Big Test for Déise County at Fermoy

A big week for Camogie in Waterford gets underway on Wednesday evening when they Counties Minor team take on Cork in the Munster ‘A’ Final at Fermoy.

Waterford qualified for this final with good wins over fancied Tipperary and Limerick sides in recent weeks and will make the journey to North Cork in confident mood.

But they will need no telling that this Cork side which they face is an exceptionally good side who earlier this year won the All-Ireland Minor ‘A’ Championship beating Galway at Nenagh.

 That win was the Rebel’s first success at this level. The county had won Minor Championship’s in the past but that was when the Minor grade was played at Under 16, moving up to under 18 in the middle years of the last decade.

To win the Rebels showed to be a very resilient side on the day and in the end were worthy four point winners over the then defending champions.

Waterford played in an opposite group to Cork in the All-Ireland Championship and narrowly missed out on reaching the semi final stages of the contest, which would be a first for Waterford.

Since then, Waterford has worked hard improving all the time and their reward for all that hard work in reaching this final.

The Rebels have a very dangerous forward line and it’s not just the forward’s that Waterford will have to keep a close eye on as this particular side have hit a number of scores this year already from the middle of the field and even their own half back line.

On player that Waterford cannot allow have opportunities to shoot at the posts is Saoirse McCarthy in the middle of the field.

The Courcey Rovers Club player is the side’s main free taker and with the chances that she will be presented with won’t make many mistakes.

Cork would be expected to start with Sarah Ahearn in goal with a full back line consisting of Orla Keating, Miriam Cotter and Emily Buckley with Laura Doyle, Laura Hayes and Ellen O’Regan playing just in front of them.

Saoirse McCarthy would be expected to partner Hannah O’Leary in the middle of the field while Moira Barrett and Emma Murphy would be expected to fill the central positions in attack. Elsewhere in attack Ciara O’Sullivan and Aoife Hurley would be expected to play on the left hand side of the rebels attack with Fiona Keating and Ciara Healy on the right.

Waterford would be expected to line out along the same as they did in the sides recent 4-20 to 2-5 win over Limerick at Ballyagran.

If this was to happen then Waterford would be fielding a very strong side which has gained some valuable experience in the last number of months, as some of the panel are part of Donal O’Rourke’s senior panel which will be taking on Tipperary in the All-Ireland Quarter Final at Pairc Ui Chaoimh on Saturday afternoon next, while a number of other this year helped Saint Angela’s Ursuline School team to win All-Ireland’s at Junior and Senior level.

Abbey Flynn one of many rising stars of the game within the Déise County last time scored 3-5 and if she was to again rattle the Cork net on more than one occasion Waterford would stand a great chance of winning this game.

But there is more to this Waterford side and in particular their attack than just the one player. Kaeisha Tobin the side’s main free taker and Annie Fitzgerald are key member of Donal O’Rourke’s side, while Sarah Lacey, Aoife Fitzgerald and Clodagh Carroll are all vital to the success of this team.

While Waterford will have to be at their best in attack to win this game, they have to be very vigilant at the other end of the field as well.

Megan Foran would be expected to start in goal, with a full back line of Izabella Markiewiz, Shauna Fitzgerald and Hannah Flynn in front of her. The half back line is often the winning and losing of any side and Waterford have a very strong half back line with Mary Kate Curran flanked by Kate Lynch and Róisín Dunphy, while in the middle of the field Clara Griffin who has played for the county senior side this year and Keeley Corbett-Barry who also is well used to playing in the big games could once more be the preferred pairing in the centre of the field.

As always no team is complete without back up and Waterford are lucky to have some fine players in reserve who have come in at different times this year and who can if called upon will do a job again.

Amongst those that Waterford could have ready for a call up if needed in Fermoy will be the likes of Sally Kelly, Aoife Fitzgerald, Abi Dunphy, Charlotte Connors, Emma Flynn, Lorna Foley, Lucey Hogan, Aoife Hahessy, Maggie Boylan, Leah Sheridan and Róisín Kirwan.

Can Waterford win here and cause what some might call a shock against the All-Ireland Champions? Well I have a feeling that the side in white and blue are not going to make the journey to the North Cork venue just to make up numbers and to fulfil a fixture.