 2pm on Saturday afternoon next to see who will come out on top.

What a pity however that the Ladies Football Association passed up a possible chance to have this game on the replayed National Hurling League Final replay 24 hours later at Thurles.

It awaits to be seen how many people will make the journey to Dublin from the two counties on Saturday morning from the game from the South East. A rough guess at this stage would suggest that a few hundred from both counties will be inside the ground that is likely to see a figure in the low thousands pass through the turn styles for three games at the North Dublin venue.

How many will be in Thurles on Sunday next also waits to be seen, but a rough guess would suggest that between fifteen and twenty thousand will descend on Thurles.

Had the Waterford and Tipperary game been pencilled in before the hurling game, not all of this number would be in to see the whole of the ladies football game, but if the majority were inside the ground for much of the second half then it would have given the game a fantastic atmosphere as it reached its conclusion and maybe get people to see how skilful the game is and as a result get new players involved in the game as players, coach’s referee’s and Administrators.

Waterford for much of this game were in control of proceedings and at one stage held an eight point advantage on the score board as the first half drew to a conclusion.

Four times in total Waterford were five points or more up in the opening half and at one stage in the second half went six in front.

The G.A.A. down the years have followed the road of other sports in introducing new rules into hurling and football and those involved in drawing up new rules should begin to look at how the Ladies Football Association do things.

Those that know me or who follow what I say here will no that I am no fan of the black cards which have come into play in the G.A.A. in recent years.

I am a fan however of the way the Ladies Football Association does things. When a player in Ladies Football is issued a yellow card they have to sit out the next ten minutes of the game and it is in this time that games are often won and lost.

Eleven minutes into the second half of this game on Saturday afternoon Waterford were five up when Michelle McGrath was flashed a yellow card for what looked an accidental clash. When she returned to the field just over ten minutes later that lead was wiped out. How different would many men’s games finish if the same rules applied.

Both sides had contrasting starts to this game. Tipperary lost Niamh Lonergan before the game and it was only seconds old Claire Carroll had to leave with an injury.

Waterford on the other hand started with a Katie Murray goal on three minutes. The build up to the goal began with a long ball out of defence from Mairead Wall to Sinead Ryan who brought Liz Devine and Aileen Wall into the action before the latter found Katie Murray with a delightful cross field pass and she blasted to the net to give Waterford an early lead.

A magnificent point from a Maria Delahunty ’45 followed before Aisling Moloney hit the Premier Counties first score on six minutes. Another good score from Katie Murray this time resulting in a white flag followed for Waterford on nine minutes but it was soon cancelled out with an effort from Gillian O’Brien.

Points from Maria Delahunty and a beautiful score from Sinead Ryan and one from Liz Devine followed to give Waterford a six point advantage with thirteen minutes played and it was looking as if it was going to be Waterford’s afternoon.

Aisling Moloney pulled a point back for Tipperary on fourteen minutes and from the restart after the score Waterford attacked up field and were unlucky not to kick a second goal as an effort from Michelle Ryan was cleared from the Tipperary goal mouth. The ball was quickly played down field and Gillian O’Brien lobed the Waterford full back line and found Aisling Moloney who got inside them and she found Edel Hanley who finished to the net despite the best efforts of Katie Hannon and Linda Wall to keep the ball out.

Now leading by two Waterford hit the next three scores through Katie Murray, Sinead Ryan from a free and Caoimhe McGrath to go five up once more. Eimer Hayes and Sinead Ryan swapped scores before Aileen Wall crashed the size four off the Tipperary crossbar.

Waterford did manage to kick a second goal two minutes from the break. Katie Murray was fouled on the 45 metre line and when the advantage did not work out for her, the play was called back and a free awarded. Maria Delahunty was brought out to kick off the ground and she found plenty of elevation in her attempt which looked to be sailing over the heads of the Tipperary defence but dipped at the last second and with the help of Patricia Hickeys finger tips dropped into the Tipperary net to give Waterford a 2-9 to 1-4 lead.

But that score was soon wiped out as almost straight away Tipperary had the ball in the Waterford net as Mairead Morrissey and Catriona Walsh linked up with Aisling Moloney who when she got one on one with Katie Murray gave her little chance of keeping the ball out the net.

Maria Delahunty and Aisling Moloney swapped early second hand scores before the latter looked to have a legitimate score ruled out following some uncertainty between the umpires.

Waterford lost Michelle McGrath on 41 minutes following a challenge on Catriona Walsh and while Waterford were a player down, the Premier County kicked 1-4 as opposed to two points for Waterford to wipe out the five point advantage that Waterford held at the time.

Three minutes after the sin binning a shot from Ann O’Dwyer was parried by Katie Hannon but before she could get a firm grasp on the ball Aisling Moloney was in to rob her and to kick from close range for her second goal of the game.

Aisling McCarthy and Gillian O’Brien followed up with points to level matters on the score board before Moloney put Tipperary in front for the first time on 47 minutes.

Sinead Ryan and Roisin Tobin kicked points for Waterford to give the Déise side the lead once more but an Edith Carroll effort on 52 minutes soon had the sides level again and with it the numbers on the field as Michelle McGrath returned for the closing minutes.

Three minutes from time Sheelagh Carew sent Tipperary back in front and it looked as if it was going to be heartbreak for Waterford in a league final for the third year in a row, but 41 seconds from the end, after Maria Delahunty was fouled, she and Sinead Ryan debated as to who would kick from about 30 metres out and it was agreed that it should be the Abbeyside player who made no mistake to send the game to a replay this coming weekend.

WATERFORD: Katie Hannon; Linda Wall, Michelle McGrath, Emma Murray; Mairead Wall, Megan Dunford, Louise Ryan; Grainne Kenneally, Katie Murray; Caoimhe McGrath, Michelle Ryan, Maria Delahunty; Sinead Ryan, Liz Devine, Aileen Wall. Subs: Ciara Hurley for Grainne Kenneally (23), Grainne Kenneally for Liz Devine (37), Roisin Tobin for Michelle Ryan (42), Aisling Mullaney for Grainne Kenneally (51).

Scorers: Maria Delahunty 1-4 (1-2f, 0-1 45f), Katie Murray 1-2, Sinead Ryan 0-4 (1f), Caoimhe McGrath, Liz Devine, Roisin Tobin 0-1 each.

TIPPERARY: Patricia Hickey; Brid Condon, Samantha Lambert, Sinead Delahunty; Anne O’Dwyer, Jennifer Grant, Claire Carroll; Lorraine O’Shea, Sheelagh Carew; Catriona Walsh, Mairead Morrissey, Eimear Myles; Aisling Moloney, Gillian O’Brien, Edel Hanley. Subs: Bernie Ryan for Claire Carroll (1), Aisling McCarthy for Bernie Ryan (h.t), Edith Carroll for Catriona Walsh (44), Kelly Hackett for Edel Hanely (54).

Scorers: Aisling Moloney 2-4, Edel Hanley 1-0, Gillian O’Brien 0-2, Sheelagh Carew, Eimear Myles, Edith Carroll, Aisling McCarthy 0-1 each.

Referee: Gavin Corrigan (Down).