Waterford Edge Closer To Semi Final Spot

            Waterford Senior Ladies Football team are within shouting distance of winning a place in the semi finals of this year’s Division Two National League competition after they came from behind at the break to beat a strong Cavan side at the WIT Arena in Carriganore on Sunday afternoon.

            It was the visiting side that settled the strong of the two sides in this encounter and by the break they were 1-5 to 1-3 in front.

            It was wing forward Donna English that opened the scoring for the visitors with a brace of scores but the home side through Aoife Murray pulled one back after seven minutes.

But the visitors seen upped their performance another gear and hit the first goal of the game on nine minutes when Aisling Sheridan burst through the Waterford defence and beat Gráinne Kenneally starting her first competitive game for the Déise County in the number one shirt.

And they followed this up with points from Amy Rooney and Bronagh Sheridan as the visitors opened up a 1-4 to 0-1 lead with just eleven minutes of the game played.

Waterford refused to lie down however and attacked the Cavan goal at every opportunity.

Four chances however would go wide of the uprights before Geraldine Power hit Waterford second score from a free after Michelle Ryan was fouled while attacking.

This score was however cancelled out with an effort from Aisling Donan from distance after twenty minutes which kept the visitors six in front.

Waterford however finished the half strong, hitting a goal a minute before the break, Eimear Fennell netting at the second attempt after Evelyn Baugh did well to save her first effort, and in stoppage time at the end of the half Aoife Murray got her second of the game to leave Waterford trailing 1-5 to 1-3 at the break.

Whatever was said in the Waterford dressing room at the break worked, as they came out in the second half by far the better of the two sides, and in the second thirty minutes they restricted the visitor to just one further score.

It was the visitors that had the first chance of the second half as Bronagh Sheridan split the Waterford uprights.

After the experienced Ballymacarbry Club pair of Aileen Wall and Sinead Ryan came in for Lauren McGregor and Geraldine Power in the third quarter Waterford began to really dominate all over the field.

Points from Geraldine Power, Maria Delahunty and a brace of scores from Eimear Fennell followed for Waterford after Cavan’s early second half score which put Waterford in front by one.

Substitute Sinead Ryan netted just over five minutes after coming on and when Maria Delahunty followed up with a third Waterford goal within sixty seconds on fifty minutes, the game was over as a contest.

The Abbeyside club player followed up with the conversion of a ’45 and when she put the size four into the Cavan net from a penalty it gave the home side a 4-8 to 1-6 advantage on the score board.

Waterford began to empty their bench in the time that remained and it was Sinead Ryan that hit the games last score of the game on the stroke of full time to help Waterford not only win the game but also to improve their score difference.

Waterford: Grainne Kenneally; Kate McGrath, Rebecca Casey, Megan Dunford; Michelle McGrath, Emma Murray, Mairead Wall; Katie Murray, Karen McGrath; Aoife Murray, Geraldine Power, Maria Delahunty; Lauren McGregor, Eimear Fennell, Michelle Ryan. Subs: Aileen Wall for Lauren McGregor (35), Sinead Ryan for Geraldine Power (44), Keeley Corbett-Barry for Aoife Murray (52), Liz Devine for Eimear Fennell (57), Laura Cusack for Katie Murray (59), Aisling Mullaney for Mairead Wall (61), Abbie Dunphy for Michelle Ryan (62), Kate Hahessy for Rebecca Casey, Caragh McCarthy for Karen McGrath and Kelly Moroney for Grainne Kenneally (all 63).

Scorers: Maria Delahunty (2-2, 1-0 penalty, 0-1’45), Eimear Fennell (1-2), Sinead Ryan (1-1), Geraldine Power (0-2, 0-1f), Aoife Murray (0-2).

Cavan: Evelyn Baugh, Rachel Doonan, Laura Fitzpatrick, Joanne Moore, Sinead Greene, Grainne McGlade, Mona Sheridan, Sinead O’Sullivan, Catherine Dolan, Donna English, Aishling Sheridan, Ciara Finnegan, Amy Rooney, Aisling Donan, Bronagh Sheridan. Subs: Roisin O’Keeffe for Amy Rooney and Catriona Smith for Sinead O’Sullivan (35), Beth Farrelly for Ciara Finnegan (48).

Scorers: Aisling Sheridan (1-0), Bronagh Sheridan (0-2, 0-1f), Donna English (0-2), Amy Rooney and Aisling Donan (0-1 each).

Referee: Barry Redmond (Wexford).