Ballymacarbry and Comeragh Rangers clash in Senior Ladies Football County Final and Dungarvan and Na Déise battle in Junior Final

This years County Senior Ladies Football County Final takes place on Sunday afternoon in Kilmacthomas and not for the first time in recent years, neighbours Ballymacarbry and Comeragh Rangers will be doing battle.

In previewing last years final on here, I felt that it could have been a very close final. Two attempts were needed to find the winner of last years final which Ballymacarbry eventually won to claim a 34^th successive final which has to be some sort of record.

The first game had to be abandoned after a lengthy delay following an injury to one of the Comeragh Rangers players and in the re-fixture a week later, Ballymacarbry showed all their experience to win out at the Dungarvan Club Grounds.

If I felt last years final was going to be close, I can’t but feel the same this year. The two sides already met recently and shared 2-7 to 1-10 draw.

That result will have both clubs going into this Sunday’s clash at Kilmacthomas in a confident mood and will spur them on to go that little further this time out, and to take home with them the Edith Kennedy Cup.

The Club in Ballymacarbry is one of the oldest in the county, being founded in 1970 four years before the Ladies Football Association was founded. On the other hand, the Comeragh Rangers Club is a relatively new one as it was founded in 1999.

The two sides go into the game with plenty of experience that they can count on. But its not just experience that both are built on, both have also invested time and energy into the youth of their respective areas in recent years and they have produced some very good players, some of whom could at this stage be classed as experienced as well.

To those that follow Ladies Football within the county, many of the Ballymacarbry side will need no introduction.

They have players of high ability right throughout their side. Michelle, Louise and Sinead Ryan, Linda, Mairead and Aileen Wall as well as Michelle and Karen McGrath as regulars in the Waterford senior team and have between them won a considerable amount of medals with both Club and County.

No team is complete with eight players, even if they are of the standard already mentioned. Lauren Fitzpatrick and Treasa McGrath are also key to Ballymacarbry and both have played for Tipperary. Throw in the likes of Laura Mulcahy, Becky Hogan, Becky Desmond, Marion Ryan and Lauren Guiry and you can see that this Ballymacarbry team is indeed a very good one.

If Ballymacarbry have a team build on experience and youth, the same can be said of Comeragh Rangers.

Just as some of the Ballymacarbry players are household names, the same could well be said of Comeragh Rangers.

Nora, Anne, Ciara and Shauna Dunphy have all played for the county and have won honours in the white and blue shirt of Waterford. So too have the brilliant Murray triplets, Emma, Aoife and Katie.

And just as is the case with Ballymacarbry, Comeragh Rangers are not a complete side with their most recognisable faces.

They too have some experienced and young players in the likes of Aisling Hahessey, Geraldine, Mairead and Eibhlin Power as well as Aoife Dunne who are all top class players.

The side from the Eastern Side of the county also will be able to call on the experience of many of the players that helped Scoil Mhuire in Carrick-on-Suir earlier this year to win the Senior ‘A’ All-Ireland final.

This game could go right to the wire. It may not even be decided on the day. Those on the line will also play a roll. Both management teams will have to keep a close eye on what is happening and be able to make any necessary changes at the right time. Should Joe Murray along with Declan Hahessey and Stephen Fitzgerald be not able to react to what Mike Guiry, Catherine Ryan, Gerry McGrath, Áine Wall and Caitriona Casey do and vice versa then the game could be won easily for one side or the other.

The game in Kilmacthomas on Sunday afternoon has a 1pm throw in. Who will win this game? Right now, I wish I knew so that I could find a bookie that would take a few Euro off me and me of them in return.

Before this game, the County Junior A Final between Dungarvan and Na Déise will take place at the same venue with the game having an 11am throw in.

Dungarvan were relegated from the Junior ranks last year for this years competition and will be looking to go back up at the first time of asking, while Na Déise appeared in last years Final and looked as if they were going to capture the title against Comeragh Rangers second string side but were hit for a couple of late goals near the end.

They will be looking to go that one step further this year and make up for the disappointment of twelve months ago and will see what can be done if they do go up as their opponents last year, who won the Junior B Final in 2014 went on to contest the Intermediate Final within the county in recent weeks.

Just as in the case with the senior game, both of these sides have nice blend of young and experienced players.

For the Old Boro, Lauren McGregor and Ciara Hurley would have played for the Waterford senior team this year and their experience is going to be vital as will players like Aisling Baumann, Aoife Nagle and Beckie Hurley.

For Na Déise Mary Kate Morrissey and Bronagh Condon would have played for the Waterford Senior team while Trisha Kiely would have done so in the recent past while the likes of Mary Kate Curran and Abbey Dalton are players that we will see and hear a lot more about in the next few years.

Like the senior game between Ballymacarbry and Comeragh Rangers which follows this one, expect Dungarvan and Na Déise to fight out a terrific battle which could well go right to the wire.

The winner of both finals go on to represent Waterford in the Munster Club Championships in the coming weeks.