Waterford ladies hit Longford for six

Waterford Intermediate Ladies Footballers remain unbeaten in this year’s National League after they comprehensively beat Longford in Ardagh on Sunday afternoon.

The win means that the Déise ladies need just one point from their remaining three games to secure a place in the semi finals, however it is unlikely that Waterford will be letting up in any of their remaining games against Sligo, Leitrim or Armagh as they will be looking for what would be perceived to be as easy as possible meeting in the semi finals where the top team after the seven games will play the fourth placed team and the second and third placed teams meet in the other semi final.

Waterford started very brightly in this game. Michelle Ryan – twice as well as Hannah Landers and Linda Wall kicked scores for the winners inside the opening thirteen minutes of the game.

The first goal of the game came on fourteen minutes when Michelle Ryan, one of three Waterford players to rattle the Longford net twice in this game gave the side a seven point cushion.

Margaret Revins who is in fine form for Waterford this year hit the first of her scores soon afterwards extending Waterford’s lead to eight which was followed by a point from Ann Marie Grattan on seventeen minutes, Longford’s first score of the game.

Hannah Landers and Margaret Revins added points for Waterford before Kerri Harmon hit the home sides second score on twenty two minutes but it was followed by a Aileen Wall point and then Hannah Landers another player in terrific form of late rattled the Longford net for the second the second time.

The last score of the half fell to Longford, Aisling Reynolds this time getting her name on the score sheet, but it was only putting a gloss on the score board in as far as the home side were concerned as Waterford turned around leading 2-8 to 0-3.

The second half began with Hannah Landers and Aisling Reynolds exchanging points.

Longford would kick one more score in this game, again from Aisling Reynolds while Waterford dominated in all sections of the field throughout the half as they had done in the first half.

Hannah Landers pointed again for Waterford before the Ballyduff Upper Club player hit her second goal of the game towards the end of the third quarter and it was quickly followed by a fourth Waterford goal off the boot of Aileen Wall who was set up by player of the match Hannah Landers.

The Ballyduff Upper player closed her account on forty-six minutes with another point.

The Wall sisters Linda and Aileen shared Waterford’s next two scores which amassed to 1-1, the goal coming from Aileen and soon afterwards Liz Devine who is new to the set up this year having come through from some successful underage teams, after coming on for Margaret Revins got her name on the score sheet.

Waterford’s sis goal came eight minutes from time when Michelle Ryan blasted a penalty to the net after the dangerous Hannah Landers was pulled to the ground.

The Ballymacarbry player kicked a point two minutes later and the scoring was complete for Waterford two minutes from time when Elaine Power broke forward from the middle of the field and kicked a point.

Next up for Waterford is a long trip into the west this coming weekend to play Sligo, while Longford have a trip to the South-East to play Wexford.

In other games to be played next weekend, Armagh will be at home to Leitrim while Offaly have Tipperary as visitors.

Just like in Waterford’s case, Armagh needs just one more point from their last three games to secure a place in the semi finals. Leitrim could guarantee themselves a place in the semi finals should they beat Armagh this weekend and Waterford win in Sligo. Tipperary could go a long way towards securing a semi final spot if they beat bottom of the table Tipperary while the winner of the game between Wexford and Longford will still be in with a shout but they could well require some favours from other teams in the remaining teams.

Waterford: Aimee Jordan; Nora Dunphy, Ciara Dunphy, Mary Foley; Louise Ryan, Karen McGrath, Róisín Tobin; Michelle McGrath, Elaine Power; Linda Wall, Michelle Ryan, Mairead Wall; Aileen Wall, Margaret Revins, Hannah Landers. Subs: Liz Devine for Margaret Revins, Megan O Connor for Ciara Dunphy, Gráinne Costello for Aimee Jordan, Lauren McGregor for Linda Wall, Amy Whelan for Aileen Wall

Scorers: Hannah Landers 2-5, Michelle Ryan 2-3, Aileen Wall 2-1, Margaret Revins 0-2, Linda Wall, Liz Devine, Elaine Power 0-1 each.

LONGFORD SQUAD: Michelle Kilkenny, Leanne Keegan, Geraldine McManus, Mairead Moore, Louise Monaghan, Siobhan McGowan, Michelle Noonan, Ann Marie Grattan, Gemma Kenny, Aoife Darcy, Sarah Tierney, Orla Noonan, Aisling Reynolds, Claire Greene, Keri Harmon, Shannon Woods, Claire Delaney, Niamh Devaney, Claire Farrell, Aodhnait Casey, Sabrina Hackett, Briona Connell.

Scorers: Aisling Reynolds 0-3, Kerri Harmon, Ann Marie Grattan 0-1 each.

 

Tesco Homegrown NFL Div 3 Division 3

	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Points For	Points Against	Points Diff	Points
Waterford	4	4	0	0	100	38	62	12
Armagh	4	4	0	0	90	35	55	12
Leitrim	4	3	1	0	85	57	28	9
Tipperary	4	2	2	0	75	59	16	6
Sligo	4	1	3	0	87	101	-14	3
Longford	4	1	3	0	44	85	-41	3
Wexford	4	1	3	0	49	93	-44	3
Offaly	4	0	4	0	33	95	-62	0

 

Late Aoife Hannon point means Lismore and Ballyhale Shamrocks have to do it all again.

These are interesting times for those that hurl in Waterford.

The past year has proven to be very interesting.

Dungarvan Colleges won back to back Dr Harty Cups. They then went on to win the Dr Croke Cup for the first time.

Waterford minor hurlers won the All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship last September for the first time since 1948.

The Waterford senior hurlers were very unlucky not to beat Kilkenny in a championship game for the first time since 1959.

Passage won a first ever Waterford Senior Hurling Championship and were somewhat unlucky when they played in the Munster Championship.

Ballysaggart went all the way to Croke Park in the Junior Club Championship where at half time against Antrim side Kickhams Creggan things looked extremely good, but the Ulster side came back into contention in the second half forcing the game to extra time where they would have won but for a strong finish by Ballysaggart.

In the replay, Ballysaggart were again looking good at the break but again the Ulster side in the second half outscored the West Waterford, Co Waterford and Munster Champions.

And don’t forget the Ladies.

Waterford’s Intermediate team reached the All-Ireland semi final and the League semi final last year. They won the Munster Final and the Counties under 16 team won the Munster Final against Cork but lost to the same opposition in the Munster Final.

And let’s not forget Galltir who won a Feile National Final last summer in Limerick.

O yes, there is one other team.

Lismore. I have not forgotten about their Camogie team. They have had a brilliant past twelve months.  And they captured the County Senior League Final on May 18 against Saint Anne’s at Fraher Field.

They went on to add the County Senior Final to their roll of honour a few months later beating the same opposition at Lemybrien and then a few weeks later the Munster Intermediate Final after they beat Newmarket-on-Fergus at the second attempt in Latten-Cullen and only a month ago they won their first ever All-Ireland Club semi final when they beat Liatroim Fontenoys at Crettyard.

However we will have to wait another two weeks before we know where the Agnes O’Farrelly Cup will find a home for the next twelve months as they could not be separated from Ballyhale Shamrocks when the sides met in the All-Ireland Final at Croke Park earlier today.

The game was one which could well have gone either way and in the end a draw was possibly the fairest result all round.

Lismore started brightly, and finished the stronger of the two sides but in between it was the Kilkenny outfit that proved to be the stronger side, especially in the third quarter of the game.

Lismore retired at the break holding a three point advantage, but they will be the first to admit that things could have been much different.

Lismore missed a number of frees that they would normally would have got, but this could well be put down to nerves and playing in unfamiliar settings.

Ballyhale Shamrocks could have been out of sight themselves at the break as they missed at least three chances to raise green flags in the first half, two of which fell to team captain Emilee Dermody, the other to Mags Fennelly who would later hit a crucial score for her side.

Lismore had a great start to this day. Nicola Morrissey who put in a good hours work for the Heritage Town side in this game opened the scoring when she pointed with less than thirty seconds on the clock.

However, the Kilkenny and Leinster Champions who like Lismore were vying for their first title at this level, fought back and points from Kelly-Anne Cottrell and Keeva Fennelly soon had their side in front.

One thing that nobody could say about this Lismore team is that they are not committed and have a great bonding within the team hit back with points from Ruth Geoghegan and Nicola Morrissey to retake the lead with twelve minutes on the clock.

Lismore were now playing well and further points from Aoife Hannon and Shona Curran gave Lismore a 0-5 to 0-2 lead and when the hard working Ruth Geoghegan added her second of the game, things were looking extremely good for the side in Black and amber.

However before the break, the Ballyhale Shamrocks were able to cut the Lismore lead by one when Kelly-Ann Cottrell pointed from a free four minutes from the break.

Three points up at the break, Lismore were doing well. They were limiting the amount of frees they were giving away. They knew that giving away too many could prove costly as other sides had found to their cost as Kelly-Anne Cottrell was not going to miss many. They also knew that if they could keep the ball out of their own net, then there was going to be an excellent chance that the cup would cross over Lismore Bridge and under the shadow of the town’s famous castle.

However, things did not work out as Lismore would have liked in the second half as Kelly-Anne Cottrell added her third point of the game from frees shortly after the restart and three minutes into the half, Aisling O’Brien was picking the ball out her net after Mags Fennelly cracked the games only goal.

The same player attempted the beat Aisling O’Brien again but the Aglish native who is one of the best net minders in the game was equal to her and managed to keep the ball out.

In the first half Lismore were causing Ballyhale Shamrocks all sorts of problems in their back line, but what ever was said in the Kilkenny sides dressing room at the break worked as marshalled by Róisín Fennelly in the second half playing at full back, the Kilkenny and Leinster champions worked hard to restrict the amount of freedom that Lismore had in the second half of the game.

A point from the brilliant Shona Curran levelled matters for Lismore but the Kilkenny outfit hit the next two scores in the game through Kelly-Anne Cottrell and Keeva Fennelly to go two points up with less than ten minutes to play.

Lismore now had to call on all the experience that they have amassed in recent years and on the great bonding there is within the panel over the coming minutes.

Ruth Geoghegan was very unlucky not to have rattled the Ballyhale Shamrocks net and she would have but for a timely intervention from Róisín Fennelly who put in a terrific hook on the pacey Lismore forward.

Nicola Morrissey put over a late point to leave one between the sides and now it was Squeaky Bums time.

Lismore continued to attack the Ballyhale Shamrocks goal and when Aoife Hannon put over a point from distance to level matters it raised a great cheer from the travelling Lismore support.

With important National League games coming up and with players from both sides expected to be prominent members of the Inter county panels, neither side were prepared to settle for a draw.

Both sides continued to work hard to see if a winner could be got, but it was not to be. Both sides had to settle for the draw and will have to do it all over again on March 16.

Both sides would love to have won the game on the day and one of them would have loved to have climbed the steps of the Hogan Stand after the game, but it was not to be.

Winning in Croke Park would be nice for the players. It would be a memory that would stick in their memories for the rest of their lives. But they will now know that while the replay is extremely unlikely to be played at GAA head quarters, it is a win regardless of where it will be at is the important thing in two weeks time.

LISMORE: Aisling O’Brien, Sarah Coughlan, Shauna Prendergast, Marie Russell, Aoife Houlihan, Shauna Kiernan, Sarah Fenton, Nicola Morrissey, Shona Curran, Laura Buckley, Grainne Kenneally, Aoife Hannon, Caithriona McGlone, Jennifer Hannon, Ruth Geoghegan. Sub: Johanna Houlihan for Jennifer Hannon (41).

SCORERS: Nicola Morrissey 0-3; Ruth Geoghegan, Shona Curran (2fs), Aoife Hannon (1f) 0-2 each

BALLYHALE SHAMROCKS: Ciara Fennelly, Helen Dermody, Róisín Fennelly, Orna Fennelly, Emily O’Dwyer, Jacqui Frisby, Clodagh Corcoran, Catherine Connolly, Edel Frisby, Eimear Fitzpatrick, Kelly-Anne Cottrell, Keeva Fennelly, Lucy Elvidge, Mags Fennelly, Emily Dermody. Sub: Grace Fennelly for Elvidge (24).

SCORERS: Kelly-Anne Cottrell 0-4; Mags Fennelly 1-0; Keeva Fennelly 0-2

Referee: Cathal Egan (Cork)

Waterford IT secure ninth Fitzgibbon Cup Title

Waterford IT are Fitzgibbon Cup winners for the ninth time and for the first time since 2008 after they overcame the challenge of Cork IT in today’s final in Belfast.

The Cork side were bidding for their first success in the competition and many were quietly confident that they could secure a maiden title after they accounted for fellow Cork side, the winners with the past two years, UCC in yesterday’s semi finals, beating Cork IT in both of the last two finals.

Many may have wondered what going to extra time in their semi final against Limerick IT what would have taken from the Waterford students.

Both management teams opted to make one change in personnel from their semi final wins on Friday afternoon. For Waterford IT Jack Langton came in at wing back for Shaun Murphy while the Cork students had Paul Virgo starting in the middle of the field for Michael O’Sullivan.

Early in the game it did not appear as though anything was taken from the Waterford students after the went four points up thanks to efforts from Waterford pair Pauric Mahony and Jake Dillon and Eoin Murphy who guarded the net for Kilkenny in last years championship.

For Mahony the past month has been a month to remember. He has put in solid games for the Waterford senior hurlers in their league outings against Tipperary and Galway as well as in the games he played for the Suir-side College in the Fitzgibbon Cup.

He has started March too pretty well scoring four points for Colm Bonner’s charges in this game, finishing the game as joint top scorer for the winners with four points, the same tally as fellow Waterford Colleague Jake Dillon who was judged to be the player of the match in this game. In the overall scoring stakes in this game however, both had to give second best to Tipperary senior hurler and CIT student John O’Dwyer who finished the game with five points behind his name on the score sheet.  

The Cork students did not hit their first score of the game till the eleventh minute when John O’Dwyer put over the first of his four frees and they wasted no time in quickly added to their tally.

WIT were unlucky to have rattled the Cork students net six minutes from the break when Tipperary’s Liam McGrath saw his effort go wide of Stephen Nyhan’s upright at a time when the Waterford students were leading 0-8 to 0-4.

Seldom does any Cork team lie down without putting up a fight and the Students were no different in this game. Bill Cooper and John O’Dwyer landed points for the side in red and white hoops to bring them to within one of the Waterford students who went in leading 0-10 to 0-7 after Jake Dillon and Cathal Kenny landed late scores for the eventual winners.

Early in the second half the Cork College side drew level with the Waterford Students, but they never went in front.

A second half miss from Daniel Dooley who hit the side netting of Stephen O’Keeffe’s net when shooting from a tight angle was to prove costly for the Cork side as the winners hit four unanswered scores to take the title back to Waterford.

WATERFORD IT: Stephen O’Keeffe (Waterford); Ger Teehan (Kilkenny), Pauric Gahan (Kilkenny), Jerome Maher (Waterford); Thomas Hamill (Tipperary), Joe O’Dwyer (Tipperary), Jack Langton (Kilkenny); Stephen Roche (Waterford), Cathal Kenny (Kilkenny); Harry Kehoe (Wexford), Pauric Mahony (Waterford), Eoin Murphy (Kilkenny); Liam McGrath (Tipperary), Jake Dillon (Waterford), Gavin O’Brien (Waterford). Subs: Johnny Hayes (Kilkenny) for Liam McGrath, Andrew Kenny (Wexford) for Joe O’Dwyer.

Scorers for WIT: Pauric Mahony (0-4f), Jake Dillon 0-4 each, Cathal Kenny, Harry Kehoe 0-3, Johnny Hayes, Eoin Murphy, Liam McGrath 0-1 each.

CORK IT: Stephen Nyhan (Cork); Stephen Murphy, Alan Dennehy (Cork), Tomás Lawrence (Cork); Eoin Keane (Cork), Mark Ellis (Cork), Pádraig Butler (Cork); Paul Virgo (Cork), Jamie Coughlan (Cork); John O’Dwyer (Tipperary), John Cronin (Cork), Conor Hammersley (Tipperary); Bill Cooper (Cork), Daniel Dooley (Cork), David Drake (Cork). Subs: Kevin O’Connor (Cork) for Jamie Coughlan, David Corbett (Tipperary) for Paul Virgo, Kevin Hallissey (Cork) for David Drake, Jason Lonergan (Tipperary) for David Corbett, Stephen Murray (Tipperary) for Cooper.

Scorers: John O’Dwyer 0-5 (0-4f), Bill Cooper, Conor Hammersley, John Cronin 0-2 each, Mark Ellis 0-1.

Referee: James McGrath (Westmeath).

Waterford IT advance to today's Fitzgibbon Cup Final

For the second game running, Waterford IT needed extra time in the Fitzgibbon Cup last Friday afternoon before advancing to Saturday’s final against Cork IT who beat city rivals and winners of the famous trophy with the two years UCC in the second semi final.

 

Pauric Mahony who had a February to remember put in another quality performance in this game shooting sixteen points from the winners, all but one of which came from placed balls again finished as top scorer for Colm Bonner’s charges but it was fellow Inter County Colleague Jake Dillon that proved to be the hero of the afternoon.

 

Throughout the game the sides looked evenly matched and it took an effort three minutes from time from the De La Salle man in extra time to secure victory for the Waterford college side.

 

The Limerick students who are coached by Davy Fitzgerald played with the wind at their backs in the first half of this game and built up a 1-12 to 0-6 lead at the interval, the goal coming five minutes before the break from Cathal McInerney.  

 

The Limerick students started the second half again the stronger of the two sides and with nine minutes of the half played they held a 1-15 to 0-9 lead.

 

Going nine points down was to prove the wake up call that Waterford IT needed to spur them into action and they hit the next eight scores which included a Harry Kehoe goal on forty-six minutes.

 

With a minute of the hour remaining, the sides were locked at 1-15 but there was still time for some more drama.

 

Cathal McInerney hit his second goal of the game which looked as if it was going to be good enough to send the Shannon-side Students to the next round of the competition but the Waterford students went straight down the field and Wexford’s Harry Kehoe did exactly what McInerney did at the other end and hammered his second goal of the game to send the game to extra time.

 

The first half of extra time continued to prove to be a close fought battle. A goal from hurler of the year Tony Kelly looked to have given the Limerick Students an advantage but with Pauric Mahony proving to be unerring with his shooting the Waterford students help them stay in touch and the sides turned around locked at 3-16 to 2-19.

 

Just three further scores were added in the final ten minutes of the game, the most crucial coming from Jake Dillon three minutes from time, a score that was good enough to advance the Waterford Students to today’s final which they will be bidding to win for the first time since 2008.

 

WATERFORD IT: Stephen O’Keeffe (Waterford); Ger Teehan (Kilkenny), Pauric Gahan (Kilkenny), Jerome Maher (Waterford); Thomas Hamill (Tipperary), Joe O’Dwyer (Tipperary), Shaun Murphy (Wexford); Stephen Roche (Waterford), Cathal Kenny (Kilkenny); Harry Kehoe (Wexford), Pauric Mahony (Waterford), Eoin Murphy (Kilkenny); Liam McGrath (Tipperary), Jake Dillon (Waterford), Gavin O’Brien (Waterford). Sub: Jack Langton (Kilkenny) for Cathal Kenny.

 

Scorers: Pauric Mahony 0-16 (0-13f, 0-2 ‘65s’), Harry Kehoe 2-1, Eoin Murphy 0-2, Cathal Kenny, Jake Dillon 0-1 each.

 

LIMERICK IT: Aaron Murphy (Limerick); Sean O’Gorman (Clare), Martin Minehan (Tipperary), Cian Nolan (Clare); Paul Killeen Galway), Enda Boyce (Clare), Barry O’Connell (Limerick); Alan Dempsey (Limerick), Paul Flaherty (Galway); Tony Kelly (Clare), Pat Begley (Limerick), Mark Gennery (Tipperary); Philip Ivors (Tipperary), Cathal McInerney (Clare), Jamie Shanahan (Clare). Subs: Shane McGrath (Clare) for Killeen (46), Padraig Hickey (Clare) for Mark Gennery.

 

Scorers: Tony Kelly 1-5 (0-4f), Cathal McInerney 2-2, Jamie Shanahan, Alan Dempsey 0-3 each, Paul Flaherty 0-2, Philip Ivors, Pat Begley 0-1 each.

 

Referee: Brian Gavin (Offaly).