Waterford Set To Welcome League and All-Ireland Champions to Walsh Park

This time last week if you had asked many of those that follow Ladies Football as to who would win last Sunday’s Munster Senior Ladies Football Championship who would win the clash between Waterford and Cork at Fraher Field, few would any degree of confidence would have told you that Waterford would win the game.

After all, it was a side that last September won the All-Ireland Final for the eleventh time and only a few weeks back won the National League Final at Parnell Park, where they recorded a narrow win over Donegal.

Waterford for their part were a division two side, finishing five points off winning a place in the semi finals and finished seventh in a group of eight teams.

Go back a week earlier and at the same venue, the same two counties met in the Munster Senior Football Championship.

This time it was Cork, a side who are challenging each year for the top place within the game in the province with Kerry, but maybe Tipperary might have something to say about that in the coming years, and Waterford whose main aim when it comes to football each year is to get out of Division Four of the National Football League, only for far too often to be left disappointed for another year, a side that in the world of Gaelic Games is all too often ranked thirty-first or thirty-second depending whether you include Kilkenny or not. If our South East Neighbours are included, the question we don’t ask is whether it is New York or London that those that compile the stats include above the Déise County.

But two weekends ago, Tom McGlinchey’s side showed that the stats don’t often be right as they ran an Odd’s On Cork side with the bookies to win, to within one point, and with some look on the night might have even won the game to advance to a Munster Semi Final against Tipperary.

This coming Saturday Waterford have another of our inter county sides out in the championship. This time it’s the turn of the County Senior Camogie Team to begin their quest to try and reach Croke Park in September.

Again Waterford will enter the game as the outsiders. Just like in Ladies Football, the early games in the championship is run off on a round robin series, with three teams from both groups advancing to the knockout stages of the championship, the top team in each group advancing to the All-Ireland Semi Finals with the second and third sides contesting the quarter finals.

It is easy to see why Waterford will go into this game as the underdog.

Since winning Division Two of the National League in 2015 the Déise Ladies have recorded just two wins in the league, one in 2016 and one this year, and won just one game in the championship last year after they won the Intermediate Championship again in 2015.

Oh yes, have I mentioned just like the Waterford Senior Ladies Footballers last weekend, Waterford this weekend are playing Kilkenny, the side like Cork last week for the footballers, last September won the All-Ireland Senior Camogie Final and last month they won the Division One National League Final, beating Cork in Limerick.

Neutrals will say that Kilkenny rightly so are favourites to win this All-Ireland Championship opener against their neighbours at Walsh Park on Saturday.

While they might not have all fifteen faces that started last year’s All-Ireland Final involved for this game, they still will have a very strong side out, one that could well prove to be as strong if not stronger that won the O’Duffy Cup last September.

The Cat’s will go into this game in fine form. Since winning the National League early in May, they have won the Leinster Championship, beating Dublin in the semi final after extra time and recently beat Offaly in the final with just a puck of the ball to spare.

The clash between the two sides will be the second this year.

The two sides have already clashed in the National League back in the spring when Kilkenny emerged 2-12 to 0-14 winners at the WIT Arena at Carriganore.

For this game, Kilkenny would be expected to be a much stronger outfit, with many of their top players who were left out against Waterford last time expected to be included this time around.

That could well mean that Emma Kavanagh will start between the posts with Catherine Foley at full back and Ann Dalton at centre back.

Elsewhere in defence Grace Walsh and Claire Phelan would be expected to be included, while the likes of Michelle Teehan, Aisling Nolan, Sarah Crowley, Davina Tobin, Aisling Dunphy, Stacey Quirke and Laura Murphy will battle it out for the remaining places.

Meighan Farrell would be expected to be in the middle of the field alongside one from Niamh Deely, Jenny Reddy and Aisling Dunphy if not selected in defence.

In attack Kilkenny might well prove to be very dangerous.

Denise Gaule, Julie Ann Malone, Katie Power, Miriam Walsh, Michelle Quilty, Grace O’Donnell, Danielle Morrissey, Jenny Clifford and Sarah Kent would all be expected to battle for six positions, with maybe one of those that lose out on a place in attack maybe coming into the team in the middle of the field.

And what of Waterford.

Ray O’Brien’s charges will have seen in the last two weekends that upsets can happen, and that they can happen again.

They will have worked hard since the league.

They really put it up to Tipperary in the Munster Championship before they lost out.

They have also played some tough challenge games against sides on the opposite side of the championship draw, like Cork and Wexford, and have also played club side Rathnure, and these games will have helped the side.

Since the league some faces have left the Waterford set up, but just as some have left, new or returning faces have been added to the panel from which Waterford will be picking from.

Trish Jackman is not involved this year with Waterford and neither are players like Jennie Simpson and Charlotte Raher.

These three players are big losses to Waterford. They would to any side, but credit to those that are in the panel, they have stepped up to the mark and have showed they are ready to fill in for those that are not available.

Brianna O’Regan has made the goalkeepers shirt her own this year. She is a player that has shown a lot of promise on the underage scene in the last number of years and in the last year or so has shown that she is equally as impressive on the bigger stage.

Up front another De La Salle player is going to be equally as important. Beth Carton has come up through the same underage teams as Brianna O’Regan and is widely regarded as one of the best young players in the country.

She made a big name for herself two years ago helping Waterford win the Intermediate All-Ireland Final, nailing an early second half goal from a free to the back of the Kildare net, a score that proved crucial, and since then we have seen her status rise and rise within the game, playing against the best players in the country.

What team Ray O’Brien and his management team put out this weekend is not known right now, but it will be one that will not be lacking in belief.

While two De La Salle players likely to start have already being mentioned, thirteen other players will also be starting, and there will also be a number of players waiting on the wings ready to come in if needed.

Joint captains Fiona Morrissey and Emma Roche are certain to start. Aoife Landers impressed throughout the league and could well start in the middle of the field for Waterford.

Shona Kiernan and Claire Whyte are two very experienced players who again had impressive league campaigns and should well start this Saturday.

Lorraine Bray is a player that I have been watching in recent years and could well start in the middle of the field, while Iona Heffernan and Caitriona McGlone would be expected to be included in attack, as would Niamh Rockett who was very impressive in the league, causing many teams all sorts of problems. Kate McMahon is another player that we could well see start in attack.

In defence Áine and Mairead Power could well be included from the start as could be Marie Russell and Jenny McCarthy.

One player that did not make the panel for the league is Gailltir’s Áine Lyng. She had an impressive year last year with her club and returned to the inter county scene earlier this year with the Waterford Junior side that lost out to Kerry at Walsh Park.

Before taking a break from the game in recent years when she was out of the country, Áine was a regular for the Waterford Junior Side and played in two All-Ireland finals in 2009 and 2010 and was also a member of the Under 16 team that won the All-Ireland Final in 2003. Her experience could well see her get a run at some stage if she does not start.

Other players around with a while who could well get some game time is Becky Kavanagh who played during the league, while fellow Saint Anne’s Club mate Claire Murphy is back in the side. She is the holder of League and All-Ireland medals from 2015 and is an experienced player.

The reminder of the Waterford panel for this weekend is made up of Aoife Shanahan, Sadie Mae Rowe, Ciara Toomey, Niamh Murphy, Niamh Ahearne, Annie Galvey, Ciara Jackman and Abbie Dunphy who if called upon will not let the side down.

Can Waterford beat Kilkenny in the first round of this year’s All-Ireland Camogie Championship?

We have to believe that they can. The panel and the management team will firmly believe they can, and will be inspired by what happened elsewhere in the county in recent weekends.