Two Camogie Sides In Championship Action This Saturday

Great credit must go to those that line out for our Camogie and Ladies Football Inter County teams. We are all aware of the commitment given by our hurlers and men’s football teams when it comes to the Inter County team and indeed by those that are over the team and those that work in the back room team, but I think most of us are not aware that our Ladies are putting in the exact same effort and even at times put in an even bigger effort.

To run the men’s county board each year is not an easy task as money has to be found each year to pay the bills and it would appear that with each passing year these bills are getting bigger and bigger, and credit must go to the supporters of the G.A.A. in the county who help in their own way to generate funds, supporting different fund raising events each year.

The Camogie and Ladies Football County Boards each year have their own fund raisers which while would be supported they would not be supported the same way as a fund raiser the way one for our men’s team would be, because maybe they don’t get the same exposure.

These fund raisers are often a joint effort by the players and the relevant county boards, who deserve huge amount of praise for what they do.

The officers of the county boards try and look after the players as best as they can with the limited resources they have available to them and the players in return appreciate what is done for them.

One former county player a few years ago was telling me how the players knew the county board were working off limited money did not make demands of the board. She told me how for one away game played in Limerick the players car pooled to travel to the game rather than ask for a bus, as they knew there was games further away that year to be played and hoped that by driving to Limerick the money would be available for a bus for longer journey.

This weekend while the most with an interest in the G.A.A. in Waterford will have their attention on the big game in Tullamore on Saturday, it would be interesting to know how many others within the county are aware that two more of our inter county sides are in action on the same day around the same time.

The two teams are our Senior and Junior Camogie teams who have games against Galway in Athenry and against Dublin in Walsh Park at the same time.

The Camogie County Board under the guidance of Chairperson Ita Murphy deserve great credit for the way they are promoting the game in the county and to get as many players as is possible into a county jersey.

For the senior team it will be their third game in the All-Ireland Championship and are heading West in search of a first win in the championship, having lost out to All-Ireland Champions Kilkenny in their first game and two weeks ago they lost out to Clare in Ennis on a very warm day.

Waterford will not need telling that they face a difficult task playing against Galway. They have played just one game in the championship to date having got a bye in the first round of game and last time out against Dublin they recorded a 3-18 to 1-12 win over Dublin in Coolock.

That day the winners had good performances from the likes of Ailish O’Reilly and Aoife Donohue who shared 2-14 of their sides tally on the day, and Waterford will know that if they allow them time on the ball they will again put up good tallies this weekend.

While Waterford has lost their two games to date, they are in fact playing some good Camogie. This is only Waterford’s second year playing in this grade and the side are still learning. It is going to take them a little time to get up to the speed of the game that the likes of Kilkenny, Cork, Wexford and Galway play but when they do, they too will be a match for any side, as the talent is available to the management team.

Waterford are without the likes of Jennie Simpson, Charlotte Raher, Trish Jackman and Aisling Power this year, players that two years ago won League and All-Ireland medals just two years ago, but there is still plenty of talent available.

In the likes of Brianna O’Regan, Fiona Morrissey, Claire Whyte, Aoife Landers, Shauna Kiernan, Áine Lyng, Beth Carton, Lorraine Bray, Aoife Landers, Niamh Rockett, Caitriona McGlone and Valerie O’Brien Waterford have a nice blend of youth and experience.

Galway will go into the game as favourites this Saturday, but you can expect this ever improving Waterford side to push the home side all the way.

The senior side however may well be travelling under the Shannon with a smaller than usual panel as some of the fringe players could well be lining out at Walsh Park with the juniors.

Their game against Dublin will be only their second competitive game of the year together, having lost out to Kerry at the same venue in the Munster Semi Final back in early May.

They did not take part in the National League, unlike their opponents this weekend who won all four of their games in the third division of the league, including against Kerry, and went on to beat Roscommon in the final in Kinnegad on a 0-12 to 0-7 score line.

Caragh Dawson and Laoise Quinn in attack are two players that Waterford will have to keep a close eye on, but they are likely to be strong straight down the middle of the field if they have the likes of Aisling Spillane in goal, Laura Walsh at full back, Deirdre Johnston at centre back, Eimear O’Riordan and Róisín Drohan in the middle of the field and Aoife Bulger and Emer Keenan in the central forward positions if all are available.

Waterford however are likely to put out a strong and youthful as well as some experience line up with the likes of Katie O’Keeffe, Colette Hogan, Ciara Toomey, Niamh Murphy, Sadie Mai Rowe, Sinead Cunningham, Shauna Fitzgerald, Clare Griffin, Abbie Dunphy, Kaiesha Tobin and Fiona Ni Bhrian.

Again just like the seniors this weekend, Waterford might go into this game as the underdog despite playing at home, but they will work hard and make things very difficult for the side from the capital.