Big three remain unbeaten in Senior Football Championship.

The big three in the Waterford Senior Football Championship remain unbeaten in this years competition after recording big wins in the second series of games played over the past weekend.

Ballinacourty proved too strong for Rathgormack on Saturday evening at Fraher Field. The same two clubs met in the recent Under 21 ‘A’ Football County Final played at the same venue where victory went to the Comeragh Men, who over the past few years have put together some good results together on the underage scene and were expected to transfer this success to the adult scene this year.

The first half proved to be an even enough encounter with a goal struck by Mark Ferncombe from the penalty spot following a foul on Ross Dunford proving to be the difference between the sides.

In the second half with the winds at their backs Ballinacourty proved to be by far the stronger sides, as they allowed their opponents to register just two points on the scoreboard while they hit 1-10, their second goal coming from Mark Ferncombe in the last ten minutes of the game.

At Stradbally on Saturday evening, Ardmore and Gaultier had to settle for a share of the spoils.

Gaultier started by hitting a point inside ten seconds of the game starting and hit a goal eleven minutes from the break after Rory Walsh was in the right place in the right time to capitalise on a JJ Hutchinson effort that fell short of the target.

The Barony Men appeared to be destined to register a first win with time ticking down as they held a four point lead with as many minutes to play as JJ Hutchinson hit a brace of goals one from a penalty. They could even consider themselves to be somewhat unlucky not to have been even further in front as Conor O’Shea proved to be very alert when he took the ball off the line.

However Ardmore put in a terrific finish kicking four points in the closing minutes Wayne Hennessy, John Gartland and Seamus Keating to leave one between the sides and when Ardmore won a late free, Keating held his nerve to put the ball between the uprights from fifty metres.

The final game played on Saturday evening saw Stradbally prove too strong for Saint Saviours, running out winners with thirteen points to spare at Kilmacthomas.

In the three games played on Sunday, The Nire proved too strong for last years County Intermediate Champions Ballinameela in the opening game at Fraher Field.

Inter County Hurlers Shane Walsh and Liam Lawlor started for the Nire in this game. Liam Lawlor hit five points for his side playing at Full forward while Shane Walsh hit three points.

The Nire lead six points to one at the break, but Ballinameela hit three early second half points and looked as if they were going to make a game of it, but in the final quarter without ever moving up through the gears, The Nire were able to call on all their experience to coast to a 1-16 to 0-6 victory, the goal coming ten minutes from time from the boot of Brian Wall who was set up by Liam Lawlor.

The second game played at Fraher Field on Sunday between Clashmore and Kilrossanty saw stand out performances from Sean Fleming and Joey Veale for their respective side.

Two first half goals from Sean Fleming gave Clashmore a 2-3 to 0-5 lead at the break and they looked as if they were going to go on and record a comfortable victory.

However with Joey Veale in fine form in front of goal, finishing the game with seven points to his name, Kilrossanty managed to make a game of it in the second half and at one point nearing its conclusion just two points separated the teams after Paul Whyte hit Kilrossanty’s goal.

However after Kilrossanty had their numbers cut after Michael Kirwan was sent off on a second yellow card and John Prendergast was given a controversial point (from the stand it looked at least two metres wide), Kilrossanty found it hard to fight back and Clashmore were able to record a second win in this years championship with four points to spare.

The final game of the weekend saw Brickeys and An Rinn meet in a local derby clash.

An Rinn always looked like winners in this game and lead 0-5 t0 0-1 after twenty minutes but a point was taken off this lead at the break at which time An Rinn lead 0-6 to 0-3.

With six minutes to play An Rinn lead 0-10 to 0-6 and were looking somewhat comfortable but a Conor McGrath goal inside the last five minutes made things very interesting, but An Rinn held out for a 0-11 to 1-6 victory.

Meanwhile, this past weekend saw Waterford’s minor footballers record a first championship win since 2009 when they beat Limerick 3-10 to 3-9 at Fraher Field.

First half goals from Tom Devine and Conor Gleeson with Limerick responding through Jack English gave Waterford a deserved 2-5 to 1-5 at the break.

Waterford hit a third goal through substitute Kevin Daly which gave them a 3-9 to 1-6 lead but Waterford took the foot off the accelerator in the closing minutes and Limerick were able to take advantage of this as goals from Brian O’Connell and James Naughton hit goals with Jack Breen adding a point in between to bring them to within one of Waterford but the home side were able to hold off in the end for a deserved win and a place in the semi finals.

Senior Football results from this weekend

Stradbally        3-17     Saint Saviours  1-10

Gaultier           3-4       Ardmore          0-13

Ballinacourty   2-15     Rathgormack  0-7      

Kilrossanty       1-8       Clashmore       2-9

Nire                 1-16     Ballinameela   0-6

An Rinn            0-11     Brickeys           1-6

League Table J J Kavanagh & Sons Senior Football Group 1

 

Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points For	Points Against	Points Diff	Points
Stradbally	2	2	0	0	47	18	29	4
Clashmore	2	2	0	0	22	17	5	4
Kilrossanty	2	1	0	1	27	17	10	2
Ardmore	2	0	1	1	19	20	-1	1
Gaultier	2	0	1	1	18	34	-16	1
St Saviour's	2	0	0	2	15	42	-27	0

 

League Table J J Kavanagh & Sons Senior Football Championship Group 2

Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points For	Points Against	Points Diff	Points
The Nire	2	2	0	0	35	12	23	4
Ballinacourty	2	2	0	0	33	16	17	4
An Rinn	2	1	0	1	20	21	-1	2
Brickeys	2	0	0	2	15	27	-12	0
Ballinameela	1	0	0	1	6	19	-13	0
Rathgormack	1	0	0	1	7	21	-14	0

A big weekend for Intermediate Camogie team and Under 16 Ladies Football Team lies ahead.

The count down is on to what is a very big weekend for Waterford Ladies teams involved in National Competitions.

Without doubt the big game of the weekend is the National Camogie League Division Two semi final between Waterford and Kildare at Mountmellick in Laois.

The past six years have proven to be very exciting for the Counties Camogie premier side and 2013 promises to be the best yet.

In 2007, the Division three National Camogie League final was won and since them it has been onwards and upwards for the county.

The Munster Junior Championship was soon added to the League title in ’07.

Two years later, Waterford were in the All-Ireland Junior Camogie Final where Offaly came out on top and twelve months later Waterford were back in Croke Park, this time against Antrim.

With time almost up, Antrim lead but Waterford levelled matters and had a chance to win but shot narrowly wide. The replay took place in early October at Ashbourne in Meath and resulted in a 2-10 to 0-12 victory for Antrim.

Waterford did make it third time lucky in Croke Park winning the 2011 Junior All-Ireland Final beating Down in the final.

2011 was a year to remember for Waterford adding the Ireland to the Division two league final won earlier in the year.

Waterford looked to be comfortably on their way to victory on the day, entering the last quarter with an eleven point advantage, but Down produced a remarkable come back which had Waterford fighting hard at the end.

Goals that day from Ruth Geoghegan and Karen Kelly in the first half gave Waterford a 2-8 to 0-5 lead at the break, with Waterford unlucky not to have been even further in front as Ruth Geoghegan saw another chance come off the upright approaching the break.

Down hit eight points in a row in the second half and it was starting to look as if heart break was going to be Waterford’s lot for the third year in a row, but a Niamh Rockett point steadied the ship for Waterford and put four points between the sides.

Although Down through Nicola Braniff hit an Injury time goal, to pull Waterford’s lead into one, the Déise Ladies were able to hang on for a 2-11 to 1-13 victory.

Last year in their first year in intermediate, Waterford did remarkably well, narrowly missing out on a place in the latter stages of the league and reached the All-Ireland semi final but were narrowly beaten by Galway.

This year so far has been very good for Waterford.

An opening round 0-8 to 0-5 defeat against Meath in Dunganny is long forgotten as from this it has been onwards and upwards for Waterford.

A 1-8 to 1-6 victory was recorded over Galway at Ballinasloe, before a 0-13 to 1-6 win was registered in the side’s only home game in this year’s league.

A trip to the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick was next up for Waterford and the side returned home with a 0-5 to 0-4 victory in the bag, meaning that in their last game if they could beat Antrim top place in the group would be secured.

O’Toole Park in Crumlin staged the meeting of Waterford and Antrim. Both sides gave it their all and at the end of sixty minutes it was Waterford that came out on top on a 2-14 to 2-10 score line.

Kildare and Kilkenny went into the last round of games in group one level on points and with Waterford topping group two they knew that the looser of the game played at Ballykelly would provide the opposition in the semi finals.

It was the ‘Cat’s second string team that came out on top, winning 3-9 to 1-9 meaning the semi final pairings were confirmed as Waterford V Kildare and Kilkenny V Limerick.

The venue for the Waterford and Kildare semi final was confirmed during the week as Mountmellick in Laois with the game having a 3-15pm throw in with Extra time to be played if needed, while the second semi final was confirmed earlier in the week for Walsh Park, the game between Kilkenny and Limerick at 1-30pm playing part of a double header between Kilkenny and Wexford in the Division one semi final at 3-15pm.

Waterford manager Mark Cooney and his selectors have named a strong starting fifteen for the game.

Deirdre Brennan is named between the posts with Emma Hannon, Fiona Morrissey and Vicky Falconer forming the full back line. Marie Russell, Charlotte Raher and Jenny McCarthy start outside them. Shona Curran and Jenny Simpson should prove to be a formidable centre field pairing. Trish Jackman, Nicola Morrissey and Zoe O’Donoghue form a half forward line that know exactly where the posts are, while the inside forward line is made up of Lorraine Bray, Karen Kelly and Deirdre Fahy.

This is Kildare’s first season in Division two of the league and they have done remarkably well to reach this stage of the competition.

Like Waterford, great progress has been made in Kildare over the past few years. They win the Division four final of the National League in 2009 and won the division three final last year. The Leinster Junior Championship was won in 2010 and the same year the All-Ireland Junior ‘A’ Final was won.

This promises to be a very close game, where hopefully, the greater experience amassed by Waterford in the last few years will see them through.

Meanwhile in Ladies Football, Waterford’s under 16 team take on Clare in the Munster ‘B’ Final at Sean Treacy Park in Tipperary Town on Saturday afternoon.

To reach the final Waterford recorded good wins over Limerick and Clare in the league section of the competition.

At Hospital, Waterford proved too strong for Limerick winning 1-16 to 1-4, and in the second round of games recorded a massive 5-12 to 1-3 win over Clare at Bushy Park.

Containing a number of the team that won last years under 14 final, the side will travel to Tipperary in a confident mood but no doubt the management team will be warning the team that the second meeting of two sides in the same competition is always the harder to win.

The game in Tipperary Town has a 2pm throw in.