Déise Ladies Top Division Two National League after Round Robin Series of Games

Waterford Senior Ladies Football team will play Cavan in this year’s Division Two National League after they won the round robin part of this year’s competition by virtue of beating a previously unbeaten Tipperary side at the WIT Arena on Sunday afternoon.

This game was to be played a number of weeks back (Round 5) but was called off because of the weather conditions across the country that weekend.

This game was originally fixed for Sean Tracey Park in Tipperary Town but was switched to the Carriganore venue onto the Astroturf pitch early on Sunday morning.

The visitors will be delighted that they had their place in the last four booked ahead of this game, as just over 18 hours before this game threw in, the Premier Ladies were presented with the All-Ireland Intermediate Championship medals they won last September at Croke Park.

Both Waterford and Tipperary finished the campaign with a total of eighteen points each (3 points for a win in Ladies Football), but Waterford top the group by virtue of winning the head to head between the two sides.

Armagh and Cavan also finished level on points at the end of the league on thirteen points, but it is Armagh that top the two for third place using the third regulation used in Ladies Football when sides finish level on points after the sides drew the game between the two, and the two sides raised fourteen white flags each in the game between the two, Armagh were placed in third position having had a better score difference over Cavan over the course of seven rounds of games.

Early in the game it looked as if the two sides would fight out a very close battle and few could have predicted Waterford’s ten point winning margin at the end of the hour after ten minutes.

Maria Delahunty finished top scorer in this game, finishing with 1-6 behind her name on the score sheet and it was she that opened the scoring in the first minute with a point.

Caoimhe Condon quickly replied with a point for the visitors to the Carriganore venue, but Waterford would hit the next three scores through Eimear Fennell, Katie Murray and another from Maria Delahunty which put Waterford 0-4 to 0-1 in front with just eight minutes played.

The visitors hit back with scores from Aisling Moloney and Niamh Lonergan within a minute of each other to go within one of the home side, but this was as good as it got for the Premier Ladies.

Geraldine Power and Lauren McGregor followed up with points and Eimear Fennell had a brace of scores in between to stretch the Waterford lead to five with twenty two minutes on the clock.

Aisling Moloney made it a four point game seven minutes from the break, but Waterford wasted no time in further stretching their lead with points from Maria Delahunty, Katie Murray and Eimear Fennell with twenty eight minutes played.

In the first minute of added time, Maria Delahunty put the size four between the legs of Lauren Fitzpatrick in the Tipperary goal for the first goal game, but the visitors quickly responded with a goal of their own with the next attack which gave Waterford a 1-11 to 1-14 lead at the interval.

Waterford bossed things on the scoreboard in the third quarter as they outscore their opponents four points to none between the thirty-first and forty-fifth minutes.

Maria Delahunty was first to score with a brace of points on thirty-six and forty-one minutes and Katie Murray and Lauren McGregor added to Waterford’s tally.

Aisling Moloney hit Tipperary’s first score of the second half on forty six minutes, but Maria Delahunty and Kelly-Ann Hogan would score for the home side before the visitors would score again.

Substitute Mairead Morrissey would hit a second Tipperary goal four minutes from time as she reacted quickest to a ball that came off the metalwork and she was in the right place to palm the size four football past Gráinne Kenneally, and three minutes later Aisling Moloney would land Tipperary’s last score, a point.

Waterford would add to their tally before the final whistle as the Ryan sisters Sinead and Michelle would land late scores to give Waterford a double digit victory.

Michelle.

WATERFORD: Gráinne Kenneally; Aisling Mullaney, Megan Dunford, Kate McGrath; Michelle McGrath, Emma Murray, Mairead Wall; Karen McGrath, Katie Murray; Aoife Murray, Geraldine Power, Aileen Wall; Lauren McGregor, Eimear Fennell, Maria Delahunty. Subs: Keeley Barry-Corbett for Aisling Mullaney, Michelle Ryan for Geraldine Power, Sinead Ryan for Eimear Fennell, Kelly-Ann Hogan for Aileen Wall, Laura Cusack for Mairead Wall, Liz Devine for Aoife Murray, Kate Hahessy for Lauren McGregor.  

Scorers: Maria Delahunty 1-6 (0-3F), Eimear Fennell 0-4 (1F), Katie Murray 0-3, Lauren McGregor 0-2, Geraldine Power, Kelly Ann Hogan, Sinead Ryan, Michelle Ryan 0-1 each.

Tipperary: Lauren Fitzpatrick; Siobhan Condon, Maria Curley, Emma Buckley; Brid Condon, Samantha Lambert, Laura Dillon; Niamh Lonergan, Orla O’Dwyer; Kate Davey, Aisling Moloney, Caoimhe Condon; Jen Grant, Gillian O’Brien, Roisin Howard. Subs: Grainne Condon for Emma Buckley, Aoibhe O’Shea for Niamh Lonergan, Sarah Everard for Orla O’Dwyer, Mairead Morrissey for Laura Dillon, Anna Rose Kennedy for Kate Davey, Shauna Quirke for Caoimhe Condon.

Scorers: Aisling Moloney 0-4 (2f), Orla O’Dwyer, Mairead Morrissey 1-0 each, Caoimhe Condon, Niamh Lonergan 0-1 each.

REFEREE: Eamon Moran (Kerry)