Waterford & Tipperary do battle at Fraher Field.

Just three weeks on from the last meeting of the two, Waterford’s and Tipperary’s senior football  teams go into battle this Saturday evening in Fraher Field at 7pm.

 

Three weeks ago, played at Tipperary Town, it was the home side that came out on top after extra time in the McGrath Cup semi final, but this time out with due respect to the McGrath Cup Competition, the stakes are much higher.

In round one of the Allianz National Football League last weekend, the two sides had contrasting results.

Tipperary took on Anthony Rainbow’s Carlow side at Semple Stadium but had to give second best to the Barrowmen despite holding an advantage at the break.

Waterford on the other hand made the long journey to Hennessy Park in Miltown Malbay to take on a fancied Clare side under the guidance of Mick O’Dwyer. The first half proved to be a very even affair at the end of which the home side held a two point advantage but a Darren Guiry goal thirteen minutes into the second half proved crucial and helped Waterford to a 1-9 to 0-11 victory.

When the two sides met in the McGrath Cup recently, it was Niall Carew men that got off the best start with Tony Grey and Paul Whyte hitting early points.

One player that Waterford will have to pay particular attention to this weekend is Aherlow’s Barry Grogan. Three weeks ago he was the difference between the sides and despite the start made by his team, he was able to bring them back into the game and at the break they held a 0-4 to 0-3 lead with Grogan hitting all of his side’s scores.

Waterford began the second half the better of the two sides as Gary Hurney who misses this weekend’s game through suspension hit two points to give Waterford the lead once more.

However, with Grogan to the fore Tipperary came storming back and went into a 0-7 to 0-5 lead.

A goal from Paul Whyte gave the lead back to Waterford, but it was not good enough to give Waterford a win to advance to the final and a meeting with Kerry as after seventy minutes of football the sides were tied at 1-7 to 0-10. 8 to 0-12 lead at the break in extra time.

Only one score was hit in the final ten minutes of the game. A high ball sent into around the Waterford goals which saw Barry Grogan go highest to get a touch on the ball and put it past Stephen Enright in the Waterford goals.

The two sides will be all out for a win. Tipperary will know that if they were to loose again this weekend after last weeks loss to Carlow, that their chances of gaining promotion would be all but over, while Waterford will know that if they are advance they will need as many wins as possible as there is still some tough games to be played.

Tipperary makes two changes to the team that lost to Carlow last weekend. Alan Campbell comes in for Andrew Morrissey while Hugh Coghlan who plays his club football with Portlaoise in Laois comes in for Darren Lowry. As a result of these changes, the Tipperary management team make a number of positional changes to the side that lost against Carlow.

Waterford Manager Niall Carew last night names the same fifteen that beat Clare last weekend. However they have decided to make a number of positional changes with Paul Whyte who is best known as a forward but named at wing back last weekend moving to corner forward and Maurice O’Gorman who is best known as a defender but named last week at wing forward moving to fill the void left by Paul Whyte’s placement in a more familiar position.

Waterford named team:

Stephen Enright          (Ballinacourty)

Conor Phelan              (Brickeys)       

Stephen Prendergast  (Kilrossanty)   

John Hurney                (Ballinacourty)

Maurice O’Gorman    (The Nire)       

Shane Briggs               (Ballinacourty)           

Tony Grey                    (Stradbally)

Shane Ahearne            (Stradbally)    

Tommy Prendergast   (Kilrossanty)

Patrick Hurney             (Ballinacourty)           

Conor McGrath            (Brickeys)       

Liam Ó Lionáin            (An Rinn)

Darren Guiry               (The Nire)       

Robert Ahearne          (Stradbally)    

Paul Whyte                  (Kilrossanty)

Tipperary named team:

Paul Fitzgerald           (Fethard)

John Coghlan              (Moyne Templetouhy)           

Paddy Codd                 (Killenaule)     

Ciaran McDonald        (Aherlow)

Alan Campbell             (Moyle Rovers)          

Robbie Kiely                (Arravale Rovers)

Brian Fox                     (Eire Og Annacarty)

George Hannigan        (Shannon Rovers)

Philip Quirke               (Moyle Rovers)

Peter Acheson             (Moyle Rovers)          

Hugh Coghlan             (Portlaoise - Laois)

Donagh Leahy             (Arravale Rovers)

Alan Maloney              (Rockwell Rovers)

Barry Grogan              (Aherlow)       

Michael Quinlivan      (Clonmel Commercials)

Referee: Anthony Nolan (Wicklow).

Waterford footballers begin with a win

This years Allianz National Football Division Four League has the potential to be the best in a long time.

In recent years, very little has separated the majority of the competing teams with most on a given day able to pull off a result.

Sides that have gone up in recent years have also done well and some have put back to back promotions together proving that the gap between teams in the third tier of the National League and the fourth is very small.

For every team this year a win is a must as points dropped could prove to be very costly come late spring when the top two sides after seven rounds of games get the chance for most of the sides in the division will get the chance to play at G.A.A. head quarters on Jones’ Road in Dublin 3.

Waterford made the long trip to Hennessy Memorial Park in Miltown Malbay on Sunday last for their opening game in this years league against a Clare side who this year are under the guidance of the legendary Mick O’Dwyer who in the late 1970’s and early 80’s guided Kerry to four All-Ireland finals in a row, and came within a whiskers length of winning what would be an historic five finals in a row.

Clashes between Waterford and Clare in recent years were close fought battles and this latest one was no different.

David Tubridy got the scoring under way in this game with a point from a free on five minutes.

In the opening half the sides were all square on five occasions. Shane Ahearne levelled matters for Waterford before Cathal O’Connor gave the home side the lead once more.

Patrick Hurney pointed for Waterford and then Darren Guiry gave Waterford the lead for the first time when he slotted over on his debut at this level of football.

Alan Clohessy levelled matters once more and his effort was followed by a point from Chris Dunning as Clare took a 0-4 to 0-3 lead.

Paul Whyte hit points for Waterford on twenty three and twenty five minutes to give Waterford a 0-5 to 0-4 lead playing with the wind at their backs and with ten minutes of the opening half to play.

The home side however were to finish the stronger of the two sides in the opening half and a brace of points from David Tubridy on twenty seven and thirty one minutes had Clare in front once more and they managed to double their lead before the break when Marty McMahon gave Mick O’Dwyer’s men an 0-7 to 0-5 lead at the change of ends.

On the resumption Clare began as they ended the opening half as Shane McGrath pointed inside thirty seconds of the restart to give his side a three point lead.

Waterford however then began to enjoy a period of dominance.

Winning much of the breaking ball in and around the middle of the field, Robert Ahearne put over a brace of frees and then Paul Whyte scored to level matters at eight points each.

The games only green flag was raised on forty eight minutes. Some good work by Liam Ó Lionáin set up Darren Guiry who beat Joe Hayes in the Clare goal to give Waterford a three point advantage.

Shane McGrath responded with a point for Clare only for it to be cancelled out by Brickeys club man Conor McGrath.

Clare began to pile on the pressure in the time that remained and his two points from David Tubridy but were unable to get the further scores that would get them something from the game.

A 1-9 to 0-11 win it was for Waterford who next up play Tipperary at Fraher Field on Saturday evening.

The two sides met recently in the McGrath Cup at Tipperary Town where the home side came out on top after extra time.

Since then however, the Premier County side have lost twice, to Kerry in the McGrath Cup final and last weekend at home to Carlow in the National League. They will want to bring their loosing run to an end against Waterford but at Fraher Field a side over the last few years have had to work extremely hard if they are to get something from the game.

Waterford: Stephen Enright; Conor Phelan, Stephen Prendergast, John Hurney; Paul Whyte, Shane Briggs, Tony Grey; Shane Ahearne, Tommy Prendergast; Conor McGrath, Patrick Hurney, Maurice O’Gorman, Darren Guiry, Robert Ahearne, Liam Ó Lionáin. Subs: Gavin Nugent for Conor McGrath, Ronan Cahill for Tommy Prendergast, David Hallahan for Darren Guiry.

Scorers: Darren Guiry 1-1, Paul Whyte, 0-3, Robert Ahearne 0-2 (2 frees), Shane Ahearne, Conor McGrath, Patrick Hurney 0-1 each.

Clare: Joe Hayes; Laurence Healy, Shane McNelis, Enda Coughlan; Declan Callinan, Gordon Kelly,  Martin McMahon; Gary Brennan, Cathal O’Connor; Alan Clohessy, Shane McGrath, Chris Dunning; Mark McCarthy, Niall Kelly David Tubridy. Subs: Ger Quinlan for Gordon Kelly, John Keane for Shane McGrath, Cathal Duggan for Mark McCarthy.

Scorers: David Tubridy 0-5 (3 frees), Shane McGrath ((0-2), Martin McMahon, Cathal O’Connor, Alan Clohessy, Chris Dunning 0-1 each.

Referee: Padraig O’Sullivan (Kerry)

 

Dungarvan Colleges back in Dr Harty Cup Final

Saint Flannan’s in Ennis, Saint Colman’s in Fermoy, De La Salle in Waterford City, Thurles CBS and Ard Scoil Rís from Limerick have all done in since the turn of the Millennium and now Dungarvan Colleges, formally Coláiste na nDéise have join the list of sides that have contested two or more successive Dr. Harty Cup Finals since 2000.

Saturday’s victory over Thurles CBS may not have been a classic, but its fair to say that nobody in the Dungarvan Colleges set up or those that went to Fermoy to support them on Saturday afternoon last will not worry about this too much.

At time’s lady luck may have shone on the Dungarvan CBS team at times, but this is something that you need if you are to win, and more over in the bigger games.

Thurles CBS went into the game as the favourites to advance to the next phase of the competition. The Mid Tipperary side went into the game as one of two teams in the last four of the competition to have won all their games in the competition and they also within their ranks included six members of the Tipperary Minor team that won the 2012 Minor Hurling All-Ireland Final.

It was The West Waterford side that began the brightest as Patrick Curran hit a point from play inside a minute of the game starting.

Thurles CBS however quickly showed why they were regarded as the favourites.

Eoin Moriaty playing with the Emeralds Club in Kilkenny leveled matters and shortly afterwards Thurles Sarsfields duo Kevin Dunne and Conor Lanigan who hit a brace of frees had their side leading 0-4 to 0-1 after eleven minutes.

Patrick Curran who finished the game as its leading scorer hitting nine points, and Conor Lanigan kept the scoreboard ticking over and when An Rinn’s Christy Breathnach hit a point on eighteen minutes just two separated the sides.

Thurles CBS however at this stage were in no humour to leave the gap close in too much and within sixty seconds of each other hit a brace of points from Eoin Moriaty and Conor Lanigan to extent their sides lead to double their lead.

Tadhg Bourke one of a number of players in the Dungarvan Colleges side that were part of last years Championship winning team hit a long range free to leave just three between the sides just as Dungarvan Colleges began to hit their best spell in the game.

Seven minutes from the break Christy Breathnach sent in a shot from out on the wing which looked to be no danger, but Paul Maher in the Thurles CBS goal made a cardinal sin and took his eyes off the ball, instead keeping an eye on the advancing Dungarvan Colleges forwards that were heading in his direction, the end result – the An Rinn Club man’s shot found its way past the Thurles CBS goalkeeper for the only goal of the game which leveled matters.

Sean Nally sent Thurles CBS back in front but three points from Patrick Curran and one more from Conor Lanigan gave Dungarvan Colleges a 1-7 to 0-9 lead at the change of ends.

One of the best things that Dungarvan Colleges or Colaiste na nDéise have done in recent years was to bring former county coach Peter Power into their set up.

The enthusiasm of the Kilgobnet man for hurling holds no bounds. Heading into the dressing rooms he was encouraging his sides players and the same was happening as the side re-entered the field and in the closing minutes of the game when the pressure was on he was again on the line encouraging his sides defenders to keep doing the simple things and to do them right.

What ever he and his fellow mentors said in the dressing room at the break worked. The side came out for the second half hitting the first four scores of the second half in the opening ten minutes of the half.

Patrick Curran hit the first two both from frees in the first and fourth minutes of the half. Sandwiched in between, Thurles won a free forty metres from goal and just to the right of the posts as Conor Lanigan stood over the ball. He looked odds on to send the umpires racing for a white flag but he saw his effort go to the right of the near upright.

The Thurles Sarsfields club man did hit his sides first score of the half on forty-six minutes and two minutes later Eoin Moriaty looked as if he was going to rattle the Dungarvan CBS net but he say his shot somehow deflected out for a sixty-five which Lanigan converted.

Eoin Moriaty pointed again for the Mid Tipperary College again on fifty minutes as the Premier County Side began to put the Dungarvan Colleges defence under some pressure.

With five minutes of the hour to play, Thurles CBS won for themselves a free thirty metres from goal which was marginally closer to the sideline than the posts.

Conor Lanigan having already hit seven points looked odds on to hit his eight of the afternoon, but he failed to pick the ball correctly, and even his stroke along the ground after attempting to raise the ball was not as it should be and the ball was easily cleared by the Dungarvan defence, who attacked down field and won a free of their own from a good position which Patrick Curran put over with some ease to give his side a three point cushion.

A three point lead in hurling is a very dangerous one, and in the closing minutes Thurles CBS continued to attack the Dungarvan Colleges goal. The west Waterford men however held out. They hurried the Thurles CBS players into shooting when they had a chance, the end result being that they missed a number of what normally would have been relatively easy chances.

Dungarvan held out for a three point victory which was richly deserved. They are now through to the final for the second year in a row, but who they will play has yet to be decided after Our Lady’s from Templemore and Ard Scoil Rís from Limerick drew their semi final at Nenagh on Sunday and the two sides will now have to replay this coming Saturday.

Dungarvan Colleges: Laurence Power; Kaelan Looby, Brian Looby, Michael Cronin; Tadhg Bourke, Kevin Daly, Tom Devine; Cormac Curran, Michael Harney; Christy Breathnach, Patrick Curran, Seamus Keating; Colin Dunford, Darragh Lyons, David Gartland. Subs: Ryan Donnelly for David Gartland.

Scorers: Patrick Curran 0-9 (8 frees), Christy Curran 1-1, Tadhg Bourke, Colin Dunford 0-1 each.

Thurles CBS: Paul Maher; Brian Troy, Robert Larkin, Jack Lineen; Lorcan Egan, Ronan Maher; Rory O’Regan; Jack Skehan, Eoin Moriaty; Sean Ryan, Sean Nally, Kevin Dunne; Stephen Cahill, Pauric Russell, Conor Lanigan. Subs: Caley Maher for Pauric Russell, Ronan Heffernan for Rory O’Regan.

Scorers: Conor Lanigan 0-7 (0-4 frees, 0-1 ’65), Eoin Moriaty 0-3, Sean Nally, Kevin Dunne 0-1 each.

Referee: Colm Lyons (Cork).

Waterford V Kerry - pick of games in opening round of Ladies NFL.

Tesco during the week were nominated as the Sponsors of this year’s Ladies Football National League Campaign.

When they looked at the fixtures for the opening round of this years campaign which takes place this weekend they must have been somewhat pleasantly surprized.

For much of the 1980’s and 1990’s Kerry and then Waterford were the king pins or should that be queen pins of Ladies Football.

Between the two of them they won fifteen All-Ireland Finals between 1982 and 1998, and while some may argue that the two have slipped back a little since them days, it’s fair to say that both sides are still able on a given day able to mix it with the best.

If both have slipped back somewhat is for others to decide. Most would like to argue that maybe what has happened is that others have caught up with the standards that Kerry and Waterford set in the past and this is only good for the game.

Cork right now are without doubt the best team in the country and it should be the aim of every other county to reach the standard that they are setting.

Apart from those already mentioned the likes of Monaghan, Dublin, Tyrone, Mayo, Armagh, Galway, Laois and Meath have tasted what it is like to be in action on All-Ireland or National League finals day in Ladies Football. The more team that do sample a taste of these days then the better it is for the game.

When the fixtures for this years National League Campaign were announced late last year, at a quick glance, while Monaghan and Cork may be the stand out fixture in Division one, the real stand out fixture was that of Waterford against Kerry in Division two.

How could it be any other way, the beaten senior finalist from 2012 against the beaten intermediate finalist from 2012.

The Allianz National Football league campaign gets underway on Saturday evening with some fan fare at Croke Park when Dublin and Cork do battle.

The Old Parish Club Grounds in West Waterford may be a long way away from Croke Park but when the players of Waterford and Kerry take to the field sometime presumably after 1-30pm on Sunday, their game will be every bit as important as to what will be fought out in Croke Park some hours earlier. In fact what will be played out in Old Parish might be a much better battle.

When the sides clashed last year, the two sides fought out a terrific high scoring game at Castle-Island which the home side won 3-16 to 5-9.

Waterford may have played in the championship at a grade lower than the Kingdom ladies last year, but on that day, the visitors proved to be the better of the two sides and were unlucky not to have made the journey home with a brace of points in the bag and would have but for a late Deirdre Corridan goal.

Kerry on the day may have been without some of their regulars but so were Waterford, and as we all know the game was still fifteen against fifteen as will this latest battle.

Kerry began that game in fine fettle and raced into an 0-5 to 0-1 advantage after just ten minutes and went even further in front with efforts from Louise Ni Mhuircheartaigh and Patrice Dennehy.

One thing you can never accuse Waterford of doing is giving up without a battle. Waterford came back into the game with a Mairead Wall goal and when corner forward Hanna Landers added a brace of goals shortly afterwards, Waterford’s slow start was forgotten about as Waterford held a 3-3 to 0-7 lead.

Kerry came back and with three minutes to play the sides were all square but Waterford went in leading 4-5 to 0-12 after Michelle McGrath added a fourth goal for the Déise girls.

Kerry began the second half missing a penalty as Louise Ni Mhuircheartaigh but the ball wide of Ciara Kearney’s upright but did manage to get the ball in the net shortly afterwards from a Mary O’Keeffe effort.

With the sides all square (1-15 to 4-6) Linda Wall added a fifth Waterford goal and it was beginning to look as if it could be Waterford’s day, but a Louise Ni Mhuircheartaigh fisted effort went to the net to bring Kerry back into contention.

Kerry however refused to throw in the towel that day and Corridan’s late goal gave them the points on offer.

Some of the Kerry players that will feature at Old Parish will need no introduction to supports of Ladies Football. Edel Murphy, Bernie Breen, Lorraine Scanlon, Louise Galvin, Sarah Houlihan, Patrice Dennehy, Deirdre Corridan and the deadly Louise Ni Mhuircheartaigh are all fine players.

While Kerry have some fine players, the same could also be said of Waterford.

In the past the likes of Olivia Condon, the O’Ryan twins, June Whyte, Marie Crotty, Catriona Casey and Áine Wall were all players that set the game alight.

In the present era, the Wall sisters Mairead, Linda and Aileen, Aoife Landers, Nora Dunphy, Grainne Enright, Grainne Kenneally, Elaine Power, Michelle Ryan, Shone Curran and Hannah Landers are every bit if not as good as those that wore the white and blue shirt in the years before them.

Waterford head into this game on somewhat a high after their win over Tipperary in the Jim Kennedy Cup at Bansha, last weekend. Many of the players that have been mentioned above are likely to figure against the Kingdom.

Manager Pat O’Brien and his selectors have added to last years panel which is only good for the game and they may opt to give members of the panel that did not feature in the latter stages of last years championship the opportunity to show them exactly what they can do.

With little else on Gaelic Games wise within the county this weekend, and a person wants to wet their apatite for the year ahead, they could do a lot worse than to make their way to Old Parish this Sunday afternoon.

Admission to the game is just €5 with students and Old Age Pensioners admitted for €3 and under 16’s admitted free of charge.

For those that may like to attend the game but don’t know where the field is, it’s relatively easy to find. Heading out of Dungarvan turn left at Ring Cross. At the next ‘V’ junction take turn right (for Ardmore) and continue to John Pauls Bar (on the right) where you turn left and the field is down the road a short distance on the right.

Waterford and Clare do battle in National Football League opener.

Clare and Waterford start their National Football League campaigns this coming Sunday with a clash between the two, weather permitting at Miltown Malbay.

When the sides clashed at the Ennis venue twelve months ago, it was the home side that emerged winners and under the guidance of the legendary Mick O’Dwyer, they would ask nothing more than to secure an opening round victory in this year’s campaign.

Both sides in the last couple of years have performed satisfactory but they both will know that they are capable of even better and to prove that they are now as lowly ranked in the Gaelic Football World as some would suggest.

A win for either side would be a case of “Tuas maith leath na hoibre” in attempting to achieve their hopes for the year ahead.

In recent years, Clare have come very close to achieving promotion from the bottom tier of the National League ladder.

In 2010, they travelled to Fraher Field to play Waterford in the final round of games and in front of over 2,000 patrons the two sides fought it out to see which of the two would win promotion for the year ahead. On that occasion it was the home side that came out on top.

Last year Clare Michaél McDermott’s charges had another away game in the final round of games, this time against Wicklow in Aughrim and only needed a draw to secure promotion but they were to once again miss out.

Waterford in recent years have shown a major improvement when it comes to Gaelic Football.

Under the guidance of John Kiely, the team narrowly missed out on promotion on a number of occasions.

In John Owen’s first season in charge, promotion was achieved against Clare at Fraher Field in 20010. Waterford lost the league final at Croke Park against Limerick and in Division three the following year while giving a good account of themselves, some heart breaking results saw Waterford relegated at the end of the campaign.

In 2012 Waterford again played well, but some results went against Waterford towards the end of the campaign which saw Waterford ruled out of contention before the final round of games came around.

Since Mick O’Dwyer arrived in the Banner County, they have undergone an extensive training programme, and have played a considerable amount of games (mostly in house) in a bid to be ready for this year’s National Football League Campaign.

They have brought their senior team together with their under 21 panel and the selectors have views over 50 players in a bid to get the best possible panel together for the league.

Clare are expected to name their starting fifteen this evening after a training session. They are expected to name a team in similar lines to the ones that recorded a comprehensive victory in the McGrath Cup opening round of games against LIT recently and to the one that lost in the subsequent round of games against Limerick by three points after extra time despite holding a five point lead with just minutes left in normal time.

This will mean that players like Podge McMahon, Gary Brennan, Cathal O’Connor, Alan Clohessy, Shane McGrath, Martin McMahon, Joe Hayes, Enda Coughlan, Gordon Kelly and the Banner men’s jewel in the crown David Tubridy could all feature.

Waterford last night named their team for this game. Gary Hurney who captains the side once more again this year misses the game due to a suspension picked up last year, but news Waterford manager Niall Carew is still able to field what looks to be a very strong side.

Waterford played UL and Tipperary in the McGrath Cup recently and the side sent out in both games gave a very good account of themselves.

Both games went to extra time which could stand to the side this weekend and it will have helped them to improve their fitness.

Against Tipperary in the McGrath Cup semi final, both Shane Briggs and Tommy Prendergast both picked up injuries which saw them retire early in the game but fears that they could miss this game have not proven to be true.

It is envisaged that the fifteen players selected by Niall Carew and his fellow selectors could well start against Clare this weekend, but the likely hood is that there could be a number of positional changes to the fifteen named to start.

Ballinacourty’s Stephen Enright will start between the posts. Conor Phelan, Stephen Prendergast and John Hurney have been named in the full back line but may not start in the positions named.

The named half back line of Paul Whyte, Shane Briggs and Tony Grey is almost certain not to start in that way, but there could be no changes with the centre field pairing of Shane Ahearne and Tommy Prendergast who with their height and ability to win a dropping ball will cause teams lots of trouble in this year’s campaign.

The named half back line of Conor McGrath, Patrick Hurney and Maurice O’Gorman could well see some surgery performed upon it before the game, while in the inside forward line Darren Guiry, Robert Ahearne and Liam Ó Lionáin will cause trouble but may not start as selected.

Waterford could well employ some defensive tactics this year which may not always look the best but when they work could prove effective.

The game against Clare will not be easy and any result against them will be hard fought. With some equally tough battles in store in the coming weeks, it is vital that Waterford make the return journey home on Sunday evening sitting in the top half of the league table.