Huge Hurling Weekend in the Déise County

The Waterford GAA County Board are set for some bumper admission fees this week with no few than six huge games down for decision in the Senior Hurling Championship. There is nothing like a local derby game to bring supporters out to shout for their local side especially in a knockout game, a stage of the competition which we now reached.

Four of the six games to be played this weekend are at the quarter final stages of the competition, while two games will see four clubs fighting for all their might to retain their status in the senior grade in 2020, but unfortunately for one, they will drop down a grade in a few weeks time.

Of the six games to be played over the next 48 hours no fewer than five could be classed as a local derby and with no more second chances available to any side, and with every score like winning the lotto jackpot it is envisaged that a number if not all of the games this weekend will go right to the wire.

While three games will be played on both Saturday and Sunday, just one of the four quarter final games will be take place on Saturday and what a game that could prove to be as neighbours Ballygunner and Passage the last two winners of the championship (Passage in 2013, Ballygunner each year since 2014) do battle at Walsh Park in a game that is expected to attract a big attendance.

Passage last weekend had a worthwhile workout against Tallow in the first round knockout games which will stand to them this coming weekend, but they will not need any telling that if they are to advance here they will have to up their performance considerably on last weekend’s game if they are to reach the last four.

Ballygunner this year are seeking to win a rare sixth final in a row in the Déise County and it really is theirs to lose in the eyes of many supporters in the Déise County. Things were fairly straight forward for them in the group section of the competition, but they will know that it is from now that things will start getting serious.

On Sunday afternoon there is just the one game down for decision at Walsh Park where neighbouring clubs De La Salle and Roanmore do battle.

Ideally the County Board would have loved to play the two games in Walsh Park this weekend as a double header, but their hands were somewhat tied behind their backs this weekend.

With no lights at Walsh Park the County Board and with other events on this weekend the fixture makers were forced to go with two separate games. Had they gone for a double header on Saturday because the annual Tony Forrestal Competition is on it Waterford this Saturday the county board would not have wanted to clash with the latter rounds of this competition so were forced to give Saturday’s game a 3pm throw in. If they were to go with a double header it would mean that De La Salle and Roanmore would have had a 1pm or 1-30pm start and with such an early time you to start a game on a Saturday afternoon you would have to wonder how many people would show up to see the first game.

The county board’s hand were also tied for a double header on Sunday with the All-Ireland Football Final on TV at 3-30. While some will say they have little or no interest in what will be happening at Croke Park, it is possibly fair to say that a sizeable amount of supporters of Gaelic Games will be watching this game to see can Dublin become the first side to win five titles in a row or will Kerry stop them in the same way Offaly stopped their great team winning five titles in a row back in 1982.

Of course the option was there for the county board to play the games between Ballygunner and Passage as well as De La Salle and Roanmore under the lights at Fraher Field on Saturday evening, but if this was to happen the amount of people giving out about four city teams travelling to the West of the County for the games would be even greater than those that are giving out about the games not forming a double header in Walsh Park.

Sunday afternoon’s game in Walsh Park is also likely to draw a good attendance to the Keane’s Road venue.

De La Salle topped Group Three of in the round robin section of the competition where like Ballygunner in group one, they finished with maximum points after recording wins over Lismore, Passage and Ballyduff Upper. In those three games De La Salle put up some impressive tallies if they were able to repeat this in the knockout stages of the competition who is to say that they won’t end the year as County Champions for the fourth time.

Roanmore are always a very difficult side to beat and they could well prove that to be true in this game. They had an outing against Ballyduff Upper last Saturday evening where they looked early in the game that they could win the game by a big margin but in the end some would suggest that they were somewhat lucky to win the game by the two points which they did, and if they were to turn off for any length of time here it could cost them dearly against a dangerous De La Salle side.

If Walsh Park has big numbers passing through the turn styles on Saturday and Sunday afternoon, the attendance inside Fraher Field on Sunday evening for a double header could be the biggest the venue has seen in some time.

Mount Sion qualified for the quarter finals of this year’s championship when they saw off the challenge of 14 man Clonea at Walsh Park on Sunday afternoon last. While they are not as strong as they were in the past, they are still a side that should never be underestimated.

They played in a tough Group Two in the group stages of the competition where they recorded wins over Roanmore and Fourmilewater which will give them confidence going into this game.

Lismore since coming back up to the senior grade after a year in the Intermediate ranks where they proved to be the best in Munster at that grade have done well and have put up some good scores in this year’s competition and will take some beating as they contain a nice mixture of youth and experience.

Both sides in the County Senior Hurling league also had very respectable results even if both sides missed out on qualifying for the knockout stages as they both finished in mid table positions in opposite groups, but it should be pointed out that they done this without key players.

The final game of the weekend could well prove to be a massive battle between two sides of the River Colligan as it flows into Dungarvan Bay.

The meeting of Dungarvan and Abbeyside is sure to attract a huge attendance to the Fraher Field, where not only will there be a place in the last four for the winners, but there will also be the bragging rights for some weeks to come for supporters of the winning side.

Last year’s runners up qualified for this stage of the championship by virtue of winning group two of the round robin section of the competition where they had wins over Mount Sion and Fourmilewater and in their final game had a draw against a Roanmore side that are never easy to beat.

Dungarvan were in a very tough group one which contained the reigning champions Ballygunner who they lost out to in the second series of games on a 1-18 to 0-14 score line. In their other two games they had wins over Tallow and last year’s intermediate champions Clonea, but four points was not good enough to give them a place in the last eight of the championship automatically as they had to play Fourmilewater in a first round game last Sunday evening which they won 1-27 to 2-13.

So which four sides will advance to the last four and the semi final draw after the fourth quarter final game on Sunday evening?

One thing that I feel is that all four games could well prove to be close games and I for one would not be surprised to see at least one of them go to extra time and maybe even having a replay arranged to see who advances to the last four.

But there has to be a winner and putting my head on the block I am opting for Ballygunner, De La Salle, Lismore and Dungarvan.

Meanwhile the two relegation playoff semi finals will take place at Fraher Field on Saturday afternoon and are again local derby games.

The meeting of Cross Comeragh Mountain sides Clonea and Fourmilewater is first up. 

Clonea came up from the Intermediate ranks last year and while nobody would have expected them to make great headway in the senior ranks this year most would agree that for them to retain their senior status would be a good year for them and to build on that.

Fourmilewater are not having a great year this year finishing bottom of the pile in their group in the round robin section of the competition and last weekend they lost out to Dungarvan at Fraher Field. It should be pointed out however that they are having a horrible year with injuries to key players.

The players on both sides will know each other quite well having played against each other on a number of occasions in recent years, but in football so for them to play against each other in hurling will be a bit of a rarity.

On paper Fourmilewater are the stronger of the two sides, certainly are the more experienced of the two at this level which you would think should stand to them, but Clonea have some quality players. Fourmilewater would be the fancied side to win, but if they are unable to field their strongest side, then you would have to give Clonea a major chance of winning.

The second semi final sees neighbours Tallow and Ballyduff do battle.

Both sides would have seen the other play at Fraher Field on Saturday evening last and it is hard to know what they think after doing so.

Ballyduff against Roanmore looked a pretty poor side in the first half but stayed in touch thanks in no small part to the free taking of Eoghan Murray, but they also know that early in the game he did not have his eye on things and missed a number of placed balls effort.

Tallow in the first half of their game against Passage looked quite good for a game against a side that most would not have given them a chance in, but they never really showed up for the second half and that will be a worry to their management team.

The way that Ballyduff came back at Roanmore in their game will give them plenty of hope going into this game and if they can show the same fight as they did late on in that game then you have to give them a chance here.

Tallow in the second half against Passage did not look like a senior side and if they played as good as they did in the first half last weekend they might not be involved in this game.

So who will win and who will have one more chance to retain their senior status next year. Something is telling me that in the first game even though they have had their injury worries this year Fourmilewater should have that little bit on Clonea. All too often we have seen the side that came up from intermediate drop back down after one year. Will the same happen this year?

In the second game things could be very close. On paper Tallow look to have the stronger panel and if they are able to call on a full strength side then they should survive.

There is plenty more action in both divisions this weekend.

            Four games were played in the west of the county this evening. Colligan advanced to the semi finals of the Junior A Hurling Championship when they beat Geraldines at Dungarvan while over the road in Fraher Field Kilrossanty had a 2-19 to 3-9 win over Tourin which will go down as a shock to many, but a result predicted to me this evening by a very knowledgeable hurling supporter. In the Intermediate Hurling Championship Ardmore had a 3-18 to 3-15 win over Ballinameela at Fraher Field, while in the junior ‘C’ Hurling Championship in Stradbally Abbeyside had a 3-10 to 2-8 win over neighbours Kilgobinet.

In the east of the county the semi finals of the junior ‘A’ Hurling Championship were played. At Walsh Park Ballydurn proved too strong for Mount Sion winning 3-11 to 1-10 while in Dunhill Tramore had a 4-13 to 1-12 win over Ballygunner.

Tomorrow (Saturday) there is a number of games are down for decision. Up west in the Intermediate Hurling Championship Stradbally play Brickey Rangers at the Dungarvan Club grounds at 2pm while there is a double header in Fraher Field where An Rinn take on Modeligo at 6-30pm followed by the meeting of Clashmore and Cappoquin 90 minutes later.

In the eastern half of the county the first of the quarter finals in the Intermediate Hurling Championship will be played at Kill where there is a double header. First up at 4-30 is the meeting of De La Salle and Portlaw which is followed at 6pm by the meeting of Dunhill and Erin’s Own.

On Sunday the remaining two games quarter finals in the eastern intermediate hurling championship will be played. Ballygunner and Ferrybank clash at Ballybeg at 11-30pm and later in the evening neighbours Ballyduff Lower and Butlerstown clash at Walsh Park for a 6pm start.

Two games are down for decision in West Waterford on Sunday. In the Junior ‘B’ Hurling Championship An Rinn take on Ballyduff Upper in Lismore for a noon start followed by the meeting of Shamrocks and Ballysaggart in the Intermediate championship at 1-30 at the same venue.

Camogie in Waterford Is On the Verge of Some Big Days

If you are a regular follower of what I have to say on both my social media pages and on my blog page, then you will know that a great deal of what I put on those pages has to do with the G.A.A. and in particular to the Ladies games of Ladies Football and Camogie.

I love both of those games and it is a wish of mine that more people were interested in the games. My aim in reporting as much as I do on both games is to try and get more people interested in both games and more importantly in going to see our different county teams in Ladies Football and Camogie and indeed the club scene. My only regret is that I cannot put more on both games on my social media and blog pages than I actually do.

Ten years ago I was approached by the then Sports Editor of the Munster Express newspaper Jamie O’Keeffe asking me if I was interested in writing for the paper. At the time I had just given up working as a school secretary at Saint Mary’s Touraneena National School after 15 and had no real plans to do anything for some while, but when the chance arose to do some writing for a local paper I knew I could not turn it down.

At first I was told what games needed to be covered, but over the weeks and months that followed after me being asked to write for the paper I began to work on my own instinct and began to attend games that I was not asked to report on, mostly Ladies Football and Camogie games and brought with me my note book, biro and stopwatch to take some notes, formulate  reports and sent them off in an email and left it up to others as to whether there was room for it in the paper.

On more occasions than not my reports were used and I knew from talking to some that they were being read as one or two might have pointed out some small mistakes that I might have made, which were often maybe someone changing a jersey number that was not announced and scoring meaning that I might have given the score in my report to the wrong person.

At the time the recession had kicked in, and newspaper editors and owners had to make some tough calls, reducing the numbers of pages in their newspaper, or making stories shorter in a bid to cut down on printing costs. This meant extra work for the editors as I am someone that has often been told that when I sit at a computer keyboard and start hitting the keys that I forget to stop pressing them and what I often sent very lengthy match reports.

Then something struck me. I had been following a few different people on twitter that had their own blogs. I looked at a few different ones and decided that I would set up one, one that I felt I could easily upload stuff on, where space would not be an issue when it comes to reporting on what I saw at games allowing me to put together some lengthy reports.

Ladies football was no problem to me when it came to reporting. I was watching games from the time I was in national school myself in the mid 1980’s when Mrs Anne McGrath a teacher in Touraneena was encouraging girls to play football, watching them train under her at break times I therefore had felt I had a good knowledge of the game, its rules and its history as I began to attend club games and county games over the next twenty years or so.

Camogie to me was a different story. Although there was a Camogie Club in Touraneena when I was growing up, I seldom if ever went to see the women of the parish playing. There was no Camogie played in the school in Touraneena and when I went to secondary school in Cappoquin the girls that were interested in sports mostly played Basketball or Volleyball with one or two occasionally getting involved in a game of soccer with the boys.

In the 80’s and 90’s for me the local papers were the two Dungarvan papers, the ‘Leader’ and the ‘Observer’ and through no fault of their respective owners or the journalists that worked for them there was little or no Camogie coverage in them each week, meaning that the majority of people in West Waterford unless you were involved in a club knew little or nothing about the game of Camogie or what was happening in the county.

For me that would all change in the early part of the current centaury. Waterford won the 2003 All-Ireland under 16 ‘B’ Final, beating Armagh in the final at Port Laoise. Some brilliant young were part of that team, players like Aisling O’Brien, Charlotte Raher, Jenny Simpson, Emma Hannon, Áine Lyng, Trish Jackman and Laura Buckley while not knowing there were clearly players that we had to look out for in the future.

Aisling O’Brien was someone that I would have known a little about. I had seen her playing in goal in a number of West Waterford Primary School games with Aglish playing with the boys’ teams. On many occasion she was the difference between her side winning and losing a game as she would pull off some impressive saves. When tongue in cheek I would ask a side made up of seven or nine boys how they lost to a team with a girl in goal, the answer was often that they could not try their hardest on her, they did not want to hurt her. The truth in fact was different. Those same boys could not find a way past her while she was in goal.

There was still no Camogie played in Touraneena but that would soon change. One day two girls Niamh Walsh and Maighread Barron told me during their lunch break that they were bored while I was out around the yard watching different groups of children play. They asked me could they get two hurleys. I told them where they knew where they were but to get two helmets if they were getting hurleys. I went off and got them a small plastic sliotar to hit around between them.

For a few days the sliotar was asked for, and as more girls saw them hitting a sliotar between themselves more girls wanted to join in. ‘Jesus we are useless, we can’t even hit the ball fecking right’ they told me, but I told them to keep at it and as the days went on, there was an improvement there to be seen. A few weeks later they were asking me could I get them entered into the different competitions just as the boys were in hurling. Seeing that there was an appetite amongst them to play I said I could not see a problem and said it to the teachers in the school. I told them that I felt they were improving every day they played and therefore it was agreed they could play in the Mini 7’s and in the West Waterford Primary School’s league. In both competitions the girls reached the final of both competition, but were to lose out in both.

Thanks to Niamh and Maighread asking me could they play with two hurleys and watching them play I began to get hooked on the game myself and get interested in the games.

When I began writing for the Munster Express I began to attend National League games played in Dungarvan writing reports for the paper and on my blog on what I saw. The first game I attended was a National League game against Wexford’s second string side where I was very impressed with a very young Lorraine Bray who was lining out for Waterford and pointing out that she had a very big future in the game.

I would have loved to have attended the All-Ireland Junior Finals of 2009, 2019 and 2011 which Waterford were involved in, but the Waterford County Board in their wisdom at the time decided to pencil in Club games the days that all three finals were played, and I was needed to cover them.

After coming up from the junior grade I saw the Waterford team play a number of times in both league and championship and was delighted to be in Croke Park when they won the Intermediate title in 2015 beating Kildare in the final.

After Waterford reached and won the under 16 All-Ireland Final in 2003 new clubs began to spring up around the county. Young players right across the county began to see what could be achieved with hard work and determination if they played the game.

Some great people got involved at administration and coaching levels. Nobody felt after winning one All-Ireland that the hard work was done, the greatest mistake made by so many counties. There were some that felt that this was only the start for Waterford and for Camogie in the County.

Success followed for Different sides. Some excellent underage teams were put together. The best of these players from 2003 were brought onto the Waterford Junior team, some of whom would play in between one and three All-Ireland Finals in a three year spell.

Success at Junior grade saw Waterford move up to the intermediate grade and over the next three years Waterford reached three All-Ireland Semi Finals in a row, clearly showing that the hard work was paying off. But those involved in the development of the game in Waterford were not resting on their laurels.

A new group of brilliant underage players were put together and some of them were part of the Waterford Intermediate team that won the 2015 All-Ireland Final at Croke Park, meaning that Waterford were now going to be playing in the Senior grade and would also be competing in the top division of the National League after they won the Division Two title again in 2015.

For a year or two playing against the top teams staying there was going to be seen as progress for Waterford. In 2018 Waterford appointed Cappoquin man Donal O’Rourke as team manager to the senior team. Under him they narrowly missed out on a place in the semi finals of the league (score difference was used to decide if it would be Waterford or Limerick) and later in the year they reached the All-Ireland Quarter Finals where they lost out to Tipperary in Cork.

This year Waterford again reached the All-Ireland Quarter Finals where with five minutes to go against Galway in Thurles they were well in contention for a semi final appearance.

The current senior panel is a brilliant group of players, but nobody will be able to sit back and think that they are assured of a place in the team or even the panel. Coming along is another brilliant group of players.

Last year Waterford won the Munster Minor ‘A’ championship beating a very fancied Cork side in the final and this past week saw Waterford’s under 16 team win the All-Ireland ‘B’ title beating Limerick in the final.

This year saw some of the best players from last year’s minor team make their way onto the senior panel and no doubt there will be some on this year’s under 16 team that could be brought in for a run with the seniors next year if not the year after, where they will be challenging for a place not just in the panel but on the starting team. It would not be a surprise to see some of last year’s minor team not involved this year with the seniors get a call up for the experience of training with and playing against some of the best players in the country. Others no doubt will be involved with the counties junior team.

Camogie is a game that is going from strength to strength in Waterford. The fact that Waterford which has one of the smallest number of clubs in the country are able to field Senior and Junior teams on the Inter County front speaks volumes about the quality of personnel there is over the game in Waterford, the quality of people that are working in coaching and more over about the numbers of players there is in the county is able to have two adult teams as well as numerous underage teams including more than one at some grades.

I have no doubt that Camogie in Waterford right now is in a very good place. Previous success’ at underage and even adult levels has got more and more girls interested in the game, and I have no doubt that the successes of the under 16 and minor teams will get more girls in areas where players came from interested in the game, hoping that they can someday soon replicate what their friends have done. The same hopefully with the success the county senior’s have had. Twice in the last two years they have played live on RTE television, something that can only have got young girls thinking out the game of Camogie and dreaming that one day it could be one of them that we will be seeing on our TV screens in the years to come.

I have no doubt that nobody involved in Waterford Camogie will think they are assured of success in the years ahead because they have had success in recent years on the underage front and the seniors reaching an All-Ireland quarter final would be seen as success.

Some great days are around the corner I feel for Camogie in Waterford, bigger days than we have experienced in recent years. The next hope for the seniors would have to be to reach an All-Ireland semi final and even an All-Ireland Final. To win in Croke Park would be absolute fantastic, but for now let’s work on getting the team there first.

Every effort has to be made to keeping the players from the under 16 and minor teams in the last two years for as long as possible. The idea of a junior county team should not be just about keeping them involved but to try and get them into the senior team. It would be brilliant to think that with the players Waterford have on the underage scene in recent years that Waterford’s junior team could become an intermediate team and that Waterford could play against second string sides from the likes of Limerick, Cork, Kilkenny, Galway and Wexford in the Intermediate grade, and not just to play against them but to rival them for silverware.

There is some brilliant club sides in Waterford, some are new clubs, others are around a while that are producing some good young players. They have to be encouraged to keep at what they are doing, producing players to play on the different underage county teams.

I for one am glad that I began to attend Camogie games in the last number of years and looking out for young players that might have a future in the game and watching their progress up through the grades.

One of my aims in writing reports on Camogie games firstly for the Munster Express, then my blog and in more recent times for all of the local papers is to try and get more and more people interested in the game of Camogie and attending games. Each time I write a report if it means just one person that has not attended a game of Camogie in their life or who might not have attended for some time turns up and see some very skilful players it will be worth it.

In the last number of years I have seen the numbers of people attending Camogie games, especially at inter county level start to rise. There is still a long way to go of course to have attendances to where I and others would love to see them. Will we see a day when the All-Ireland Finals at Croke Park will be all ticket affairs? I for one would love to think they would, but it might take a few years yet, but things are moving in the right way to having that happen.

Camogie in Waterford is moving in the right direction. If you need proof, make it your business to start going to see some games. Keep an eye on the social media pages of the County Camogie Board. Its officers are doing great work in trying to promote the games and give details of the games as they come up. Keep an eye out on the social media pages of the different clubs in the county. There is some great people there too that are doing great work to try and get people to games.

Those that follow the game in the county won’t need any telling that Camogie in Waterford is heading in the right direction and could well be on the crest of a wave. Hurling in Waterford will always be the favourite game for most sports fan’s and few will need any telling of the commitment that is made by those that play it, especially those at the highest level on the inter county scene.

But it must never be forgotten that while for now Camogie receives less coverage than what hurling gets, the commitment of the players and those tasked with developing the game is the same as what the county hurlers put in and sometimes it could be said to be even higher.

I for one think Waterford are very close to big days in the years ahead, and I hope that I will be present to see them as they happen. The question I would love to ask, will you be there as well?

Waterford Are All-Ireland under 16 Champions for a Fourth Time

Waterford are All-Ireland Under 16 ‘B’ Camogie Champions for the fourth time after they recorded a comprehensive win over Limerick at MacDonagh Park in Nenagh on Sunday afternoon.

Heading into this final the suggestions were that both sides were able to put up big scores and it proved as Róisín Hartley’s side once more put up an excellent tally on the scoreboard while at the other end of the field the Waterford backs proved very difficult to break down.

The Waterford management team were forced to make one change from their semi final win over Carlow as Sarah Maher had to sit out the game as a result of picking up a straight red card at Freshford. Gailltir’s Laoise Forest moved from centre back to full back for this game in place of her club mate, with Modeligo’s Mairead O’Brien moving from wing forward to the number six position and Abbeyside’s Aoibhinn O’Grady coming in from the bench to play at wing forward.

Centre forward Alannah O’Sullivan finished the game as Waterford’s top scorer once more in this game with eight points behind her name. The Gailltir club player had four frees and a successfully struck ’45 in her overall tally while Waterford’s goals came from Áine O’Neill, Rhona Drohan, Alisha Flynn and Kelsie Obanya.

There can be no disputing that in Waterford’s previous All-Ireland wins at this grade some very good players were produced who went on in the years that followed played at a much higher level with the county and there can be no disputing that on this occasion there will be members of this panel who will go on to have a part to play on much bigger occasions.

On a day were Mairead O’Brien and Alannah O’Sullivan in key positions proved to be Waterford’s most telling players, it was the Gailltir player that opened the scoring with a converted 45 in the opening minute and she added a second score before she laid the ball off to Rachel Walsh who crashed to the Limerick net for Waterford’s first major score of the game.

Nadine White pointed from a free for Limerick, but this score was cancelled out with another Alannah O’Sullivan score at the other end of the field, again from a free with ten minutes played.

Limerick struck for their only goal of the game when a long range Nadine White free was plucked out of the air by Megan Walsh who turned and gave Elena Gallagher in the Waterford goal no change.

The goal however failed to ignite a Limerick side who were finding the going tough against a strong Waterford defence, as Waterford followed up with a brace of scores from Alannah O’Sullivan.

Nadine White pointed once more for the side in green but it was quickly cancelled out with a score from Aoibhinn O’Grady and it was quickly followed up with a second Waterford goal as the Modeligo pair of Mairead O’Brien and Rhona Drohan combined, as the latter got in behind the Limerick backs to catch a long free from O’Brien and she struck sweetly to beat Ciara Mulqueen.

Two more scores from the brilliant Alannah O’Sullivan gave Waterford a 2-8 to 1-2 lead with the break approaching.

Limerick missed a number of chances from placed balls to close the Waterford lead but it was Alannah O’Sullivan that opened the second half scoring. In a low scoring third quarter Ella Hession pointed for the side in green for the quarters only other score as Waterford remained comfortably in front.

Waterford’s third goal came from Alisha Flynn following a brainstorming run. Áine O’Neill followed up with a point for the Déise Girls and when Kelsie Obanya whipped in Waterford’s fourth goal in what was a brilliant display by the Déise girls.

WATERFORD: Elena Gallagher; Dara Fitzgerald, Laoise Forrest, Helen Connolly; Aoife Hartley Mairéad O'Brien, Maeve Sheridan; Áine O'Neill, Kelsie Obanya; Aoibhinn O'Grady, Alannah O'Sullivan, Ellen Boylan; Alannah McNulty, Rhona Drohan, Rachel Walsh.

SUBS: Alisha Flynn for Rhona Drohan (37), Natasha Dobbyn for Aoibhinn O'Grady (49), Caoimhe Forrest for Laoise Forrest (55), Ruth O'Regan for Alanna McNulty (58), Chloe Power for Helen Connolly (60).

SCORERS: Alannah O'Sullivan 0-8 (4 frees, 1 '45'),  Áine O'Neill 1-1, Rhona Drohan, Alisha Flynn, Kelsie Obanya 1-0 each, Rachel Walsh, Aoibhinn O'Grady 0-1 each;

LIMERICK: Ciara Mulqueen; Leah Twomey, Clíodhna Ryan, Áine Herbert; Máire Butler, Emma Kennedy, Niamh Moloney; Nadine White, Aoife Nelligan; Fiona Herbert, Teresa Dore, Ella Hession; Sinéad Barry, Megan Walsh, Olivia Kearns.

SUBS: Alice O'Callaghan for Sinéad Barry (HT), Laura Stokes for Fiona Herbert (57)

SCORERS: Megan Walsh 1-0, Nadine White 0-2 (2 frees), Ella Hession 0-1.

REFEREE: John Horgan (Cork).

Waterford to Contest All-Ireland Final in Nenagh

McDonagh Park in Nenagh plays host to this year’s All-Ireland Under 16 ‘B’ Camogie Final on Sunday afternoon when Munster Rivals Waterford and Limerick Clash for a 2pm start which will be followed by the ‘A’ Final in the same age group between Cork and Galway two hours later.

Sunday will see Waterford appear in the final of this competition for the seventh time and Waterford’s overall record in the competition is rather good, winning it for the first time in 2003 where they proved too strong for Armagh in Portlaoise while they recorded back to back wins in 2014 and 2015, the counties last successes in this competition, while there was defeats for Waterford in 2007 and 2009 against Derry after a replay and Wexford respectfully while in 2013 after winning the Munster Final against the same opposition they went under to Cork in the All-Ireland Final.

In all of these games players that stood out for Waterford in the finals or along the way have gone on to make a name for themselves in the game in the years ahead, and no doubt many involved on Sunday will be dreaming that they too can go on and represent the county at the highest level over the coming years.

In 2003 Laura Buckley from Lismore was the team captain and Laura was one of many on this team to go on and play on much bigger days over the following years. Players like Aisling O’Brien, Charlotte Raher, Jenny Simpson, Emma Hannon, Áine Lyng, and Trish Jackman were all involved in a memorable day for Waterford Camogie.

In Waterford’s most recent finals players like Ciara Jackman, Kate Lynch, Kaiesha Tobin, Niamh Murphy, Brianna O’Regan, Saoirse Bonnar, Sibeal Harney, Beth Carton, Aisling Power, Kate McMahon, Iona Heffernan and Caoimhe McGrath were involved in different panels and have gone on to play for the county in recent years.

Both of these sides are at this stage of the competition very much so on merit having both won their respective groups in the earlier stages of the competition.

To reach Sunday’s final both sides have amassed some huge scores along the way which could well suggest that this game could be one where the attacking players on both sides will be on top.

Limerick finished their group having won four and drawn one of their games. They started with wins over Kildare (4-10 to 0-5), Carlow (10-4 to 1-7) and Westmeath (5-12 to 1-2) before sharing the spoils 2-8 to 3-5 against Offaly, but they got back to winning ways in some fashion in their final group game with a massive 7-22 to 2-2 win over Down.

Waterford had a team less in their group to play and after getting  a bye in the first round of games, they made up lost ground on the sides that recorded wins in the opening round of fixtures when they pulled off a massive 6-16 to 1-6 win over Derry and followed it up with equally as impressive wins over Laois (5-20 to 2-3), Armagh (4-12 to 1-7) and finally Meath (7-27 to 0-1).

In their semi finals played recently both sides once more looked very impressive as Limerick proved too strong for Laois at Nenagh winning 2-7 to 1-9 while Waterford had a 3-17 to 1-5 win over Carlow in Freshford.

Limerick have former Waterford senior hurling coach Bertie Sherlock working them and he will have them in fine fatal for this game and it is envisaged that they could well retain the side that beat Laois last time out for this game.

In that game full forward Megan Walsh and centre forward Sinead Barry were the sides goal getters and are clearly players that side coached by Róisín Hartley will have to keep a close eye on  as are free taker Nadine White in the middle of the field and Ella Hession in attack who have contributed their share of scores to this final.

Waterford will have to make changes for this game as full back Sarah Maher was dismissed on a straight red card in the semi final win over Carlow, but Waterford have a sizeable panel and will be able to replace her through some re-jigging of the team.

Centre forward Alannah O’Sullivan last time out was the team’s top scorer and they will be looking to her this time out again with the big scores when presented with the chance. Mairead O’Brien, substitute Alisha Flynn and Rachel Walsh were the team goal scorers last time out and if they can beat Limerick net minder Ciara Mulqueen then you have to feel that Waterford are in with an excellent chance.

This is a game that could go right to the wire, and as we have seen from their route to the final, both sides have some quality score getters.

As to how good these two sides are, you have to go on their semi final wins and how the sides faired against opposition their opponents had already played earlier in the competition. Waterford in the semi finals looked to be the more impressive of the two sides and get the nod to win this one.

Waterford Panel: Elena Gallagher (Gailltir), Dara Fitzgerald (Gailltir), Sarah Maher (Gailltir), Helen Connolly (Ferrybank), Aoife Hartley (Gailltir), Laoise Forest (Gailltir), Maeve Sheridan (Gailltir), Áine O’Neill (Brickey Rangers), Kelsie Obanya (Tramore), Ellen Boylan (Portlaw), Alannah O’Sullivan (Gailltir), Mairead O’Brien (Modeligo), Alannah McNulty (De La Salle), Rhona Drohan (Modeligo), Rachel Walsh (Butlerstown),  Zoe Mackey (Portlaw), Alisha Flynn (Gailltir), Clodagh Hoctor (Gailltir), Emma Hickey (Modeligo), Lilly Anne McGill (An Rinn), Emma Hickey (Modeligo), Aoibhinn O’Grady (Abbeyside), Caoimhe Forest (Gailltir), Ellie Swift (Saint Annes), Ruth O’Regan (Portlaw), Niamh Laffan (Portlaw), Onelia Whelan (An Rinn), Aoife Murphy (Gailltir), Rachel Horsom (Cappoquin), Chloe Power (Modeligo), Natasha Dobbyn (Tramore), Anna Mai Drohan (Gailltir), Molly Comerford (Gailltir).

The GAA Should Follow UEFA and Start Appointing Female Officials

History was made this week when a team of female officials took charge of a major European Soccer game in the men’s game for the very first time.

For those that watch soccer at any level over the past few years to see a woman take charge of a game or to run the line would be nothing new, but for three women to be involved in the one game is very rare but is something very much to be welcomed.

There will be some that will not have liked to see French referee Stephanie Frappart stand in the middle of a field in Istanbul, with a whistle flanked by Manuela Nicolosi from Italy and Michelle O’Neill from Ireland stand in the middle of the field with the two team captains before the game and to officiate over the 120 minutes which the game ran.

There is some of course even some high profile players and presenters who whether jokingly or seriously made comments about female officials and have found themselves in some hot water for what they had to say.

Thankfully those that express such views are few and far between. There might have been people who in the past who have expressed views about women taking part in sport and claim that their chosen sport is not really a game, but thankfully many of these people have allowed themselves to be educated.

After hearing that this season’s Super Cup final officials would be female, it put me thinking. Could the same happen in the world of GAA? Could we see the day when teams like Tipperary and Kilkenny who contests this year’s All-Ireland Hurling Final be refereed by a female in the coming years with females also running the line and also acting as umpires. Could we see the day when teams like Kerry and Dublin run out to a full house on All-Ireland Football Final day and be refereed by a woman who would be assisted by a team of female officials?

In the last few days I have taken time to look at both the Ladies Football and Camogie Associations websites where I went into the section where the results of this year’s games are given.

When it comes to Ladies Football the fixture and results section leaves a little to be desired. All the results and upcoming fixtures are to be found, but in the majority of cases they do not give the names of those that take charge of the games. In Camogie they do much better as the referee is given for each game which is played.

Looking through the information which is available in Ladies Football there appears to be three female referee’s on the inter county scene at a national level. Maybe there is more but as they are not listed it is hard to tell. There may be more used in the provinces but sadly the Ladies Football Association does not list provincial results or fixtures on their website. On the Camogie front again things are a little better as there appears to be five female referee’s on the inter county referee’s list.

In both games there is one name that stands out as the leading female referee in the chosen game which they are officiating. In Camogie most if not all supporters of the game will have heard and seen Liz Dempsey in action as a knight of the whistle. The names of Suzanne Ford, Julie O’Neill, Louise Smith and Angela Moran may not be as well know but hopefully for them we will see them involved in more profile games going forward.

In Ladies Football Maggie Farrelly became the first female official to take charge of an inter county men’s game when she was in the middle in a McKenna Cup game between Fermanagh and Saint Mary’s University three years ago. The other two female referee’s on the inter county scene are Siobhan Coyle and Lorraine O’Sullivan who hopefully will become household names going forward.

The question has to be asked could we see someone like Liz Dempsey or Maggie Farrelly take charge of an All-Ireland Final in the men’s game in the coming years and for them to be assisted by those already named that, and of course they can, but it would need for those that take charge of appointing officials to start taking notice of what they can do.

First up we need to see more female referee’s appointed in each of the counties and they given charge of games, and not just in the less glamorous games, but be appointed to take charge in county finals at the highest level, make their way onto the Provincial lists of referee’s and ultimately onto the national panel of referees.

There was a time when the involvement of women in the GAA consisted of bringing children to training and matches and for the washing of the jerseys.

Thankfully these days are long gone. We have seen women get involved in different aspects of the association and some have and do hold high profile positions on different county boards and sit on different committees at provincial level.

We have seen Joanne Cantwell take over the presenting of Sunday Game programme and we have a number of female presenters on the different G.A.A. programmes which we can hear on National Radio, and have a number of excellent female analysis but sadly we don’t see enough of them on the television.

With more and more women getting involved in different positions in the G.A.A. with some as pointed out already reaching the top, the next step surly would be for the G.A.A. to start encouraging women to become knights of the whistle and getting the best of them to take charge of the big games. There is plenty of women out there more than capable of doing the job, women that have an excellent understanding of the rules and who have the fitness to take charge of games.

Will it happen that we will see a team of female officials take charge of major games like what we saw in Istanbul during the week when it comes to hurling or football? To be honest right now, I can’t see it happen, but nobody would love to see it happen more than I would sometime in the future.

 

 

Galway Edge Out Waterford in the Rain

When those involved with Ladies Football in the county sit down to look back at 2019 in a few months time, it is fair to surmise that it would be a good year for Ciaran Curran’s senior side.

After just three years in a very competitive second division of the National League, retaining their status the first year and reaching the semi final the second year, they won this year’s final against a Kerry side that had dropped down a division the year before and looked favourites to go straight back up at the first time of asking, the Dungarvan club man’s side went on to reach the quarter final stages of the championship for the second time in three years, having been involved in a relegation play off last year.

Expectations going into Saturday afternoon’s quarter final in the rain at the midlands venue were that the side from the western province would have too much for their opponents, as they had pushed Cork hard in the division one league final a few months back and were said to be moving in the right direction.

Huge credit must go to the players on both sides for playing out this game in the torrential rain which fell throughout the game, and it can be assumed that if this Waterford side stays together and can bring some names back into the squad which were with the panel earlier in the year, this is a side that will learn from this defeat and as a result they will be a better outfit playing against the very best sides in the country all throughout 2020, something that can only be good for the players further development.

Galway corner forward and team captain Tracey Leonard was the difference between the sides in this contest as she finished the game with 1-5 behind her name on the score sheet as she helped her side to advance to an All-Ireland semi final against Mayo, a repeat of the recent Connacht Final which the tribes ladies won at the second attempt, a game that was played in Limerick.

Waterford to their credit really tested the winners in this game and two goals, one in each by Aileen Wall gave the winners who were overwhelming favourites with the bookies to advance something to think about.

It was Róisín Leonard that opened the scoring for the side from the west of the country in the fourth minute but Waterford would respond almost straight away with a point from Maria Delahunty.

Tracey Leonard from a free and Michelle Ryan swapped scores in a three minute spell to keep the sides inseparable with ten minutes on the clock, but over the next ten minutes when it came to taking chances presented to both sides in front of goal, it was the eventual winners that proved to be the most economical.

Megan Glynn and Louise Ward tagged on scores for the side in maroon and white to give them a double score lead with sixteen minutes played and they further stretch their lead on 17 minutes when Róisín Leonard laid off a pass for her cousin and team captain who made no mistake in beating Rosie Landers for the first goal of the game, putting her side five up with 17 minutes played and steamily in cruise control.

But the sign of a good team is how they bounce back after the concession of a goal and in Waterford’s case it was with a Maria Delahunty point from a placed ball, and while Sarah Conneally and Michelle Ryan would share the next two scores for their respective sides, Waterford were right back in the game with five minutes of the half remaining when Aileen Wall after swapping passes with Eimear Fennell got through the Galway defence and planted the size four past Lisa Murphy to leave just the one between the sides.

Galway however would go in at the break in a slightly better position as team captain Tracey Leonard split the posts two minutes from the break to give her side a 1-6 to 1-4 lead at the interval.

Galway came out strong for the second half hitting an early score from the boot of Tracey Leonard after which Áine McDonagh got her name on the score sheet.

Tracey Leonard followed up with another free to give her side a five point cushion with eight minutes of the second half played.

The same player pointed again on 42 minutes and two minutes later it was her cousin Róisín that edged Galway 1-11 to 1-4 in front.

While Galway were piling on the pressure on Waterford at one end, when Waterford conjured a goal chance at the other end Aileen Wall made no mistake in beating Lisa Murphy for the second time with 12 minutes of the game remaining to leave just four between the sides.

But from a Waterford perfective this proved to be the sides only score of the second half. Both sides it must be said were finding chances hard to get in the final quarter in the conditions and while Galway would hit one further score through Sarah Conneally ten minutes from the end to secure her sides passage to an All-Ireland semi final at Croke Park, this Waterford side will take great heart from this game, knowing playing tougher opposition to which they have become accustomed to in recent years in next year’s league, come Championship 2020 Waterford will be a side that few will relish playing.

Waterford: Rosie Landers; Mairead Wall, Caoimhe McGrath, Emma Murray; Kate McGrath, Karen McGrath, Rósín Tobin; Michelle Ryan, Kelly Anne Hogan; Aileen Wall, Katie Murray, Shauna Dunphy; Eimear Fennell, Chloe Fennell, Maria Delahunty.

Subs: Brigita Valuntaite for Maria Delahunty (49), Lauren McGregor for Chloe Fennell (54).

Scorers: Aileen Wall 2-0, Maria Delahunty 0-2 (0-1f), Michelle Ryan 0-2

Galway: Lisa Murphy; Sarah Lynch, Nicola Ward, Sinead Burke; Orla Murphy, Barbara Hannon, Charlotte Cooney; Louise Ward, Áine McDonagh; Olivia Divilly, Megan Glynn, Mairead Seoighe; Tracey Leonard, Sarah Conneally, Róisín Leonard.

Subs: Leanne Coen for Megan Glynn (44), Mairead Coyne for Mairead Seoighe (53), Shauna Molloy for Sarah Lynch (60).

Scorers: Tracey Leonard 1-5 (3f), Sarah Conneally, Róisín Leonard 0-2 each, Leanne Ward, Megan Glynn, Áine McDonagh 0-1 each

Referee: Brendan Rice (Down).