A place in Munster awaits Ardmore or Dunhill

This Saturday’s County Intermediate Hurling Final could prove to be a very interesting one.

There is some that will claim that to see Dunhill involved in it is no surprise, as many expected them to be in the eastern final alongside Portlaw, the sides that got relegated from the senior grade at the end of 2012 and the side beaten in the County Intermediate Hurling final last year.

To see Ardmore in the final, maybe for some is a little bit of a surprise as Cappoquin and Clashmore would have been expected to prove that little bit stronger than the men from the sea-side village.

However to have under-estimated Ardmore would have been foolish. The side managed by Nicky Keating have a nice look to them. They have some excellent players with inter county experience within their ranks and also some top young prospects and they showed in the West of the county how good they actually are.

Dunhill come into this game on the back of a good win over Portlaw in the Intermediate final recently.

Portlaw were a fancied side by many. They won last years title in the east of the county and while they lost rather heavily to an An Rinn side that had a considerable amount of work done under the guidance of Peter Power in the run up to the game.

Dunhill won the title twelve months earlier and in their year in senior, despite loosing a number of players that helped them lift the east and county finals in 2011, they acquitted themselves well and it could be said that they were somewhat unlucky to have found themselves relegated.

Shane Casey and Eamon Murphy will be their big treats going into the game. Both will start, one in each line of their attack and will prove to be a treat throughout to the Ardmore defence.

Any split moment where the Ardmore defence looses concentration could well be punished.

However, Dunhill are not just about the two men that have played with Waterford in recent years.

Tomás and Brian Dunbar have come through successful underage teams and are very good players. Jason Burns, Davin Phelan, Darragh Murray and Shane Behan are also players that will take some minding by the Ardmore players.

Ardmore’s big guns are well known to everybody. Clinton Hennessy as well as Declan and Seamus Prendergast have trilled us on many occasions over the past decade in the white and blue of Waterford.

Seamus Prendergast has proved to be the side’s top scorer in recent games and he will take some watching by the Dunhill defence this weekend, and not just from play as he is likely to punish Dunhill for any indiscipline from frees.

Cathal Hennessy, John and David Gartland as well as Richie and Wayne Hennessy have also impressed in recent games, while they have a real jewel in Seamus Keating. The mid centre field player in recent games has proven himself to be a quality player, and put in a man of the match performance last week against Clashmore in the Western Final.

It’s hard to pick a winner in this game. Both deserve to go up, but only one can.

Dunhill will have had a two week break since they beat Portlaw in the Eastern Final, while this is the third weekend that Ardmore will be involved in hurling action.

They say there is nothing like games coming on a regular basis. Three games in three weekends, you can’t beat that for consistency. However, a break is also nice to get.

Dunhill will come into this game a relatively rested team. Ardmore will not mind too much playing week after week if their winning run was to continue.

Ballinacourty and The Nire battle to see who plays Stradbally

There is likely to be huge interest in the second of this years County Senior Football Semi Final’s at Fraher Field on Saturday evening.

Ballinacourty and The Nire over the past number of years been in the top three when it comes to Gaelic Football in Waterford along with Stradbally and the prize for the winners of this game (that is if there is a winner) is a place in the county final against Stradbally.

The sides have clashed already this year in the championship and on that occasion victory went to Ballinacourty on a 1-15 to 0-12 score line.

To reach this stage of the competition, Ballinacourty have proven themselves to be very impressive.

They opened with a win over An Rinn and then followed it up with a win over Rathgormack before beating this weekend’s opponents.

In the remaining two games in the league section of the competition they had wins over Ballinameela and Brickeys.

In the quarter finals last time out they beat Saint Saviours at the WIT Campus in Carriganore. The Nire in recent years have proven themselves to be very impressive in the group stages of the championship, but at the end of the campaign they were to be left disappointed as Stradbally and Ballinacourty have taken home the Conway Cup at the end of the campaign.

This year, The Nire has not looked as impressive, but there could be a good reason for this, but none the less they have come through the group stages of the competition with flying colours, loosing just the once against Ballinacourty, but they also dropped points against An Rinn.

There is signs however, that while in the past The Nire peaked a little early in the year, this year they may be about to peak at the right time.

They have brought former Tipperary footballer Declan Browne into their set up and it will be interesting to see how he may influence the side.

They would appear to also be getting players back from injury. Shane Walsh and Jamie Barron did not start against Kilrossanty in their quarter final win but did come on near the end with Shane Walsh hitting the winner.

No doubt while they may have been working on a two week gap between the win over Kilrossanty and the semi final, the extra week that they got will have been used to the maximum by the likes of Declan Spellman to get the players ready for the challenge ahead.

It will be interesting to see how Ballinacourty will fair out after Abbeyside lost out in the semi finals of the hurling championship.

In the Hurney brothers, Mark Ferncombe, Sean O’Hare, Stephen Enright etc they have the ability to bounce back from that defeat as The Nire did last year when Fourmilewater lost their semi final against Dungarvan.

Injuries have not been kind to The Nire all year and it will be interesting to see how they will line out this weekend and if the players that start will last the hour.

A hesitant vote is given to Ballinacourty to advance, but some of my predictions have proven to be a bit erratic of late, so maybe the lads down the road from me might not be too worried about me giving Ballinacourty the nod in this game.

Ardmore win a classic

With minutes to go in the Western Intermediate Hurling Final at Fraher Field on Sunday afternoon, the West Waterford Divisional treasurer entered the press box rubbing his hands. You sense I replay I said to him to which he said he could.

If the game did need a replay, nobody could have complained.

Most expected that this game was going to be close, but few could have predicted that it was as close as things worked out and had the two sides to return to Fraher Field the Western Board would surly have had a major bonus pay day as people that were not present for this game having heard how good it was would have turned up in large numbers in the hope just as Cork and Clare did recently in the All-Ireland final, that they could replicate what they did in this game.

The large attendance at Fraher Field did not have to wait long for their first score in this game. The game was less than a minute old when Tadhg Bourke had the umpires reaching for a white flag and the opening minute still had not elapsed when David Gartland responded for Ardmore.

Paul O’Connor and Richie Hennessy were next to swap scores before Ardmore took the lead for the first time when Seamus Prendergast pointed from a free.

Cillian O’Keeffe and David Gartland traded scores before points from Cathal Hennessy and Seamus Prendergast put some daylight between the sides with ten minutes played.

Clashmore hit back with points from Edmond O’Halloran and a brace from Tadhg Bourke to level matters with twelve minutes of the of the half remaining.

Seamus Prendergast with a brace of frees put Ardmore back in front and they extended that lead when Cathal and Wayne Hennessy landed points.

Paul O’Connor hit the games first goal on twenty-four minutes, a terrific ground stroke, something that is not seen enough of in the modern game.

Seamus Prendergast and Darren Foley swapped points to keep one between the sides, but a brace from Seamus Prendergast both from frees, meant that Ardmore would end the opening half holding a 0-13 to 1-7 lead.

Clashmore began the second half in whirlwind fashion.

They won a free inside their own ’65 metre line which Tadhg Bourke stood over and with the wind at his back it appeared that there was only one place the ball was going to go, even if the free was much closer to the sideline on the back side of the field than it was to the centre of the field.

However, the Clashmore man saw his shot drop short of the target and with some commotion in and around the Ardmore goal, the ball somehow got past Clinton Hennessy. There was suggestions that it had gone all the way from Bourke’s strike or that an Ardmore player got a touch on the ball, but it appeared that Edmond O’Halloran may have got a final touch on the ball before it crossed the line.

Seamus Prendergast and Cathal Hennessy however followed up with points to give Ardmore a two point lead which was extended further when Seamus Keating put over a sideline and then John Gartland pointed to put four between the sides.

Brian O’Halloran entered the action early in the second half and straight away made an impact as he pointed. Tadhg Bourke pointed a free twelve minutes after the restart and a minute later Clashmore had their numbers cut after James O’Leary was dismissed on a straight red after he caught Seamus Prendergast hit with his hurley.

Tadhg Bourke pointed a brace of frees either side of the three-quarter stage mark in the game, but points from Seamus Prendergast and the very impressive Seamus Keating soon had Ardmore back in front.

Paul O’Connor and Seamus Keating swapped scores, before Clashmore hit a bit of a purple patch with the game entering its final ten minutes. Tadhg Bourke, Paul O’Connor, Brian O’Halloran and Paul O’Connor again, hit points which gave Clashmore a 2-16 to 0-20 lead with fifty seven minutes played.

However, no game is never finished until the sound of the referee’s final whistle, and in the closing minutes it was Ardmore that showed the most hunger.

Seamus Keating and Seamus Prendergast both hit scores for the sea-siders to draw the sides level with a minute of the two extra minutes to be played.

Ardmore continued to attack and in the dying seconds of the game they won a ’65.

Thomas Walsh before allowing Seamus Prendergast to strike from sixty-five metres out seemed to indicate that the inter county player would have to put the ball through the uprights if were to win.

As the ball went in towards the posts it looked as though it was going to go between the uprights, but the closer it got to them it appeared to be pulling left, but it managed to stay in just about, and with the aid of the upright, the ball did manage to drop down behind the goal-netting to secure a place against Dunhill in the county final for Ardmore.

Ardmore: Clinton Hennessy; Niall Hennessy, Conor O’Shea, Daniel Power; Kenny Murphy, Declan Prendergast, Richie Hennessy; Michael Cronin, Wayne Hennessy; Seamus Keating, David Gartland, Cathal Hennessy; Thomas Conway, Seamus Prendergast, John Gartland. Sub: Keith Hurley for Thomas Conway.

Scorers: Seamus Prendergast 0-11 (7 frees, 1 ’65), Seamus Keating 0-4 (1 sl), Cathal Hennessy 0-3, David Gartland 0-2, John Gartland, Wayne Hennessy, Richie Hennessy 0-1 each.

Clashmore: Mark McGrath; Ronan Fitzgerald, Jason Seaward, Donal O’Connor; Sean Bourke, Tadhg Bourke, Padraig Nugent; Declan Allen, Darren Foley; Edmond O’Halloran, Cillian O’Keeffe, James O’Leary; Alan Seaward, Gavin Dower, Paul O’Connor: Subs: Ciaran Bourke for Ronan Fitzgerald, Donal Scanlon for Cillian O’Keeffe, Brian O’Halloran for Gavin Dower.

Scorers: Tadhg Bourke 0-7 (7 frees), Paul O’Connor 1-4 (0-1 free), Edmond O’Halloran 1-1, Brian O’Halloran 0-2, Cillian O’Keeffe, Darren Foley 0-1 each.

Referee: Thomas Walsh.  

Ballyduff Upper into first Intermediate Football County Final in 2 Decades.

Ballyduff Upper are Western Intermediate Football champions for the first time since 1982 after they proved to be too strong from Geraldines in Sunday’s Western Final at Fraher Field.

Over the course of the hour there could be no disputing that the better team won and if the margin of victory proved to be greater than it actually was, then again, few if any could have complained.

Gaelic Games lovers in Waterford will know that Ballyduff have a very proud tradition in hurling and that much of their energies go into the small game, but in this game as they have all year, they showed that the village side from alongside the North Cork border showed that they are able to play football as well as anybody else.

Tactics is something we have seen come more and more into the game, especially at senior level in the last few years, but in more recent times they have also come into play at Intermediate and Junior level. But whatever plan of action that the two sides had come up with for this game went out the window in the opening minutes of the game when referee John Condon gave Ballyduff’s Kenneth Geary and Geraldines Edmond O’Donovan their marching orders on a straight red card after both got involved in an off the ball incident that was not very clear to most, especially from the bottom half of the stand.

Seamus Hannon opened the scoring for Ballyduff Upper in this game with a point on five minutes and a minute later then extended their lead when Mickey Kearney, winning his third medal in a month hit his first score of the game.

The same player shot over twice more to give Ballyduff a four point lead before the Geraldines hit their first score of the game, a free from Danny O’Keeffe.

With five minutes to go, Mikey Kearney ran at the Geraldines defence, and once he got inside the large box a challenge went in, which in another code would have seen the player go to ground like a ton of bricks, but credit to him he remained on his feet as best he could and it paid off as he put over for his fourth of the game.

The impressive Kevin Casey got his name on the score sheet three minutes from time when he pointed from play. Danny O’Keeffe responded with a point from a free but Ballyduff Upper before the break managed to put further daylight between the sides when Jamie Hannon and John Twomey both linked up to set up Kevin Casey for the games first goal seconds from the end of the stoppage time played at the end of the opening thirty minutes.

The second half began with Mikey Kearney from a ’45 and Eamon Mernin trading points, before Brian Kearney and Danny O’Keeffe did likewise.

A goal from Raymond Connery followed by a point from Danny O’Keeffe helped Geraldines come right back into the game, but it was Ballyduff that were to finish the stronger of the two sides.

Shane Hannon and Jamie Kearney kicked Ballyduff Upper further in front before Danny O’Keeffe pulled one back,  but efforts from Seamus Hannon, Brian Kearney and William Keane in a three minute spell just before the hour mark ensured that the ribbons on the County Intermediate Football Cup this year will be red and white as Ballyduff set up a meeting with De La Salle, meaning that we will have at least one new duel club playing at the top level of football and hurling within the county next year.

Ballyduff Upper: Kevin Martin; Kenneth Geary, Thomas Molumphy, Tommy Feeney; Jamie Hannon, Shane Kearney, Cian Leamy; Seamus Hannon, Jamie Kearney; Stephen Molumphy, Brian Kearney, Shane Hannon; Mickey Kearney, John Twomey, Kevin Casey. Subs: Aidan Feeney for Brian Kearney, Michael Drislane for Jamie Kearney, William Keane for Tommy Feeney, Colin Keane for Kevin Casey.

Scorers: Mickey Kearney 0-5 (2 frees, 1 ’45), Kevin Casey 1-1, Seamus Hannon 0-3, Brian Kearney 0-2, Jamie Kearney, William Keane 0-1 each.

Geraldine’s: Pat O’Donovan; Johnny Healy, Stephen Fitzgerald, Stephen Keane; Brendan O’Dwyer, Jerome Maher, Eamon Mernin; Matty O’Brien, Raymond Connery; Ger O’Donovan, Stephen Kennefick, Stephen Hally; Shane Lambden, Edmond O’Donovan, Danny O’Keeffe. Subs: Michael Murray for Shane Lambden, Shane Kenny for Ger O’Donovan, Peter Coughlan for Stephen Kennefick.

Scorers: Danny O’Keeffe 0-5 (5 frees), Raymond Connery 1-0, Eamon Mernin 0-1.

Referee: John Condon.

 

Stradbally prove too strong for An Rinn in first semi final since 1925

Stradbally are through to this years County Senior Football final where they will play either The Nire or Ballinacourty after they recorded a comprehensive win over An Rinn at Fraher Field on Saturday evening.

Stradbally all year have produced some good football, but it appears that they could well have saved their best will this game, as they put in a faultless performance, with the Aherne brothers Robert and Shane standing out for them.

An Rinn had a tonic start to this game. The game was just a minute old and they had the ball in the Stradbally net. Billí Breathnach was their goal getter, he caught a good pass from Shane O Ceallaigh and he gave Oliver Costello no chance with a well executed shot.

However, the early goal ignited Stradbally more than An Rinn and the rest of the half was totally dominated by the Cove Men.

Shane Aherne knocked a point off An Rinn’s lead when he converted a third minute free and when the same player lander points from play in the fifth and tenth minutes, the sides were all square.

After this both sides found it difficult to score for a while and no further score was registered until the eighteenth minutes when Shane Aherne pointed to give Stradbally the lead for the first time, a lead that they never lost.

Points from Robert Aherne and Tony Grey followed in quick succession which gave Stradbally a double score lead with twenty one minutes on the clock.

A Robert Aherne free seven minutes from the break stretched Stradbally’s lead to four and that lead was seven at the break as Man of the Match Shane Aherne kicked a Hat-trick of unanswered points inside the last four minutes of the opening half.

Stradbally in the second half continued to dominated proceedings.

Shane Aherne from a free hit the first score of the second half and four minutes into the second thirty minutes, David Grey hit Stradbally’s first goal of the game after he received a good pass from Shane Aherne.

Thirty five minutes on from their first score, An Rinn hit their second score of a game, a free converted by Billí Breathnach to bring to an end Stradbally’s run of twelve scores in succession.

But normal service was soon restored as Shane Aherne landed a brace of points, David Grey kicked one and Shane Aherne landed another brace which gave Stradbally a 1-16 to 1-1 lead at the end of the third quarter.

David Grey kicked his third score of the game with thirteen minutes, and ten minutes from time Stradbally raised a second green flag after Robert Aherne finished to the net after some good work by David Grey.

Billí Breathnach put over another free before Robert Aherne did like wise and five minutes from time, Stradbally in a movement that involved about a dozen passes saw Luke Casey slot to the net for a third time for the champions.

Liam Ó Lonáin did manage to kick a point for An Rinn before the end but it proved to be but a mere consolation score for them.

Stradbally: Oliver Costelloe; Paddy Doyle, Kevin Coffey, Andy Doyle; Kevin Lawlor, Eddie Rockett, Tony Grey; Michael Walsh, Paddy Kiely; John Coffey, Shane Ahearne, Tommy Connors; David Grey, Robert Ahearne, Ger Power. Subs: Luke Casey for Andy Doyle, Trevor Curran for John Coffey, Jack Mullaney for Shane Ahearne, Paul Connors for Robert Ahearne, Christopher Casey for Ger Power.

Scorers: Shane Aherne 0-12 (3 frees), Robert Aherne 1-3 (0-2 frees), David Grey 1-2, Luke Casey 1-0, Tony Grey 0-1.

An Rinn: Aonghus O hEochaigh; Cillian O Murchadha, Shane O Cuirrin, Eoghan Breathnach; Noel O Murchadha, Darach Breathnach, Ciarán O Manachain; Liam O Lonáin, Ferdia O hÁodha; Tadhg Ó hUallachain, Lorcán O Corraoin, Shane O Ceallaigh; Billí Breathnach, Cian O Conchúir, Fearghal O Cuirrin. Subs: Jamie De Barúin for Ciarán O Manacháin, Fearghal O Ceallaigh for Shane O Ceallaigh, Ciarán Tóibin for Fearghal O Cuirrin, Tadhg O Cuirrin for Eoghan Breathnach.

Scorers: Billí Breathnach 1-2 (0-2 frees), Liam Ó Lonáin 0-1.

Referee:  Alan Kissane

 

First Senior Football semi final this weekend.

Senior Football Semi Finals

The first of this year’s County Senior Football championships takes place this weekend when reigning Champions Stradbally take on An Rinn in Fraher Field on Saturday evening.

The Champions have reached this stage of the competition in some style and will go into this game in a very confident mood.

An Rinn however are through to this years semi final on merit. There was a feeling that this game would be the first time that the Ring Club featured in the last four of the senior football championship, but it is in fact the second time that they reached the semi finals, their last time doing so came nearly a century ago when they lost the 1925 semi final against Clashmore.

Most will have Stradbally as favourites for this game, but nobody should be surprised if they were to have their interest in this year’s championship brought to an end this weekend.

Over An Rinn is none other than Pat Curran, the former Stradbally and Waterford inter county goalkeeper, who last year helped the cove men beat The Nire in a replayed county final and came very close to beating the Cork champions in the semi finals.

Packo as he is known far and wide will know the strengths and weaknesses of each and every one of the Stradbally panel and no doubt he will be telling the An Rinn players these strengths and weaknesses since the draw was made for the semi finals just over a week ago.

Stradbally will go into this game as the favourites and it is hard not to argue why they are the favourites.

They have over the past year have proven to be a much more open side than they were in previous years. They have played a more attractive style of football this year than they have in times past and in doing so they have put up some very good scores in the process.

For me and for many, Stradbally should be strong enough to come through in this game, but no way would I be shocked if their interest in the championship was to be brought to an end.

Fixture

An Rinn V Stradbally in Fraher Field on Saturday at 7-30pm.

Intermediate Football Finals

The intermediate Footballer finals in the East and the West of the county are due to be played this coming weekend, and by 3-15pm or shortly after it on Sunday afternoon barring the need for a replay in either division we should know which two teams will fight it out to decide who will replace the Brickeys in the top flight in 2014.

In the East of the county, last years Eastern Champions and beaten County Finalists take on John Mitchells who played in the senior grade in the recent past, and in the west it is Geraldine’s and Ballyduff Upper that will do battle.

The fact that De La Salle and John Mitchell’s will do battle in the Eastern Final (Saturday in Walsh Park at 4-30pm) is not a major surprise, but there may be some surprised with the pairing in the west of the county.

Geraldine’s were always favourites to reach this stage of the championships, but to some having Ballyduff there is somewhat of a surprise as some would have expected the likes of Ballinacourty and The Nire’s second string sides as well as Sliabh gCua and Dungarvan would have a better chance of winning the title.

Ballyduff however are there on merit and will provide strong opposition for the men from the Aglish and Villierstown areas.

De La Salle and Geraldine’s will go into this weekends games as the favourites and most will feel that they should come through, but the chances of Ballyduff Upper and John Mitchell’s cannot be dispelled too easily.

Fixtures –

Eastern Final   De La Salle V John Mitchells in Walsh Park on Saturday at 4-30pm

Western Final  Geraldine’s V Ballyduff Upper in Fraher Field on Sunday at 2pm

Western Intermediate Hurling Final

This years Western Intermediate Hurling Final is sure to attract a good attendance to Fraher Field on Sunday afternoon next when near neighbours Ardmore and Clashmore do battle.

In the semi finals both sides had good wins over Brickeys and Cappoquin, the two sides that topped the respective groups in the Western Division this year.

Ardmore had Seamus Prendergast in fine form in their win over Brickeys hitting 1-13 of his side’s tally of 1-16.

Clashmore’s top scorer in their win over Cappoquin was Tadhg Bourke who scored nine points from centre half back.

Both sides have some very good players to choose from.

Ardmore will have the Garland’s, the Hennessey’s Conor O’Shea, Kenny Murphy, Michael Cronin as well as their big gun’s brothers Declan and Seamus Prendergast as well as former inter county goalkeeper Clinton Hennessy.

Clashmore will be looking to a number of players that were part of successful underage inter county teams in recent years such as Ed O’Halloran and Paul O’Connor who recently won All-Ireland Minor Medals, Tadhg Bourke who was a minor last year and a Dr Harty Cup winner with Coláiste na Déise and Darren Foley was a stand out player for Waterford at Minor level a year or two before this.

They however could well be set to start without Brian O’Halloran after he picked up an injury while playing football. If he is out it will be a blow to his sides chances, but if he is out it could well mean that the players that do play may well step up a level or two to make up for his loss.

The winning and loosing of this game is to where the top scorers for the two side’s last time out will start.

Tadhg Bourke it could be taken as a certainty will start at centre back but will Seamus Prendergast start at full forward as he did last time out or will he move out to centre forward and maybe try and nullify the influence of Tadhg Bourke. If he does, then it is the winner of this battle side that could come out on top.

It’s Ardmore for me that will come out on top in this game but it could be very close.

Fixture – Ardmore V Clashmore on Sunday in Fraher Field at 3-30pm.

Junior Football Finals

The two divisional Junior Football finals are down to be played this weekend.

In the west it is Colligan against Shamrocks this evening (Friday) in Fraher Field while tomorrow Kill and Mount Sion do battle in Walsh Park.

In the west of the county when the sides met earlier in the league section of the championship, Colligan came out on top comfortably and would be expected to come out on top, but things may be a little closer than last time around.

In the East Mount Sion are challenging for the past few years and have won a number of divisional finals but have yet to win a county. They have some very good footballers to choose from and could well prove to be that little too strong for Kill

Fixtures –

West - Colligan V Shamrocks in Fraher Field on Friday at 8pm

East – Mount Sion V Kill in Walsh Park on Saturday at 2-45pm

Ladies Football

It’s a big weekend for Ladies Football in the county as four of our club sides are in Munster Club action at two different venues.

Saint Anne’s and Comeragh Rangers will be heading to Co Tipperary to play opposition from Cork and Clare, while for Ballymacarbry and Brickeys it’s a trip to Co Cork to play opposition from Kerry.

Saint Anne’s will play Boherbue from Cork in Tipperary Town on Sunday at 1-30 and it will be followed at the same venue with the meeting of Comeragh Rangers and Newmarket-on-Fergus from Clare at 3-30pm

Brickeys will play Na Gaeil from Kerry in Ballyhooly at 1-30pm and at 2-45pm Ballymacarbry will play Laurne Rangers.

No doubt, the players and supporters of the Waterford teams involved in the second games will be getting to the ground early to support the sides in the first games and the players and supports of the teams in the first games will be staying on to support the Waterford teams in the second games.

Fixtures – All on Sunday:

Brickeys V Na Gaeil in Ballyhooly at 1pm

Saint Anne’s V Boherbue in Tipperary Town at 1-30pm

Ballymacarbry V Laurne Rangers in Ballyhooly at 2-45pm

Comeragh Rangers V Newmarket-on-Fergus in Tipperary Town at 3-30pm

Munster Championship

The draws for the 2014 Senior Hurling and Football Championships were made last night and for Waterford, some tough games lie in store.

In hurling, Waterford have drawn the long straw and will have to play a Munster Quarter Final where they will play our great rivals – Cork and if that was hard enough, All-Ireland champions Clare lie in the long grass for the winners in the semi finals.

In Football, Waterford has drawn another long straw.

In a seeded quarter final draw, Waterford were paired with Clare meaning that a visit to Ennis lies in store, and if Waterford were to come through this game, they will have Kerry as visitors to Fraher Field in the semi finals.

Munster Colleges GAA

Waterford’s sole representatives in this year’s Dean Ryan Cup (Munster Under 16 ½ Hurling), will be Blackwater Community School from Lismore after they had a 1-15 to 1-12 win over St Caimin’s from Shannon during the week.

Waterford’s other representative’s in the competition De La Salle College suffered a 1-16 to 1-5 loss against Ard Scoil Ris from Limerick on Tuesday.

In the semi final’s Blackwater Community School will take on Midleton CBS after they overcame the challenge of Thurles CBS (1-24 to 1-5) while Ard Scoil Ris will play Our Lady’s from Templemore who beat Rochestown 3-20 to 4-13 on Wednesday.

In the Under 16 ½ ‘B’ Competition Dungarvan CBS are through to the last eight of the competition after they beat St Joseph’s from Tulla and will play Nenagh CBS next time out.

Pobail Scoil na Trionóide from Youghal are also through after they bear the Patrician Academy from Mallow and will play the winners of Castletroy College and Coláiste Threasa from Kanturk in two weeks time.

In the Munster ‘C’ Championship, Waterford’s interest in the competition is halved after this weeks games.

Out of the competition are gone Comeragh College from Carrick-on-Suir who lost to Rice College from Ennis, while Tramore CBS lost to St Anne’s from Killaloe.

St Paul’s are through to the last eight of the competition after they beat Desmond College 3-16 to 3-6 while St Declan’s from Kilmacthomas beat Pallaskenry (5-13 to 1-8).

In the quarter finals, St Paul’s will play Scarriff and Kilmacthomas will play Hazelwood. The good news for both if they were to come through these games is that the two cannot meet in the semi finals, so giving the chance of an All-Waterford final.

In the ‘D’ Competition, Waterford’s last remaining team left in the competition – Mount Sion had a massive 9-15 to 3-9 win over Newport College. In the semi final, the Monastery men will play either Tralee CBS or St Munchin’s.

Dr Harty Cup

The second round of games in this year’s Dr Harty Cup is due to take place next Wednesday and again there will be lots of Waterford Interest.

Blackwater Community School who lost to Dungarvan CBS last time out will be looking for a first win in this year’s competition when they take on Rochestown College from Cork.

Dungarvan CBS will be looking for back to back wins when they take on Midleton CBS.

De La Salle don’t have a game this week, but Pobail Scoil na Trionóide from Youghal will take on last years beaten finalists Our Lady’s from Templemore while Clonmel CBS have a game against Charleville.

Waterford has no interest in the Munster ‘B’ Championship this year but there still is plenty of interest in the lower grades of competition.

In the ‘C’ Competition, there is an all Waterford clash between St Augustine’s from Abbeyside and St Declan’s from Kilmacthomas. Tramore CBS will play Pallaskenry, and Comeragh College from Carrick will play Macroom.

In the ‘D’ Competition, Mount Sion will play Coláiste Chraobhín from Fermoy, Carrick on Suir will play Scoil Mhuire from Thurles and Mean Scoil San Nicholas from Ring will play Gael Scoil Ciarrai.

No times or venues are announced yet for the games, but keep an eye on my twitter account (@thomaskeane1973) and I will have them up there.