Its a must win weekend for Waterford Ladies

The next forty eight hours are busy ones for the counties Intermediate Ladies Footballers and Camogie players with the final round of games in this year’s National Leagues down for decision.

For both sides they have to make the journey up the motorway in the direction of the countries principal city to play their games.

First up it’s the turn of the Ladies Footballers. After reaching last years All-Ireland Final and winning the Jim Kennedy Cup at the turn of the year, suggested that Waterford could have a successful run in this years league but things have not worked out this way.

The team have played well at times in the league but at crucial points of different games, events happened which turned games against Waterford.

Waterford travel to Hawkfield (North of Newbridge) in Kildare to play the Lillywhite’s on Saturday afternoon.

Waterford lie bottom of the table with just one point from their six games played to date and will have to win this game if they are to stand a chance of avoiding relegation to third tier of the league in 2014.

Even a win this weekend might not save Waterford.

Clare have three points from their six games as a result of their narrow victory over Waterford last weekend at Fraher Field. Should they get any sort of a result against Westmeath in Kinnegad on Sunday afternoon, and Cavan were to get a result of any sorts against Fermanagh on Saturday afternoon, Waterford would be relegated.

However should Waterford beat Kildare and Clare were to loose, Waterford would retain their place in Division two for the 2014 National League and would go into the championship in the coming weeks on somewhat of a high.

Even if Clare pull off a result against Westmeath, Waterford still have a chance of staying up for next years league if they were to win by a big margin and Cavan were to suffer a very heavy defeat to Fermanagh. (Waterford would have to win by 24 points or more with Cavan loosing by a similar margin.   

 

Tesco Homegrown NFL Division 2

	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Points For	Points Against	Points Diff	Points
Kerry	6	5	0	1	159	71	88	16
Galway	6	5	0	1	134	69	65	16
Westmeath	6	4	1	1	102	72	30	13
Kildare	6	3	2	1	98	93	5	10
Fermanagh	6	2	4	0	86	118	-32	6
Cavan	6	1	4	1	91	102	-11	4
Clare	6	1	5	0	65	151	-86	3
Waterford	6	0	5	1	86	145	-59	1

 

NFL Division 2 Fixtures this weekend.

Kildare V Waterford in Hawkfield  at 2PM (Saturday).

Cavan V Fermanagh in Templeport Bawnboy at 2PM (Saturday)

Westmeath V Clare in Kinnegad at 2PM (Sunday)

Kerry V Galway in Spa (Killarney) at 2PM (Sunday)

 

Meanwhile the Camogie players travel to O’Toole Park in Crumlin on Sunday afternoon for their final game of the league.

As things stand, Waterford stand second in the table and the team will be aware should they beat Antrim they will qualify for the semi finals in the coming weeks.

It’s hard to believe that coming up to 5pm on the Thursday of the game that the team or management did not know where the game was going to be played. However, while it’s not always the right way to do things, the pen is often mightier than the sword and a few messages to be place on twitter, where players, mentors and supporters vented their frustration that no venue was named for the game had one found in a few minutes.

Waterford began the league with a defeat away to Meath but since then, they have regrouped well to beat Galway, Wexford and last weekend against Limerick.

Even a defeat could see Waterford through, should Wexford beat Meath in Enniscorthy, but going on results to date in the league, that is unlikely to happen, meaning Waterford cannot take any chances.

With Limerick and Galway playing each other in Mungret the winner of this game will advance to the semi final along with Waterford, should Mark Cooney’s charges get a result of any sorts against Antrim.

While Waterford sit second in the table going into the last round of games, should they match Limerick’s result this weekend, Waterford would finish above Limerick in the table. Where Waterford finish’s in the table will determine who they play in the semi finals as the top team in Group One play the second team in Groups two and vice versa when the semi finals are played in the coming weeks.    

Group One. Team Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Diff Points Kildare 3 3 0 0 58 30 28 6 Kilkenny 3 2 1 0 58 35 23 5 Cork 3 1 1 1 45 43 2 3 Down 3 1 0 2 14 39 -25 2 Tipperary 4 0 0 4 32 60 -28 0
Fixtures for Sunday. Kildare V Kilkenny in Ballykelly Cork V Down in Bray Emmetts (Bray)

Group Two.

Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points For	Points Against	Points Diff	Points
Limerick	4	3	0	1	61	23	38	6
Waterford	4	3	0	1	34	30	4	6
Galway	4	2	1	1	50	29	21	5
Meath	4	2	1	1	39	43	-4	5
Antrim	4	1	0	3	51	54	-3	2
Wexford	4	0	0	4	25	81	-56	0

Fixtures for Sunday.

Limerick V Galway in Mungret

Waterford V Antrim in O’Toole Park – Crumlin (Dublin)

Wexford V Meath in Bellefield, (Enniscorthy)

Saint Augustine’s College are All-Ireland Champions.

History was created at St Conleth’s Park in Newbridge on Saturday afternoon last when Saint Augustine’s College won a first ever All-Ireland Colleges Football Final.

The College which first operated in Dungarvan Town before moving to its present location at Duckspool in Abbeyside has down the years proved to be out most successful side when it comes to football.

The Frewan Cup (Munster under 16 football) was first major piece of silverware won by the college back in the mid 1950’s. In the late 1970’s and into the early 1980’s the College reached back to back Munster Senior ‘A’ Finals. In the years around the turn on the Millennium the College reached the Munster ‘B’ final in successive years, with many of the players involved in these successes going on to win Munster Under 21 medals with Waterford in 2003. And in 2004, the college tasted its most recent success up to this year when it won the Munster Senior ‘B’ Final, but up to last weekend, All-Ireland success eluded the college.

The Roscommon side were expected to provide stiff opposition for Saint Augustine’s in this game. The media in the Western Province with a few weeks now were questioning as to whether the Strokestown College side were playing in too low a grade of Football, such was their dominance up to now.

In the Connacht Final they beat Gortnor Abbey from Crossmolina 1-13 to 0-8 and in their All-Ireland semi final played at Brewster Park in Enniskillen, they proved too strong for St. Joseph's Grammar School from Donaghmore in Tyrone, winning on a 2-12 to 1-3.

In their games to date, they have been starting strong, and the exact same happened in this game.

A brace of points from Diarmuid McGann in the opening minutes were followed up with efforts from Tom Corcoran and Martin Conway to give them a four point advantage by the quarter stage of the game.

Saint Augustine’s hit their first score of the game twenty minutes into the opening half when Modeligo’s Michael Troy dissected the uprights. The Strokestown College however followed up with a point from David Carlton and a brace from Martin Conway to extend their lead to six.

Saint Augustine’s however finished the half slightly the stronger of the two sides as Seamus Keating and Michael Troy hit points with Diarmuid McGann responding for Scoil Mhuire to give them an 0-8 to 0-3 advantage at the change of ends.

With the wind at their backs in the second half, Saint Augustine’s faired much better and throughout the half proved to be the better of the two sides.

Clashmore’s Tadhg Bourke put over a brace of scores to pull in the Scoil Mhuire’s lead to three. Tom Corcoran and Michael Troy then swapped scores to keep three between the sides with just over a quarter of the game still to play.

Thirteen minutes from time a Diarmuid McGann point put four between the sides, but this was to prove to be the Westerner’s last score of the game.

With ten minutes to play, Saint Augustine’s hit a crucial goal to rain in the Connacht Champions to a single point, Dungarvan’s Joe Allen finishing to the net following a goalmouth scramble.

With seven minutes to play the sides were all square, after Conor Prunty put over a delightful point.

Saint Augustine’s took the lead on the hour mark when Tadhg Bourke put over a delightful score.

The question was now could the Abbeyside based college side hold on, or would the Strokestown outfit show the class and strength that reports coming from the west of the country suggested they had to earn a share or the spoils or even God forbid, sneak a late goal which would take the trophy West of the Shannon.

Saint Augustine’s not only did they hold out in the added time to be played at the end of the hour, they added a crucial second goal from Stradbally’s Michael Sweeney to extend their lead to four and in the process kill off any faint hope the Westerners had of claiming the laurels.

St Augustine’s; K Dwane; C Tobin, B Looby, J Mullaney; C O’Neill, T Devine, R Browne; D Gartland, S Keating; J Allen, T Bourke, B French; M Troy, C Prunty, M Maher. Subs: E Kiely for French, M Sweeney for Maher, C Cusack for Kiely.

Scorers: T Bourke (1 f), M Troy 0-3 each, J Allen, M Sweeney 1-0 each, S Keating (f), C Prunty 0-1 each.

Scoil Mhuire: C McDonagh; K Beirne, C Gibbons, C Higgins; E Kelly, D Neary, D O’Rourke; T Corcoran, S Mullooly; M Conway, D Carlton, E O’Beirne; D Hagan, T O’Rourke, D McGann. Subs: M Hagan for D Hagan.

Scorers: D McGann (2f) 0-4, T Corcoran (1f), D Carlton, M Conway 0-2 each.

Referee: F Barry (Kildare).

Dungarvan Colleges go in search of first Dr Croke Cup

Semple Stadium in Thurles is often said to be home form home for Waterford when it comes to hurling. I suppose the same could well be said for all of the other hurling counties in Ireland as the sod at the famed Mid Tipperary Town stadium is perfect for hurling resulting in some of the greatest games been played at the venue.

Down the years, Waterford has had some great days at Semple Stadium, some of which have proved to be historic.

Older readers of this blog will remember 1989 when we drew with a fancied Cork side in the Munster Semi Final and then went on to do something that few have achieved, beat the Rebels in a replay.

In 2004 we won arguably the greatest Munster Hurling Final ever played at the venue beating Cork who had beaten us at the same venue twelve months earlier. Who will never forget Ken McGrath going high into the air in the closing stages of that game and putting his hand where few would dare and came down with the ball, and then who will forget the night we won the first Munster Senior Hurling Final to be played under lights with Waterford favourite Dan Shanahan scoring a goal in extra time having come on for John Mullane.

This Saturday History could well be made at the famed venue should Dungarvan Colleges become the first side from West Waterford win the famed Dr Croke Cup for the first time.

Standing in Dungarvan College’s way is Kilkenny side – Kilkenny CBS.

The Kilkenny City side have won the competition once, back in the early 1980’s. While they have been there or there abouts ever since in the Leinster Championship they have had to play second fiddle for much of this time to their Kilkenny rivals St Kieran’s College who have won the Dr Croke Cup a record amount of times.

Last year, the finished second best Saint Kieran’s in the Leinster Championship but regrouped after the game to reach the All-Ireland Final but once again had to settle for second best, this time to Nenagh CBS. Coincidently, the two sides that contested the final twelve months ago finished as runners up in their provincial championship.

The Kilkenny side have used these losses to spur them on this year. The players that played both this year and last year have shown great hunger to go one step further at a provincial and national level than they did twelve months ago and to date it has worked.

They have come through a tough Leinster Championship which had plenty of Kilkenny interest in it.

In the quarter finals of the championship they bear Colaiste Eoin from Dublin 0-14 to 2-6 to set up a Leinster semi final against a Good Council side from New Ross who featured a number of players from across the towns main bridge. Kilkenny CBS won the game 1-14 to 0-9 which set up a Leinster Final against St Kieran’s College which they won 2-9 to 1-6.

Next up was an All-Ireland semi final against Mercy Colleges from Galway which they won 1-12 to 0-10 but to do so they had to put in a late surge as they were four points down at the break.

The Kilkenny side have a very solid look to it right up the middle. Darragh Holohan is a capable goalkeeper. In front of him Evan Cody is solid at full back, Robbie Fitzpatrick at centre back captains the team, Niall Mullins and JP Treacy in the middle of the field are solid throughout the campaign while Kevin Kenny has featured regularly playing at centre forward, while Shane Cuddihy and Paddy Cahill in the corner have proven dangerous.

For Dungarvan Colleges or Colaiste na nDeise since they first played together nearly a decade ago. They played Saint Flannan’s from Ennis in the Dr Harty Cup Final in 2004, and ever since have been there or there about until last year when they made the big break through beating Nenagh CBS in the final at Cashel.

They went on to play Kilkenny CBS in the All-Ireland semi final at Walsh Park but were beaten on the day after extra time.

Last years side included some fine players but there is a sizeable number that believe that this year’s team is even better.

Like Kilkenny CBS they have used last year as something to spur them on this year and again like Kilkenny CBS up to now it is working.

In the Dr Harty Cup they did extremely well to come out of a tough group. Wins over Doon CBS and Saint Caimin’s from Shannon were recorded before a narrow defeat to Saint Flannan’s from Ennis followed. Dungarvan CBS got back to winning ways however with a comprehensive win over Gael Choláiste Mhuire from Cork in the last round of games in the group stages of the competition.

The draw for the quarter finals pitted them against Blackwater Community School from Lismore. This was a game that could have gone either way and in the end it was the combined combination that shaded events.

The draw for the semi finals pitted Dungarvan Colleges against Thurles CBS at Fermoy. This was another game that could have ended any way but it went the way of the West Waterford side with Christy Breathnach scoring somewhat a lucky goal before the break at a time when the Thurles side were on top and beginning to look as if they could pull away.

In the final it was Tipperary opposition again. Our Lady’s from Templemore were reported to be a stronger side than Nenagh CBS in the 2012 final, but Dungarvan Colleges put in a powerful display to record another fine win.

The recent All-Ireland semi final at Carriganore was expected to be a very close affair but on the day Dungarvan CBS put in another outstanding performance exploiting a Kilkenny side that had weaknesses in the full back line and in the end were able to win with some bit to spare.

Like Kilkenny CBS, Dungarvan Colleges have areas where they are very strong. The strength of their half back line has been a cornerstone in their success to date this year. Colin Dunford and Cormac Curran in the middle of the field have been solid and hit some vital scores. Michael Harney flanked by Seamus Keating and Christy Breathnach are a physical half forward line while the all Dungarvan full forward line of Darragh Lyons, Ryan Donnelly and Patrick Curran will punish any team at this level when given even less than half a chance. Back at the other end of the field Laurence Power between the posts has done well while directly in front of him Michael Cronin, Brian Looby and Keelan Looby have also played their part.

There can be no doubting that the two best sides in the country have reached the final. Kilkenny CBS have to go into the game as the favourites. After all they lost two finals last year. Those that have played with Dungarvan Colleges last year and this year at least had their Dr Harty Cup Medals at the start of this year. The Kilkenny CBS lads involved in the last two years had they left school without a medal at this level would have felt hard done by and after winning one, they set their eyes on winning a second.

They have some fine players. They may have underestimated the strength of Dungarvan Colleges going into the semi finals. Its no secret, they were expecting an all Kilkenny All-Ireland Final to happen. But having seen then blow Saint Kieran’s away with a power display they won’t be underestimating them this time around.

There could well be some interesting battles on the field in Thurles. However the outcome of one particular battle could well decide this game. Should Dungarvan Colleges prove to be a disciplined side and should Kevin Daly get the better of Kevin Kenny, there is a very good chance that around 4-30pm or shortly after it, Tom Devine will be getting presented with the Dr Croke Cup. It won’t be easy for either side, but no doubt they will give it a go. Maybe a second attempt might be needed to decide the game.

 Paths to the final.

Kilkenny CBS

Leinster Quarter Final:           Kilkenny CBS    0-14     Colaiste Eoin (Dublin)             2-6

Leinster Semi Final                 Kilkenny CBS    1-14     Good Council (New Ross)        0-9

Leinster Final                          Kilkenny CBS    2-9       St Kieran’s (Kilkenny)              1-6

All-Ireland Semi Final             Kilkenny           1-12     Mercy Colleges (Galway)        0-10

Dungarvan Colleges

Dr Harty Cup R.1                     Dungarvan Colleges    3-12     Doon CBS (Limerick)   1-13

Dr Harty Cup R.2                     Dungarvan Colleges    3-12     St Caimin’s (Shannon) 0-11

Dr Harty Cup R.3                     Dungarvan Colleges    2-9       St Flannan’s (Ennis)     0-16

Dr Harty Cup R.4                     Dungarvan Colleges    5-18     G.C. Mhuire (Cork)      2-8

Dr Harty Cup quarter Final     Dungarvan Colleges    0-14     Blackwater C.S.           0-10

Dr Harty Cup semi final          Dungarvan Colleges    1-12     Thurles CBS                 0-12

Dr Harty Cup Final                  Dungarvan Colleges    2-21     Templemore (Tipp)     1-11

All-Ireland Semi Final             Dungarvan Colleges    5-8       St Kieran’s (Kilkenny)  1-10