Experience Tells In Walsh Park Against Waterford

Waterford’s first game in the All-Ireland in the Premier Junior All-Ireland Camogie Championship since winning the competition back in 2011 and the first that Waterford Second String XV played in ended in a defeat at Walsh Park on Saturday afternoon.

The success of Waterford’s underage teams in recent years coupled with the likes of Lismore and Gailltir in the club championships, not forgetting what Saint Augustine’s College, The Ursuline and the Mercy Secondary Schools in the City has meant that there is more girls and women playing Camogie in the county more than ever and the County Board to their credit have tried and keep many of these players as actively involved as is possible by entering a second team in this years championship.

The side had only one competitive game under their belts going into this game, that a narrow defeat to Kerry in the Munster Junior Championship back in early May, but the management team still were able to put together a strong panel and one that we will see more of in the weeks, months and years ahead with maybe some of the players going on to play in the senior set up with the county.

Dublin for their part would have gone into the game as the warmest of favourites, with an impressive League campaign behind them, where they won the Division Three final, beating Roscommon in the final who would have members of the very successful Four Roads Club in their ranks.

The Sky Blues were the better of the two sides throughout the hour and at the break they held a 1-8 to 0-5 lead on the score board with their goal coming on twenty six minutes when Emer Keenan tried to beat Katie O’Keeffe at the second attempt after the Déise net minder did well to keep her initial effort from crossing the her goal line.

 In that opening half, Dublin had further scores from Laoise Quinn who put over three points, while Róisín Baker and Evelyn Twomey hit a brace of scores each while Emer Keenan also added a point to her goal, while Dungarvan’s Kaiesha Tobin landed all of Waterford’s scores.

The Dungarvan player hit the first score of the second half with a free which was cancelled out with a brilliant Laoise Quinn goal.

Katie O’Keeffe did brilliant to keep an Evelyn Twomey from crossing the line but the rebound fell to Laoise Quinn who rifled the sliotar through a crowded goal and into the corner of the Waterford net.

On forty three minutes Evelyn Twomey made up for her earlier miss five minutes earlier when she hit a third goal for the Sky Blues. Laoise Quinn when from score getter for her sides second goal to score provider for this one as she picked out Evelyn Twomey with a perfect pass who turned the Waterford defence and blasted past a helpless Katie O’Keeffe in the Waterford goal.

With nine minutes remaining Ruth Geogheghan minutes after coming on as a sub broke free and bore down on the Dublin goal and blasted hard as we have seen her for Lismore and indeed the county in the past, beating Aisling Spillane who had no chance in the Dublin goal.

Waterford had Áine Crotty sent off late on when she collected a second yellow card following a foul on Róisín Baker.

With a player advantage, Dublin stuck a late point from a Laoise Quinn free to give her side a ten point victory.

Next up for Waterford in this championship is an away game with Westmeath next Saturday.

Dublin: Aishling Spillane; Ciara Buchannan, Laura Walsh, Róisín McLoughlin; Emma Barron, Deirdre Johnstone, Grainne Free; Grainne Power, Róisín Drohan; Aoife Dooley, Róisín Baker, Evelyn Twomey; Laoise Quinn, Kate Mulvey, Emer Keenan. Subs: Niamh Gleeson for Laura Walsh (38), Sinead Nolan for Kate Mulvey (49), Caoimhe Ni Mhaolagain for Grainne Power (49), Emma O’Flynn for Róisín McLoughlin (56), Ciara Carolan for Emer Keenan (57)

Scorers: Laoise Quinn 1-5 (3f), Evelyn Twomey 1-2, Emer Keenan 1-1, Róisín Baker 0-2.
Waterford:  Katie O’Keefe; Aoife Shanahan, Áine Crotty, Sarah Morrissey; Taylor Murray, Shauna Fitzgerald, Sadie Mai Rowe; Kate Hahessey, Clara Griffin; Grainne Heffernan, Áine Power, Abby Dunphy; Margaret Ann Boylan Kaiesha Tobin, Fiona Ni Bhrian. Subs: Siobhan Morrissey for Grainne Heffernan (44), Ruth Geogheghan for Fiona Ni Bhrian (44), Sinead Morrissey for Aoife Shanahan (48). Scorers: Kaiesha Tobin 0-06 (4f), Ruth Geogheghan 1-0

Referee: John Horgan (Cork).