Brilliant Win For Déise Minors

Waterford Minor Camogie Selectors were able to call upon a number of players with big match experience for their Munster Championship encounter with Tipperary at Walsh Park last Wednesday evening and this experience told as the home side ran out winners on a 2-12 to 1-7 score line.

The Waterford selectors were able to include players like Kaiesha Tobin and Annie Fitzgerald from the off in this game. The pair who are part of the Waterford senior team accounted for 1-9 of Waterford’s total in this game, while other players, the likes of Clodagh Carroll, Abby Flynn and Lucy Hogan who came on as a sub had all helped St Angela’s Ursuline School on the Folly to win All-Ireland titles earlier this year while the likes of Mary Kate Curran, Sarah Lacey and Keeley Corbett Barry are no strangers to wearing the white and blue of Waterford down the year in different age groups and in different codes.

All three goals in this game came in the first half.

It was the visitors who were first off the mark, as Rosanna O’Donnell fired past Megan Foran after she got onto a Casey Hennessey delivery.

Waterford however were to respond with a goal of their own almost straight away when Annie Fitzgerald placed the sliotar into the top of Aoife Butler’s net.

The visitors at this stage could have registered a second goal but they found in Megan Foran a goalkeeper of some quality and from an effort by Casey Hennessey she deflected a shot destined for the back of the net over the cross bar.

Tipperary played a sweeper in this game, a position which we have seen time and time again does not really work as the best sides are able to counter it, and Waterford did in this game by keeping the ball away from the middle section of the field, instead playing it into the corners where Kaiesha Tobin and Annie Fitzgerald were able to cause plenty of heartache for the Tipperary defence.

Dungarvan’s Kaiesha Tobin finished this game as top scorer with nine points, eight of which came from placed balls often won by Annie Fitzgerald and Keeley Corbett Barry who caused the Tipperary defence lots of problems.

Waterford had to wait twenty eight minutes before they would score their first point from play, and soon afterwards the Déise Ladies struck a second goal when Kaiesha Tobin picked out Ciara O’Sullivan who shot from close range to give her side a 2-6 to 1-3 lead at the interval.

Tipperary will have felt that they should be much closer at the break but they came up against Megan Foran once more who was on top of her game to once more deny Casey Hennessy in injury time.

Grace O’Toole opened the second half scoring for Tipperary, but Waterford would hit back with a brace of scores from Kaiesha Tobin and one from Ciara O’Sullivan to put eight between the sides.

Casey Hennessy pulled two points back for the visitors but when Sarah Lacey found Kaiesha Tobin extend Waterford’s lead.

Waterford survived another attempt for a Tipperary goal. The hosts went up field and Abbey Flynn pointed to put Waterford seven to the good.

Kaiesha Tobin would land one further score for the home side near the head, after Annie Fitzgerald was denied a second goal in this game as Aoife Butler in the Tipperary goal made a good save to keep the Gailltir players effort out.

Waterford advance to the Munster Semi Final and will now play Limerick, for which Waterford will enter the game very confident of advancing to the Munster Final after an excellent win and performance here.

Waterford: Megan Foran; Izabella Markiezch, Shauna Fitzgerald, Hannah Flynn; Kate Lynch, Mary Kate Curran, Roisin Dunphy; Keeley Corbett Barry, Clara Griffin; Clodagh Carroll, Ciara O’Sullivan, Abby Flynn; Kaiesha Tobin, Sarah Lacey, Annie Fitzgerald.

Subs: Sally Kelly for Carroll, Lorna Foley for Annie Fitzgerald, Lucy Hogan for Flynn.

Scorers: Kaiesha Tobin 0-9 (8fs), Ciara O’Sullivan 1-1, Annie Fitzgerald 1-0, Sarah Lacey, Abby Flynn 0-1 each.

Tipperary: Aoife Butler; Anna Gavin, Sorcha Ryan, Niamh Long; Grainne Long, Gemma Fox, Thea Curtin; Clodagh McIntyre, Grace O’Toole; Karin Blair, Casey Hennessy, Aine O’Dwyer; Sarah Delaney, Rosanna O’Donnell, Emma Flanagan.

Subs: Katie Ryan for Gavin, Eimear Bourke for Flanagan, Ciara Dwan for Blair, Lucy McEvoy for Grainne Long, Rachel O’Dwyer for Delaney.

Scorers: Casey Hennessy 0-6 (4fs, 1 45’), Rosanna O’Donnell 1-0, Grace O’Toole 0-1.

Referee: Mike Flannery (Limerick)