Cappoquin Look To Dethrone Champions Gailltir In County Final

Cappoquin will look to win a first senior County Camogie final for the first time in over 60 years at the WIT Arena on Saturday afternoon when they take on reigning champions Gailltir in a final that could well attract the biggest attendance to such a game in many a year.

12 months ago the reigning champions won a second title in three seasons having gone eight years without one up to that point and later that year went on to win a second Munster Intermediate Final and earlier this year they contested the All-Ireland Final at Croke Park, but sadly had to second for second best on the day, which if it had ended in victory would have saw the Diamond Anniversary of their formation back in 1958 end on a very memorable note.

They will go into this game as the favourites and it is easy to see why when you look back at what they achieved last year and in the meantime with their underage players, but it would be a very foolish person that would write off the chances of the women from the Cornerstone going into this game.

The sides have already met in the competition as the pair were in the same group in a seven team competition split into two groups. On that occasion it was Gailltir that emerged as victors, but that does not mean that the result this time around will be the same.

If you are a reader of what I have to say on here and in reporting on the local papers over the past few years, you will know that when it comes to underage hurling and football games as well as competitions at all levels in Camogie and Ladies Football, I have a thing that when two sides meet for the second time in the same competition, often in these competitions it is the team that lost the first day that is the one that will have learned more from that game and they often come back and win on the second occasion.

Will that happen at the WIT Arena in Carriganore on Saturday evening? Right now we will have to wait and see.

Cappoquin’s second game in the group stages was against Dungarvan, a game that resulted in a win for the girls in Red and Black which set up a quarter final appearance against their neighbours Lismore.

The side from the Heritage Town would have gone into that game as favourites, but games between Lismore and Cappoquin pay little regard to what the bookies might be saying as when they face off against one another in any sport, it always brings the best out of the players.

In that game they fought out a very tight game where at the break the sides could not be separated and thirty minutes later things were just as close but Cappoquin did enough to emerge winners by the minimum in a game that produced seventeen scores, all of which saw white flags waved.

That win put Cappoquin into the semi final where they took on De La Salle. Again here the side from West Waterford went into the game as the underdogs but they pulled off a performance that will be remembered for some time against the side which contested last year’s League and Championship Finals, only to lose both to Gailltir and who only a few weeks ago had a great boost going into that semi final when they beat Gailltir to win the All-Ireland Seven’s Title in Dublin.

But again Cappoquin refused to what people were saying about their chances against such strong opposition as they ran out winners on a 1-14 to 1-12 score line with Aisling Power proving outstanding with her shooting on the day, and that win will mean that they will make the journey to the outer ring road around Waterford on Saturday afternoon in a very confident mood.

Cappoquin this year are under the guidance of Shane Coughlan, a player that had a long career playing with the Cappoquin/Affane Club and will be bringing a lot of what he learned over the years into his role as Manager/Coach to the sides Camogie team.

And no doubt he may well be calling on the advice of former Waterford Senior Camogie Manager Donal O’Rourke, a player which he played alongside for many years asking how he might be able to stop some of the Gailltir players which the former goalkeeper will know from his two years in charge of the county team.

Cappoquin while their players as a group might not be as known as what Gailltir’s are will not be left asking on the that day. Right throughout the team there is plenty of talent. Tracey Kiely as played in goal for Waterford at all levels. Lorraine Bray is a player that needs no introduction to anyone. She is one of the best in the country right now and was recently nominated for an All-Star for the second year in a row. And up front there is Aisling Power who like Lorraine Bray is the holder of a Intermediate All-Ireland Medal won in 2015. She was top scorer for Cappoquin in their win over De La Salle and if she was to prove to be just as sharp on this occasion then Gailltir could find themselves in a spot of bother.

And there is others that are more than capable of pulling off a big result in the Cappoquin set up, players like Carole, Elaine and Jenny McCarthy, Tina and Bree Coffey, no Cappoquin team would be complete without a Murray and this Cappoquin side has Laura. They have the two Róisín’s Uniacke and Cahillane, Coley Landers, Charlotte Connors, Sinead O’Brien and Emma Foley to name but a few of the remainder of their panel that will be looking to help their side produce the performance of their lives.

Gailltir in the group stages finished with maximum points from their games against Cappoquin and Lismore and in their quarter final they once more proved too strong for a West Waterford club beating An Rinn 5-21 to 1-7 and last time out they once more showed that they are a side to be reckoned with in beating Saint Anne’s 3-13 to 1-9 at the WIT Arena.

Nobody in Cappoquin will need much telling of the task they face when they face up to Gailltir. The reigning champions have not just a strong starting fifteen, but a very strong senior panel, and if they can build on what they have achieved so far, there is no reason to suggest that they won’t achieve big things in the years ahead.

In their semi final win recently they started 12 of the side that were beaten in the All-Ireland Final earlier this year, and they could start with a similar number this weekend.

With players like the Fitzgerald’s, the Jackman’s, Margo Heffernan, Claire Dunne, Anne Corcoran, Emma Roche, Kate Lynch, Clodagh Carroll, Áine Lyng, Emer Walsh, Ciara O’Sullivan, Áine O’Keeffe, Hannah Flynn, Emily Mahony and Leah Sheridan to name but a few that could feature this weekend, Gailltir have a very strong unit.

As I have said already often in Ladies Football and Camogie I often feel that when two teams meet in the same competition the team that loses the first game is often the side that learns most. As much as I would love to say it with Cappoquin connections in me, I can’t see them win this one. There is some that will tell you that you have to lose one to win one, something that is not always true. To me Gailltir appear have the stronger starting fifteen, and not only that they seem to have plenty of strength in reserve, some of who have won under age and colleges Munster and All-Ireland Medals in the last couple of years, and you have to think that this will stand to them.

But in saying that, don’t write off the West Waterford Club. It is often the longer that any Cappoquin side remain in a competition the harder they are to beat, and after beating Lismore and De La Salle, two of the stronger sides in the county in their last two games, they will not be short of confidence going into this game.