Waterford seal spot in All-Ireland Camogie Championship Quarter-Finals

Sunday July 22, 2018 is a day that will live long in the history of Waterford Camogie and Waterford Sport, because this is the day that Waterford under the guidance of Cappoquin Club man Donal O’Rourke qualified for the All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship quarter finals for the very first time.

In that quarter final Waterford will come up against neighbours Tipperary in Cork and whatever will happen in that game will be seen as progress for Waterford.

Waterford reaching an All-Ireland Quarter Finals for the first time is something that has not happened over night.

All year long a great deal of work has gone in with this team under the guidance of the Cappoquin man and the players have really bought into what he has done, but Waterford qualifying for the All-Ireland quarter finals for the first time is not just about the work put in over the past few weeks and months.

This win and Waterford qualifying for the last six of the championship goes back many years. It all started with Waterford qualifying for a Junior All-Ireland back in 2009 and how Waterford had to play four finals including replays before the Déise Ladies got out of the junior grade when they won in Croke Park in 2011.

It’s about four years playing in the intermediate grade and the progress made each year before the White and Blue flags flew highest in Croke Park in 2015 when Waterford beat Kildare in the Intermediate All-Ireland Final.

It’s about the experience gained in picked up in winning the National Division two league final back in 2015.

It’s about the experience gained since 2016 when Waterford began playing the bigger and stronger counties in the world of Camogie playing in the League and Championship and the progress made in the years in between.

It’s about the very good underage teams that Waterford have put together in recent years and bringing the best players on these sides into the Waterford Senior set up.

It’s about the progress made by the likes of Lismore and Gailltir in the Club Championships in recent years.

It’s about the successful underage sides and the progress made by in competitions like Féile na nGael where Waterford clubs have more than held their own.

It’s about the progress made on the colleges scene when the like of Saint Angela’s Ursuline winning two All-Ireland titles this year, and the work put in by other college sides in the Déise County in the last few years.

It’s all about the tremendous work put in by the clubs from the likes of Tallow and Lismore in the far west of the county to the likes of Ferrybank, De La Salle and Gailltir in the most easterly parts of the county, and all the work put in by the clubs in between, and the newer clubs who while playing catch up on the bigger and more established clubs but who are making great progress, something borne out by the fact that someone like Mary Kate Curran who plays with one of these younger clubs (Modeligo) is a valued member of this panel.

            Waterford will now go into that quarter final with Tipperary in a few weeks time as the underdog, but that will not worry this group of players or the management team.

            Only a few short weeks back on the Sunday game this Waterford side after losing to Galway and Kilkenny were wrote off. We were told that the third spot in group one was between Limerick and Clare, the two sides that this brilliant Waterford sides have beaten in the last week.

            Earlier in the year Waterford drew with both of these counties in the National League and with both of these counties (as with Waterford) having done a lot of work with their players in the weeks and months in between would have been confident of beating Waterford in the championship.

            That early season draw with Limerick cost Waterford a place in the knockout stages of the league, when the two sides finished level on points but the Treaty County side advanced to a meeting with Cork by virtue of having a better score difference over Waterford.

            Waterford began very brightly in this game as Beth Carton Waterford’s top scorer in this year’s championship opened the scoring on two minutes when she put over a ’45.

Kaiesha Tobin one of a number of young players to impress for the Déise County this year followed up with a point and Waterford extended their lead when Beth Carton put over a free.

And things got even better for Waterford on six minutes when the ball was played over the heads of the Clare full back line and once Beth Carton got inside them and onto the ball it was only going to end in one place and she made no mistake in dispatching the only goal of the game.

The De La Salle sharp shooter followed up with another point from a placed ball before the home side enjoyed their best period of this game, as Chloe Morey put over four frees in a row to eat into the Waterford lead.

Beth Carton extended Waterford’s lead once more three minutes from time but just before the short whistle Chloe Morey pointed again for the home side, again from a free to leave her side her side trailing 1-5 to 0-5 at the break.

The home side started the second half brightly as Ciara Grogan with her sides first score from play and Chloe Morey from another free made it a one point game but Carton again stepped up for Waterford to riffle over another free on forty two minutes.

Clare had Orlaith Duggan sent off on a straight red card as the game ended its final quarter and for a few moments it looked like making little difference to the home side who levelled matters with another Chloe Morey free.

Both sides began to bring fresh legs into the game after this, and it was Waterford who first benefitted as Beth Carton gave the lead once more (1-6 to 0-8).

Chloe Morey with a brace of scores and Beth Carton swapped frees to keep the sides level with eight minutes remaining as the game was either sides to get what they wanted from it.

Beth Carton with another brace of scores and one from Niamh Rockett gave Waterford a three point cushion (1-10 to 0-10) with time running down, but Clare were not going to give up.

Substitute Doireann Murphy and Chloe Morey found the range to leave the minimum between the sides with the sixty minutes played. A mistake now by either side was going to be costly.

In the second minute of two added minutes Clare conceded a scoreable free and when Beth Carton stood over it, she made no mistake, putting Waterford two in front.

The full time whistle was sounded on the restart, job done for Waterford as Donal O’Rourke’s side reached the All-Ireland senior quarter finals for the first time.

Waterford: Ciara Jackman; Kate Lynch, Iona Heffernan, Sibheal Harney; Claire Whyte, Áine Lyng, Shauna Kiernan; Lorraine Bray, Deirdre Fahey; Niamh Rockett, Annie Fitzgerald, Fiona Morrissey; Kaiesha Tobin, Beth Carton, Orla Hickey.

Subs: Aoife Landers for Orla Hickey, Caithriona McGlone for Fiona Morrissey, Mairead Power for Shauna Kiernan.

Scorers: Beth Carton 1-9 (0-7F, 0-1 ’45), Kaeisha Tobin, Niamh Rockett 0-1 each.

Clare: Lauren Solon; Carol O’Leary, Marie McGrath, Ciara Grogan; Laura McMahon, Claire Hehir, Róisín McMahon; Orlaith Duggan, Ciara Doyle; Áine O’Loughlin, Niamh O’Dea, Andrea O’Keeffe; Róisín Begley, Chloe Morey, Orla Devitt.

Subs: Sinead Conlon for Áine O’Loughlin, Doireann Murphy for Orla Devitt.

Scorers: Chloe Morey 0-10 (10f), Ciara Grogan, Doireann Murphy 0-1 each.

Referee: Liz Dempsey (Kilkenny)