Dramatic Goal Seals Last Eight Spot For Waterford Ladies

Last year Waterford in their first year back in the senior grade of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship after playing in the Intermediate ranks for a number of years reached the first round proper of the Championship where they lost out to Kerry, having beaten Armagh in the qualifiers.

This year with a years experience under their belts playing at this level, Pat Sullivan’s side have gone one step further and have qualified for the All-Ireland quarter finals against Dublin in less than two weeks time, which if they win will put them in an All-Ireland semi final against the winners of Armagh and Kerry, a game that Waterford will be confident of winning should they get over the challenge of Dublin first.

Last Saturday’s game in Clane was one that was like the tide, first it went one way, then another and it did this for much of the hour until deep in stoppage time when Aileen Wall, not for the first time in her illustrious career playing football made the headlines when she snatched a late goal to steal for Waterford the laurels.

Waterford had the first chance of this hugely exciting game when Emma Murray ran at the Cavan defence and was denied a goal by the Cavan goalkeeper Elaine Walsh.

When the first score of the game did arrive it fell to Cavan’s Sinead Greene and it was followed up with the waving of another white flag at the Waterford end with a score from Claragh O’Reilly.

But there was no waving of Waterford white flags on the Waterford sideline as Waterford attacked the Cavan goal and the efforts of the Déise players were rewarded with points from Eimear Fennell, Michelle Ryan and Maria Delahunty, giving Waterford the lead for the first time.

Those that have read reports on this blog with the past few years will know that when it comes to discipline I am a fan of the sin binning system in Ladies Football and would love to see it introduced into the men’s game as to me the Black Card system and the sending on of a replacement player at the next break of play is a joke and serves little or no purpose.

On nine minutes Waterford were dealt a blow in this game when Katie Hannon was forced to concede a penalty and was flashed a yellow card by the County Carlow referee. Pat Sullivan instantly made a huge call and removed Róisín Tobin from the field and sent on reserve goalkeeper Jessica Fitzgerald for the ten minutes that the Ballyduff Upper player was going to have to sit out and the first task the Clashmore player had was to take the ball from her own net after Aisling Doonan made no mistake in dispatching the one on one kick from twelve metres.

Sides that have players sin binned in Ladies football are supposed to be at a disadvantage for the ten minutes but this Waterford side didn’t and it could be argued that they were the better side over the next ten minutes.

Donna English extended the Cavan lead to three but Waterford hit back with points from Aoife Murray, Maria Delahunty and Eimear Fennell to level matters 1-3 to 0-6 with fifteen minutes of the first half played.

The second quarter of this game was again bossed by Waterford as they landed scores through Maria Delahunty, Katie Murray and her sister Emma with responses coming from Donna English and Aisling Sheridan which gave Waterford a 0-9 to 1-5 lead at the break.

The Ulster side as happened in the first were first to score after the restart through Neasa Byrd, but Waterford hit back with points from Maria Delahunty and the brilliant Michelle Ryan, one of a number of Waterford players who at this stage of the championship but be in serious contention for an All-Star award at the end of the year.

Points from Aisling Doonan and Caithriona Smith followed with had the sides level three quarters way through the game.

Points from Aoife Murray and Maria Delahunty had Waterford in front early in the final quarter which was followed with an exchange of scores by Aisling Doonan and Michelle Ryan.

With just over five minutes of normal time to play, the sides were locked together 1-12 to 0-15 and when Aisling Doonan put over another huge score for the Ulster side with time ticking down, the Waterford camp must have been asking themselves was their year about to come to an end.

The same player struck a free from 40 metres which appeared to be going between the Waterford uprights, but Caoimhe McGrath another Waterford player who is having an outstanding year in the white and blue of Waterford leapt like an eagle into the sky and pulled the ball down to safety and Waterford launched an attack at speed up field and when Lauren McGregor who was not long on the field laid the ball off to Aileen Wall there was only one thing on her mind as she finished past Elaine Walsh for a vital goal, one that secured a two point win for Waterford and a place in the last eight of this year’s All-Ireland Senior Football Championship.

Waterford: Katie Hannon; Megan Dunford, Caoimhe McGrath, Kate McGrath; Dearbhaile  Ní hAodha,  Karen McGrath, Katie Murray; Mairead Wall, Emma Murray; Róisín Tobin, Grainne Kenneally, Aoife Murray; Eimear Fennell, Maria Delahunty, Michelle Ryan. Subs: Jessica Fitzgerald for Róisín Tobin (sin-bin – 10-20), Aileen Wall for Róisín Tobin (34), Rebecca Casey for Dearbhaile Ní hAodha (42), Lauren McGregor for Eimear Fennell (56).

Scorers: Maria Delahunty 0-5 (2f, 1 45), Michelle Ryan 0-4, Aileen Wall 1-0, Aoife Murray 0-3, Eimear Fennell 0-2, Katie Murray 0-1

Cavan: Elaine Walsh; Rachel Doonan, Ailish Cornyn, Andrea O’ Reilly; Sinead Greene, Laura Fitzpatrick, Shauna Lynch; Donna English, Sinead O’Sullivan; Mona Sheridan, Aisling Doonan, Caithriona Smith; Aisling Sheridan, Claragh O’Reilly, Neassa Byrd. Subs: Geraldine Smith for Andrea O’Reilly (42), Sinead McKenna for Neassa Byrd (58).

Scorers: Aisling Doonan 1-6 (1-0 pen, 0-3f), Donna English, Caithriona Smith 0-2 each, Sinead Greene, Claragh O’Reilly, Neassa Byrd 0-1 each.

Referee: Jason Murphy (Carlow).