New Manager To Be Appointed As Donal O’Rourke Steps Aside

Like many others I was disappointed last night to learn that Donal O’Rourke had stood down as the Waterford Senior Camogie Manager after filling the position for two years. But I have to say that the news was not entirely a shock to me.

A few weeks back the Cappoquin man known to so many as ‘Duck’ sent me a text after Waterford had lost out to Galway in the All-Ireland Quarter Final. I text Donal back saying that I hoped that he would be staying on as Manager and that he would retain the management team he had assembled and managed to keep onto all of this year’s panel and maybe to add to it from last year’s minor panel and this year’s under 16 teams, both of whom had some good players. When I did not hear back from him, I privately sensed that maybe that he was going to step aside, as anyone be it at club or inter county level that keeps a close eye on what is happening in Camogie or underage hurling would have seen there was something about Donal O’Rourke, and he would not be short of calls from some of the stronger clubs and not necessarily in Waterford offering him a coaching position after seen what he achieved with the Waterford Camogie team in recent years.

In his two years in charge of the Waterford Senior Camogie team Donal achieved so much, but I am sure he will be the first person to say that it was not all down to him. Progress was made being made since Waterford came up from the Intermediate Grade and winning the Division Two National League Final in 2015. He is likely to tell you that he just carried on what was done before him and bring it onto the next level.

I have no doubt that the Cappoquin man will tell you that there has been some great work done at underage level in the county and that he was lucky to work with some fantastic young players, and he is likely to tell you that some great work is put in at club level and as a result he was able to work with some quality players.

But we can never under estimate what Donal has done for the game and hopefully we might see him back involved in one way or another in the years ahead. A good manager, a modest manager will tell you that he can only be as good as the players he or she is working with, but that’s not always entirely true.

Let’s use another sport as an example. In the last twenty years cross channel in the Premier League who is or has been the best manager? I am sure different people will give different names. Different factors will come into the equation. For longevity you have Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger. What about Claudio Ranieri who helped Leicester City win the League a few seasons back? Or what about Antonio Conte or Pep Guardiola who have two of the best wins ratios per games played while they worked in the league. Maybe you will go for someone like Jose Mourinho or Carlo Ancelotti both of whom had great successes with Chelsea in their time at Stamford Bridge or maybe you would argue for someone like Jurgen Klopp, Rafa Benitez, Mairicio Pochettino, Eddie Howe or even Sean Dyche who all had success in different ways in the league.

Of the above named managers plus many of the ones that are omitted, it is possibly safe as hard as it might be for some to admit that Alex Ferguson is or was the best of the lot. But as we have seen he retired in May 2013, David Moyles, Louis Van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and to a lesser extent Ole Gunnar Solskjaer who have specially in the first three have worked with many of the players which Ferguson worked with, yet they have not got the best out them in the same way with Ferguson did and as a result titles which came thick and fast under Ferguson are few and far between with his successors.

And the same could be said of another manager, Kenny Dalglish. Since he has left Liverpool after a first spell as Manager in February 1991, the club has had nine different permanent or care taker managers including the Scots man having a second term in charge and none of them have won the Premier League or the Old First Division title since Dalglish helped Liverpool win it in 1989/90 season.

Regardless of how good the players are working with if the right man or woman is not over them and able to get the best out of them, then the success that a team be it club, county or international side craves will not come their way.

And while no silverware came Waterford’s way at Senior Level under Donal O’Rourke that does not mean that his tenure was not a success, far from it in fact.

In his first season in charge Donal O’Rourke’s side missed out on a place in the semi finals of the league on score difference over Limerick after the two sides finished level on points at the end of the group stages and the two sides had a share of the spoils when they play in the group stages.

Later that summer his side really tested Cork in the Munster Championship at Modeligo. Cork were the reigning All-Ireland Champions at the time and with a little luck on the day Waterford could have beaten the Rebellettes. And in the All-Ireland Championship Waterford finished third in the group despite losing their first two games, a final place in the group that was good enough to give them a spot in the All-Ireland Quarter Finals where they lost out to a strong Tipperary side in Cork.

This past year Waterford played much of the league without the Gailltir players in the panel as they were preparing for an All-Ireland Club Final, but still Waterford did well finishing in fourth place in a group of five. And while Waterford were well beaten in the Munster Championship by Tipperary the side were some weeks off reaching their peak at the time, but when the All-Ireland Championship time came around the side were firing on all cylinders and were somewhat unlucky to only finish third even if that was good enough to give them a quarter final place for the second year in a row.

In that game Donal O’Rourke’s side really tested a side that would go on to contest and win an All-Ireland Final. With five minutes to go in Thurles Waterford were very much in contention.

Waterford under the guidance of Donal O’Rourke made some remarkable progress and from what we have seen in the last two years some good days could be around the corner for Waterford, as Donal O’Rourke had assembled an outstanding group of players and there is some very good young players coming through from the under 16, minor as well as the junior teams in the last two years and then there is the work that is happening on the colleges scene and in particular at St. Angela’s Secondary School in the last few years.

I for one can’t talk for every Camogie supporter in the Déise County, in fact I can only talk for myself, but I am sure that many if not all Waterford Camogie Clubs will join with me in saying ‘Thanks for all that you have managed to achieve in the past two year’s Donal, your work is very much appreciated and it was such a joy watching the team you had in your care in the last two years’.

And so the search now starts for the man or woman set to replace him. I have no doubt that the County Board will be acting quickly to appoint a new manager, maybe they have the wheels in motion already.

Right now it is impossible for anyone outside of the County Board to have any idea of who they will go for or what process will they use. We don’t know if they will consult the players, will they ask the clubs to put forward names or will they as a body sit down and draw up a list and try and appoint the person that see as best suited.

I have no doubt that there will be a number of names thrown around in the run up to the appointment of a new manager. Let me throw out a few names who might be deemed as suitable for the position. I must add before doing so say that I have not spoken to any of the names that I am going to suggest to find out if they are interested or not. They are just a few people that have impressed me in the last few years.

First up is Kevin Barry the manager of last year’s Munster Minor winning team and the Clonea man was in charge of the County Junior Team this year and again did well at that level bringing together some experienced and young players to mould a good group of players.

Róisín Hartley was in charge of the Waterford Under 16 that won this year’s ‘B’ All-Ireland Final recently. That team also contains some excellent young players who could have a big future playing at a higher level in the years to come. Róisín is a member of the Gailltir Club and in recent years on the underage front they are the strongest side in the county winning so many titles and she will know so many of these players well and will know which can step up to playing at a much higher level.

Shane Dunphy and Nicholas Mackey have formed part of Donal O’Rourke’s side in recent years and will know the panel of players used in the last two years well and could be seen someone that would keep things going as they were without having the players to get to know a new manager and their way of doing things.

Maybe someone like Mark Cooney who achieved success with Waterford could be enticed back into the set up, or maybe former Waterford Senior Hurler and former selector with the county hurlers Shane ‘Shiner’ Ahearne could be offered the job. Shane is a big supporter of Camogie and is often seen at games at different levels. He will know many of the players from his time as an underage manager a few years back and with his eye and knowledge of the game from seeing the team in recent years he would know how to get the best from the players.

And finally there is Conor O’Toole and Emilie Darmody who in the last two or three years have helped bring so much success to the Saint Angela’s Ursuline School in the city. They have players from all clubs from the middle of the county and into the city attending the school and both will know many of these players inside out and upside down and will know how to get the best out of them.

Who will succeed Donal O’Rourke right now, I for one don’t know. Maybe we will get to here in the coming weeks as whoever is appointed I am sure will want to get working with the players at the earliest opportunity possible preparing for the National League which will be starting a few weeks into the New Year.

The Tale of Two Michael Kiely’s

Many a tail could be told of battles fought out at Dungarvan’s Fraher Field down the years. The famous ground often cited to be one of the most scenic in the whole country has seen it all. All sorts of games have been fought out there from Primary School games, Underage games, clubs games in all grades, Ladies Football and Camogie games. Even All-Ireland Final’s have been played at the field once rented by Touraneena man Dan Fraher who spent so much of his time living and working in Dungarvan so that the County could have a ground that it could be proud of and allow players and supporters of Gaelic Games in the Déise County gather and see rival teams do battle against each other.

Dungarvan’s Fraher Field has hosted the most senior All-Ireland Finals outside of Croke Park, even more that Semple Stadium in Thurles often called the home of hurling due to the large amount of classic games played there over the years, and for this reason the G.A.A. at National level should never forget the grounds history and should be putting vast sums of money into it so that games will always continue to be played there, especially at the highest level.

The latest Tail to be scripted at Dungarvan’s Fraher Field took place last night (Sunday September 1) where two neighbouring sides Dungarvan and Abbeyside separated by the width of the Colligan River as it flows into Dungarvan Bay gathered for the last of this year’s County Senior Hurling Championship quarter finals.

The Shandon Road venue is one that is sinfully underused. Yes it might be small compared to many other grounds, but there is great room for development at the site and when people flood in to see a game or even games like they did last night the atmosphere inside the ground can be electric.

Last night the tale at Fraher Field was about two men, two men with the same name, two men playing on opposite sides. For Dungarvan one Michael Kiely lined out in the middle of the field, for Abbeyside the other Michael Kiely lined out in attack.

Michael Kiely for Abbeyside finished the game with 2-4 behind his name on the score sheet. Michael Kiely for Dungarvan finished with half the tally which his name sake finished with.

Abbeyside reached last year’s County Senior Hurling Final for the first time in just over a decade and there was some that were hoping that they could go that step further this year. Dungarvan have not reached the County Final since they lost out to De La Salle at Fraher Field in 2012, and there is some that feel if there is a side that can wrestle the title off Ballygunner who are unbeaten in Championship hurling in the County since losing the 2013 Final to Passage, but if either of these two sides were to meet the expectations of some they would have to get over this game and then advance from a semi final before they play a sixty minute plus county final at Walsh Park next month.

There were no early leavers from Fraher Field on Sunday evening or if they were they were few and far between, and while Dungarvan and hurling was the winner of this game, the real losers were not Abbeyside but those foolish enough to have left the ground early, as they missed a finish not seen in the Déise County since Passage came from seven points down to win their one and only County Senior Hurling Final in 2013.

This was a game that was expected to go right to the wire and the 35 players used in this game did not disappoint.

Little separated the two sides throughout the course of the hour. When Mark Ferncombe netted a third goal for the Village side in the first minute of stoppage time it looked as if last year’s runners up would be advancing to the semi finals, but as we all know no game is over till the referee blows that final whistle, and in the time remaining minutes that followed Ferncombe’s goal there was time for plenty more action.

This was a fine sporting game and it must be recorded that referee Nicholas O’Toole played a big part in this. He could not be faulted in any decision that he made over the course of the hour and when things threatened to spill over on the occasional moment here and there he was quickly in to dissolve the situation and at one point he was overheard telling mentors on both sides that if they were not careful they would be sent to the stand to watch the remainder of the game with the paying spectators. All too often the referee is given out about during and after a game. To blame the referee when things don’t go right for a particular side is often the easy thing to do. Referee’s make mistakes during the course of a game in the same way that players and those on the line make mistakes, yet the latter two are seldom if ever are blamed for losing a game, it always seems to be the referee’s. When a referee has a good game as what Nicholas O’Toole had at Fraher Field it is only right that it is recorded, be it here or elsewhere as referee’s and officials seldom get the praise they deserve.

Abbeyside had a great start to this game as goalkeeper Stephen Enright put over a long range free on three minutes and when Michael Kiely followed up with a goal for the Village side it was not looking good for the Old Boro side.

Gavin Crotty and Michael Kiely swapped scores for their respective sides before Dungarvan hit three points in a row from Ryan Donnelly, Gavin Crotty and Patrick Curran to move to within one of Abbeyside with 11 minutes played. Neil Montgomery extended his sides advantage on 13 minutes and when two minutes later Patrick Hurney had a goal chance it was looking as if it was going to be curtains for Dungarvan but Gavin Power pulled off a good save to deny the Abbeyside man.

Kenny Moore and Ryan Donnolly struck points for Dungarvan before Mark Ferncombe and Gavin Crotty swapped scores at either end. Conor Prunty and Patrick Curran swapped scores with six minutes of the opening half remaining, but Abbeyside would finish the half marginally the stronger of the two sides as Mark Ferncombe and Mark Twomey landed scores for the Village side, but Michael Kiely would get his name on the score sheet just before the break to half Abbeyside’s advantage who went to the dressing rooms holding a 1-7 to 0-9 lead as darkness started to descend on the Shandon Road venue.

Dungarvan took the lead for the first time early in the second half as a brace of points from Ryan Donnelly frees edged them in front eight minutes after the restart. It was a short lived lead however as Michael Kiely levelled matters on 40 minutes and when Patrick Hurney got the ball just seconds later with Gavin Power beaten in the Dungarvan goal he saw his effort come crashing off the crossbar.

Michael Kiely put over a magnificent point from a sideline cut to put his side back in front. At the other end his name sake stood over a free while playing into the Country goal which the umpires waved wide. A large number of children behind the goal were adamant that Kiely’s effort had gone between the uprights as did many in the stand and on the bank opposite. Referee Nicholas O’Toole went into consult his umpires and before they had a chance to reposition themselves it was clear that a point was going to be awarded as the referee noted the score in his note book.

Ryan Donnolly and Neil Montgomery swapped scores before former inter county player Jamie Nagle pointed for Dungarvan after which Michael Kiely pointed at the opposite end. The same player netted a second goal for Abbeyside with four minutes left on the clock as he pulled on a delivery from Patrick Hurney.

Joe Allen goaled at the other end from the restart and Mark Ferncombe pointed as Abbeyside lead 2-12 to 1-14 with four minutes as many were beginning to think that this game would not be decided in the hour allotted under rule.

Ryan Donnolly and Gavin Crotty swapped scores before Mark Ferncombe put a break ball into the Dungarvan net giving his side a 3-12 to 1-16 lead with the hour played. Game over some were thinking, Abbeyside were back in the semi finals.

But Dungarvan had other ideas. A converted Ryan Donnolly free in the first of three added minutes left one between the sides, but they were not finished yet.

When Gavin Crotty played a ball across the Abbeyside goal in the third added minute it caught out a number of players and it was Michael Kiely who appeared to get the final touch beating Stephen Enright putting Dungarvan back in front.

The full time whistle soon followed. Dungarvan’s second goal scorer Michael Kiely was seen falling to the ground removing his helmet and putting his head into the ground. He appeared to feel that his side had fell just short, but the despair in his body language quickly changed when his teammates ran to him their hero of the hour as the Dungarvan players celebrated a huge win.

Dungarvan: Gavin Power; Darragh Lyons, John Curran, Sean Ryan; Jamie Nagle, Kieran Power, Kenny Moore; Michael Kiely, Jack Lacey; Joe Allen, Conor Sheridan, Ryan Donnolly; Cathal Curran, Patrick Curran, Gavin Crotty.

Subs: Kealan Daly for Conor Sheridan (HT), Luke O’Callaghan for Jack Lacey (57)

Scorers: Ryan Donnolly 0-7 (0-6f), Michael Kiely 1-2, Gavin Crotty 0-4, Joe Allen 1-0, Patrick Curran 0-2, Kenny Moore, Jamie Nagle 0-1 each. 

Abbeyside: Stephen Enright; Brian Looby, Evan Collins, David Collins; Darragh McGrath, Conor Prunty, Richie Foley; Maurice Power, Michael Maher; John Hurney, Neil Montgomery, Mark Twomey; Michael Kiely, Patrick Hurney, Mark Ferncombe.

Subs: John Elstead for Evan Collins (23), Michael O’Halloran for John Hurney (44), Tiernan Murray for Mark Twomey (57)

Scorers: Michael Kiely 2-4 (0-3f), Mark Ferncombe 1-3 (0-2f), Neil Montgomery 0-2, Stephen Enright (f), Neil Prunty, Mark Twomey 0-1 each.

Referee: Nicholas O’Toole.

Huge Hurling Weekend in the Déise County

The Waterford GAA County Board are set for some bumper admission fees this week with no few than six huge games down for decision in the Senior Hurling Championship. There is nothing like a local derby game to bring supporters out to shout for their local side especially in a knockout game, a stage of the competition which we now reached.

Four of the six games to be played this weekend are at the quarter final stages of the competition, while two games will see four clubs fighting for all their might to retain their status in the senior grade in 2020, but unfortunately for one, they will drop down a grade in a few weeks time.

Of the six games to be played over the next 48 hours no fewer than five could be classed as a local derby and with no more second chances available to any side, and with every score like winning the lotto jackpot it is envisaged that a number if not all of the games this weekend will go right to the wire.

While three games will be played on both Saturday and Sunday, just one of the four quarter final games will be take place on Saturday and what a game that could prove to be as neighbours Ballygunner and Passage the last two winners of the championship (Passage in 2013, Ballygunner each year since 2014) do battle at Walsh Park in a game that is expected to attract a big attendance.

Passage last weekend had a worthwhile workout against Tallow in the first round knockout games which will stand to them this coming weekend, but they will not need any telling that if they are to advance here they will have to up their performance considerably on last weekend’s game if they are to reach the last four.

Ballygunner this year are seeking to win a rare sixth final in a row in the Déise County and it really is theirs to lose in the eyes of many supporters in the Déise County. Things were fairly straight forward for them in the group section of the competition, but they will know that it is from now that things will start getting serious.

On Sunday afternoon there is just the one game down for decision at Walsh Park where neighbouring clubs De La Salle and Roanmore do battle.

Ideally the County Board would have loved to play the two games in Walsh Park this weekend as a double header, but their hands were somewhat tied behind their backs this weekend.

With no lights at Walsh Park the County Board and with other events on this weekend the fixture makers were forced to go with two separate games. Had they gone for a double header on Saturday because the annual Tony Forrestal Competition is on it Waterford this Saturday the county board would not have wanted to clash with the latter rounds of this competition so were forced to give Saturday’s game a 3pm throw in. If they were to go with a double header it would mean that De La Salle and Roanmore would have had a 1pm or 1-30pm start and with such an early time you to start a game on a Saturday afternoon you would have to wonder how many people would show up to see the first game.

The county board’s hand were also tied for a double header on Sunday with the All-Ireland Football Final on TV at 3-30. While some will say they have little or no interest in what will be happening at Croke Park, it is possibly fair to say that a sizeable amount of supporters of Gaelic Games will be watching this game to see can Dublin become the first side to win five titles in a row or will Kerry stop them in the same way Offaly stopped their great team winning five titles in a row back in 1982.

Of course the option was there for the county board to play the games between Ballygunner and Passage as well as De La Salle and Roanmore under the lights at Fraher Field on Saturday evening, but if this was to happen the amount of people giving out about four city teams travelling to the West of the County for the games would be even greater than those that are giving out about the games not forming a double header in Walsh Park.

Sunday afternoon’s game in Walsh Park is also likely to draw a good attendance to the Keane’s Road venue.

De La Salle topped Group Three of in the round robin section of the competition where like Ballygunner in group one, they finished with maximum points after recording wins over Lismore, Passage and Ballyduff Upper. In those three games De La Salle put up some impressive tallies if they were able to repeat this in the knockout stages of the competition who is to say that they won’t end the year as County Champions for the fourth time.

Roanmore are always a very difficult side to beat and they could well prove that to be true in this game. They had an outing against Ballyduff Upper last Saturday evening where they looked early in the game that they could win the game by a big margin but in the end some would suggest that they were somewhat lucky to win the game by the two points which they did, and if they were to turn off for any length of time here it could cost them dearly against a dangerous De La Salle side.

If Walsh Park has big numbers passing through the turn styles on Saturday and Sunday afternoon, the attendance inside Fraher Field on Sunday evening for a double header could be the biggest the venue has seen in some time.

Mount Sion qualified for the quarter finals of this year’s championship when they saw off the challenge of 14 man Clonea at Walsh Park on Sunday afternoon last. While they are not as strong as they were in the past, they are still a side that should never be underestimated.

They played in a tough Group Two in the group stages of the competition where they recorded wins over Roanmore and Fourmilewater which will give them confidence going into this game.

Lismore since coming back up to the senior grade after a year in the Intermediate ranks where they proved to be the best in Munster at that grade have done well and have put up some good scores in this year’s competition and will take some beating as they contain a nice mixture of youth and experience.

Both sides in the County Senior Hurling league also had very respectable results even if both sides missed out on qualifying for the knockout stages as they both finished in mid table positions in opposite groups, but it should be pointed out that they done this without key players.

The final game of the weekend could well prove to be a massive battle between two sides of the River Colligan as it flows into Dungarvan Bay.

The meeting of Dungarvan and Abbeyside is sure to attract a huge attendance to the Fraher Field, where not only will there be a place in the last four for the winners, but there will also be the bragging rights for some weeks to come for supporters of the winning side.

Last year’s runners up qualified for this stage of the championship by virtue of winning group two of the round robin section of the competition where they had wins over Mount Sion and Fourmilewater and in their final game had a draw against a Roanmore side that are never easy to beat.

Dungarvan were in a very tough group one which contained the reigning champions Ballygunner who they lost out to in the second series of games on a 1-18 to 0-14 score line. In their other two games they had wins over Tallow and last year’s intermediate champions Clonea, but four points was not good enough to give them a place in the last eight of the championship automatically as they had to play Fourmilewater in a first round game last Sunday evening which they won 1-27 to 2-13.

So which four sides will advance to the last four and the semi final draw after the fourth quarter final game on Sunday evening?

One thing that I feel is that all four games could well prove to be close games and I for one would not be surprised to see at least one of them go to extra time and maybe even having a replay arranged to see who advances to the last four.

But there has to be a winner and putting my head on the block I am opting for Ballygunner, De La Salle, Lismore and Dungarvan.

Meanwhile the two relegation playoff semi finals will take place at Fraher Field on Saturday afternoon and are again local derby games.

The meeting of Cross Comeragh Mountain sides Clonea and Fourmilewater is first up. 

Clonea came up from the Intermediate ranks last year and while nobody would have expected them to make great headway in the senior ranks this year most would agree that for them to retain their senior status would be a good year for them and to build on that.

Fourmilewater are not having a great year this year finishing bottom of the pile in their group in the round robin section of the competition and last weekend they lost out to Dungarvan at Fraher Field. It should be pointed out however that they are having a horrible year with injuries to key players.

The players on both sides will know each other quite well having played against each other on a number of occasions in recent years, but in football so for them to play against each other in hurling will be a bit of a rarity.

On paper Fourmilewater are the stronger of the two sides, certainly are the more experienced of the two at this level which you would think should stand to them, but Clonea have some quality players. Fourmilewater would be the fancied side to win, but if they are unable to field their strongest side, then you would have to give Clonea a major chance of winning.

The second semi final sees neighbours Tallow and Ballyduff do battle.

Both sides would have seen the other play at Fraher Field on Saturday evening last and it is hard to know what they think after doing so.

Ballyduff against Roanmore looked a pretty poor side in the first half but stayed in touch thanks in no small part to the free taking of Eoghan Murray, but they also know that early in the game he did not have his eye on things and missed a number of placed balls effort.

Tallow in the first half of their game against Passage looked quite good for a game against a side that most would not have given them a chance in, but they never really showed up for the second half and that will be a worry to their management team.

The way that Ballyduff came back at Roanmore in their game will give them plenty of hope going into this game and if they can show the same fight as they did late on in that game then you have to give them a chance here.

Tallow in the second half against Passage did not look like a senior side and if they played as good as they did in the first half last weekend they might not be involved in this game.

So who will win and who will have one more chance to retain their senior status next year. Something is telling me that in the first game even though they have had their injury worries this year Fourmilewater should have that little bit on Clonea. All too often we have seen the side that came up from intermediate drop back down after one year. Will the same happen this year?

In the second game things could be very close. On paper Tallow look to have the stronger panel and if they are able to call on a full strength side then they should survive.

There is plenty more action in both divisions this weekend.

            Four games were played in the west of the county this evening. Colligan advanced to the semi finals of the Junior A Hurling Championship when they beat Geraldines at Dungarvan while over the road in Fraher Field Kilrossanty had a 2-19 to 3-9 win over Tourin which will go down as a shock to many, but a result predicted to me this evening by a very knowledgeable hurling supporter. In the Intermediate Hurling Championship Ardmore had a 3-18 to 3-15 win over Ballinameela at Fraher Field, while in the junior ‘C’ Hurling Championship in Stradbally Abbeyside had a 3-10 to 2-8 win over neighbours Kilgobinet.

In the east of the county the semi finals of the junior ‘A’ Hurling Championship were played. At Walsh Park Ballydurn proved too strong for Mount Sion winning 3-11 to 1-10 while in Dunhill Tramore had a 4-13 to 1-12 win over Ballygunner.

Tomorrow (Saturday) there is a number of games are down for decision. Up west in the Intermediate Hurling Championship Stradbally play Brickey Rangers at the Dungarvan Club grounds at 2pm while there is a double header in Fraher Field where An Rinn take on Modeligo at 6-30pm followed by the meeting of Clashmore and Cappoquin 90 minutes later.

In the eastern half of the county the first of the quarter finals in the Intermediate Hurling Championship will be played at Kill where there is a double header. First up at 4-30 is the meeting of De La Salle and Portlaw which is followed at 6pm by the meeting of Dunhill and Erin’s Own.

On Sunday the remaining two games quarter finals in the eastern intermediate hurling championship will be played. Ballygunner and Ferrybank clash at Ballybeg at 11-30pm and later in the evening neighbours Ballyduff Lower and Butlerstown clash at Walsh Park for a 6pm start.

Two games are down for decision in West Waterford on Sunday. In the Junior ‘B’ Hurling Championship An Rinn take on Ballyduff Upper in Lismore for a noon start followed by the meeting of Shamrocks and Ballysaggart in the Intermediate championship at 1-30 at the same venue.

Camogie in Waterford Is On the Verge of Some Big Days

If you are a regular follower of what I have to say on both my social media pages and on my blog page, then you will know that a great deal of what I put on those pages has to do with the G.A.A. and in particular to the Ladies games of Ladies Football and Camogie.

I love both of those games and it is a wish of mine that more people were interested in the games. My aim in reporting as much as I do on both games is to try and get more people interested in both games and more importantly in going to see our different county teams in Ladies Football and Camogie and indeed the club scene. My only regret is that I cannot put more on both games on my social media and blog pages than I actually do.

Ten years ago I was approached by the then Sports Editor of the Munster Express newspaper Jamie O’Keeffe asking me if I was interested in writing for the paper. At the time I had just given up working as a school secretary at Saint Mary’s Touraneena National School after 15 and had no real plans to do anything for some while, but when the chance arose to do some writing for a local paper I knew I could not turn it down.

At first I was told what games needed to be covered, but over the weeks and months that followed after me being asked to write for the paper I began to work on my own instinct and began to attend games that I was not asked to report on, mostly Ladies Football and Camogie games and brought with me my note book, biro and stopwatch to take some notes, formulate  reports and sent them off in an email and left it up to others as to whether there was room for it in the paper.

On more occasions than not my reports were used and I knew from talking to some that they were being read as one or two might have pointed out some small mistakes that I might have made, which were often maybe someone changing a jersey number that was not announced and scoring meaning that I might have given the score in my report to the wrong person.

At the time the recession had kicked in, and newspaper editors and owners had to make some tough calls, reducing the numbers of pages in their newspaper, or making stories shorter in a bid to cut down on printing costs. This meant extra work for the editors as I am someone that has often been told that when I sit at a computer keyboard and start hitting the keys that I forget to stop pressing them and what I often sent very lengthy match reports.

Then something struck me. I had been following a few different people on twitter that had their own blogs. I looked at a few different ones and decided that I would set up one, one that I felt I could easily upload stuff on, where space would not be an issue when it comes to reporting on what I saw at games allowing me to put together some lengthy reports.

Ladies football was no problem to me when it came to reporting. I was watching games from the time I was in national school myself in the mid 1980’s when Mrs Anne McGrath a teacher in Touraneena was encouraging girls to play football, watching them train under her at break times I therefore had felt I had a good knowledge of the game, its rules and its history as I began to attend club games and county games over the next twenty years or so.

Camogie to me was a different story. Although there was a Camogie Club in Touraneena when I was growing up, I seldom if ever went to see the women of the parish playing. There was no Camogie played in the school in Touraneena and when I went to secondary school in Cappoquin the girls that were interested in sports mostly played Basketball or Volleyball with one or two occasionally getting involved in a game of soccer with the boys.

In the 80’s and 90’s for me the local papers were the two Dungarvan papers, the ‘Leader’ and the ‘Observer’ and through no fault of their respective owners or the journalists that worked for them there was little or no Camogie coverage in them each week, meaning that the majority of people in West Waterford unless you were involved in a club knew little or nothing about the game of Camogie or what was happening in the county.

For me that would all change in the early part of the current centaury. Waterford won the 2003 All-Ireland under 16 ‘B’ Final, beating Armagh in the final at Port Laoise. Some brilliant young were part of that team, players like Aisling O’Brien, Charlotte Raher, Jenny Simpson, Emma Hannon, Áine Lyng, Trish Jackman and Laura Buckley while not knowing there were clearly players that we had to look out for in the future.

Aisling O’Brien was someone that I would have known a little about. I had seen her playing in goal in a number of West Waterford Primary School games with Aglish playing with the boys’ teams. On many occasion she was the difference between her side winning and losing a game as she would pull off some impressive saves. When tongue in cheek I would ask a side made up of seven or nine boys how they lost to a team with a girl in goal, the answer was often that they could not try their hardest on her, they did not want to hurt her. The truth in fact was different. Those same boys could not find a way past her while she was in goal.

There was still no Camogie played in Touraneena but that would soon change. One day two girls Niamh Walsh and Maighread Barron told me during their lunch break that they were bored while I was out around the yard watching different groups of children play. They asked me could they get two hurleys. I told them where they knew where they were but to get two helmets if they were getting hurleys. I went off and got them a small plastic sliotar to hit around between them.

For a few days the sliotar was asked for, and as more girls saw them hitting a sliotar between themselves more girls wanted to join in. ‘Jesus we are useless, we can’t even hit the ball fecking right’ they told me, but I told them to keep at it and as the days went on, there was an improvement there to be seen. A few weeks later they were asking me could I get them entered into the different competitions just as the boys were in hurling. Seeing that there was an appetite amongst them to play I said I could not see a problem and said it to the teachers in the school. I told them that I felt they were improving every day they played and therefore it was agreed they could play in the Mini 7’s and in the West Waterford Primary School’s league. In both competitions the girls reached the final of both competition, but were to lose out in both.

Thanks to Niamh and Maighread asking me could they play with two hurleys and watching them play I began to get hooked on the game myself and get interested in the games.

When I began writing for the Munster Express I began to attend National League games played in Dungarvan writing reports for the paper and on my blog on what I saw. The first game I attended was a National League game against Wexford’s second string side where I was very impressed with a very young Lorraine Bray who was lining out for Waterford and pointing out that she had a very big future in the game.

I would have loved to have attended the All-Ireland Junior Finals of 2009, 2019 and 2011 which Waterford were involved in, but the Waterford County Board in their wisdom at the time decided to pencil in Club games the days that all three finals were played, and I was needed to cover them.

After coming up from the junior grade I saw the Waterford team play a number of times in both league and championship and was delighted to be in Croke Park when they won the Intermediate title in 2015 beating Kildare in the final.

After Waterford reached and won the under 16 All-Ireland Final in 2003 new clubs began to spring up around the county. Young players right across the county began to see what could be achieved with hard work and determination if they played the game.

Some great people got involved at administration and coaching levels. Nobody felt after winning one All-Ireland that the hard work was done, the greatest mistake made by so many counties. There were some that felt that this was only the start for Waterford and for Camogie in the County.

Success followed for Different sides. Some excellent underage teams were put together. The best of these players from 2003 were brought onto the Waterford Junior team, some of whom would play in between one and three All-Ireland Finals in a three year spell.

Success at Junior grade saw Waterford move up to the intermediate grade and over the next three years Waterford reached three All-Ireland Semi Finals in a row, clearly showing that the hard work was paying off. But those involved in the development of the game in Waterford were not resting on their laurels.

A new group of brilliant underage players were put together and some of them were part of the Waterford Intermediate team that won the 2015 All-Ireland Final at Croke Park, meaning that Waterford were now going to be playing in the Senior grade and would also be competing in the top division of the National League after they won the Division Two title again in 2015.

For a year or two playing against the top teams staying there was going to be seen as progress for Waterford. In 2018 Waterford appointed Cappoquin man Donal O’Rourke as team manager to the senior team. Under him they narrowly missed out on a place in the semi finals of the league (score difference was used to decide if it would be Waterford or Limerick) and later in the year they reached the All-Ireland Quarter Finals where they lost out to Tipperary in Cork.

This year Waterford again reached the All-Ireland Quarter Finals where with five minutes to go against Galway in Thurles they were well in contention for a semi final appearance.

The current senior panel is a brilliant group of players, but nobody will be able to sit back and think that they are assured of a place in the team or even the panel. Coming along is another brilliant group of players.

Last year Waterford won the Munster Minor ‘A’ championship beating a very fancied Cork side in the final and this past week saw Waterford’s under 16 team win the All-Ireland ‘B’ title beating Limerick in the final.

This year saw some of the best players from last year’s minor team make their way onto the senior panel and no doubt there will be some on this year’s under 16 team that could be brought in for a run with the seniors next year if not the year after, where they will be challenging for a place not just in the panel but on the starting team. It would not be a surprise to see some of last year’s minor team not involved this year with the seniors get a call up for the experience of training with and playing against some of the best players in the country. Others no doubt will be involved with the counties junior team.

Camogie is a game that is going from strength to strength in Waterford. The fact that Waterford which has one of the smallest number of clubs in the country are able to field Senior and Junior teams on the Inter County front speaks volumes about the quality of personnel there is over the game in Waterford, the quality of people that are working in coaching and more over about the numbers of players there is in the county is able to have two adult teams as well as numerous underage teams including more than one at some grades.

I have no doubt that Camogie in Waterford right now is in a very good place. Previous success’ at underage and even adult levels has got more and more girls interested in the game, and I have no doubt that the successes of the under 16 and minor teams will get more girls in areas where players came from interested in the game, hoping that they can someday soon replicate what their friends have done. The same hopefully with the success the county senior’s have had. Twice in the last two years they have played live on RTE television, something that can only have got young girls thinking out the game of Camogie and dreaming that one day it could be one of them that we will be seeing on our TV screens in the years to come.

I have no doubt that nobody involved in Waterford Camogie will think they are assured of success in the years ahead because they have had success in recent years on the underage front and the seniors reaching an All-Ireland quarter final would be seen as success.

Some great days are around the corner I feel for Camogie in Waterford, bigger days than we have experienced in recent years. The next hope for the seniors would have to be to reach an All-Ireland semi final and even an All-Ireland Final. To win in Croke Park would be absolute fantastic, but for now let’s work on getting the team there first.

Every effort has to be made to keeping the players from the under 16 and minor teams in the last two years for as long as possible. The idea of a junior county team should not be just about keeping them involved but to try and get them into the senior team. It would be brilliant to think that with the players Waterford have on the underage scene in recent years that Waterford’s junior team could become an intermediate team and that Waterford could play against second string sides from the likes of Limerick, Cork, Kilkenny, Galway and Wexford in the Intermediate grade, and not just to play against them but to rival them for silverware.

There is some brilliant club sides in Waterford, some are new clubs, others are around a while that are producing some good young players. They have to be encouraged to keep at what they are doing, producing players to play on the different underage county teams.

I for one am glad that I began to attend Camogie games in the last number of years and looking out for young players that might have a future in the game and watching their progress up through the grades.

One of my aims in writing reports on Camogie games firstly for the Munster Express, then my blog and in more recent times for all of the local papers is to try and get more and more people interested in the game of Camogie and attending games. Each time I write a report if it means just one person that has not attended a game of Camogie in their life or who might not have attended for some time turns up and see some very skilful players it will be worth it.

In the last number of years I have seen the numbers of people attending Camogie games, especially at inter county level start to rise. There is still a long way to go of course to have attendances to where I and others would love to see them. Will we see a day when the All-Ireland Finals at Croke Park will be all ticket affairs? I for one would love to think they would, but it might take a few years yet, but things are moving in the right way to having that happen.

Camogie in Waterford is moving in the right direction. If you need proof, make it your business to start going to see some games. Keep an eye on the social media pages of the County Camogie Board. Its officers are doing great work in trying to promote the games and give details of the games as they come up. Keep an eye out on the social media pages of the different clubs in the county. There is some great people there too that are doing great work to try and get people to games.

Those that follow the game in the county won’t need any telling that Camogie in Waterford is heading in the right direction and could well be on the crest of a wave. Hurling in Waterford will always be the favourite game for most sports fan’s and few will need any telling of the commitment that is made by those that play it, especially those at the highest level on the inter county scene.

But it must never be forgotten that while for now Camogie receives less coverage than what hurling gets, the commitment of the players and those tasked with developing the game is the same as what the county hurlers put in and sometimes it could be said to be even higher.

I for one think Waterford are very close to big days in the years ahead, and I hope that I will be present to see them as they happen. The question I would love to ask, will you be there as well?

Waterford Are All-Ireland under 16 Champions for a Fourth Time

Waterford are All-Ireland Under 16 ‘B’ Camogie Champions for the fourth time after they recorded a comprehensive win over Limerick at MacDonagh Park in Nenagh on Sunday afternoon.

Heading into this final the suggestions were that both sides were able to put up big scores and it proved as Róisín Hartley’s side once more put up an excellent tally on the scoreboard while at the other end of the field the Waterford backs proved very difficult to break down.

The Waterford management team were forced to make one change from their semi final win over Carlow as Sarah Maher had to sit out the game as a result of picking up a straight red card at Freshford. Gailltir’s Laoise Forest moved from centre back to full back for this game in place of her club mate, with Modeligo’s Mairead O’Brien moving from wing forward to the number six position and Abbeyside’s Aoibhinn O’Grady coming in from the bench to play at wing forward.

Centre forward Alannah O’Sullivan finished the game as Waterford’s top scorer once more in this game with eight points behind her name. The Gailltir club player had four frees and a successfully struck ’45 in her overall tally while Waterford’s goals came from Áine O’Neill, Rhona Drohan, Alisha Flynn and Kelsie Obanya.

There can be no disputing that in Waterford’s previous All-Ireland wins at this grade some very good players were produced who went on in the years that followed played at a much higher level with the county and there can be no disputing that on this occasion there will be members of this panel who will go on to have a part to play on much bigger occasions.

On a day were Mairead O’Brien and Alannah O’Sullivan in key positions proved to be Waterford’s most telling players, it was the Gailltir player that opened the scoring with a converted 45 in the opening minute and she added a second score before she laid the ball off to Rachel Walsh who crashed to the Limerick net for Waterford’s first major score of the game.

Nadine White pointed from a free for Limerick, but this score was cancelled out with another Alannah O’Sullivan score at the other end of the field, again from a free with ten minutes played.

Limerick struck for their only goal of the game when a long range Nadine White free was plucked out of the air by Megan Walsh who turned and gave Elena Gallagher in the Waterford goal no change.

The goal however failed to ignite a Limerick side who were finding the going tough against a strong Waterford defence, as Waterford followed up with a brace of scores from Alannah O’Sullivan.

Nadine White pointed once more for the side in green but it was quickly cancelled out with a score from Aoibhinn O’Grady and it was quickly followed up with a second Waterford goal as the Modeligo pair of Mairead O’Brien and Rhona Drohan combined, as the latter got in behind the Limerick backs to catch a long free from O’Brien and she struck sweetly to beat Ciara Mulqueen.

Two more scores from the brilliant Alannah O’Sullivan gave Waterford a 2-8 to 1-2 lead with the break approaching.

Limerick missed a number of chances from placed balls to close the Waterford lead but it was Alannah O’Sullivan that opened the second half scoring. In a low scoring third quarter Ella Hession pointed for the side in green for the quarters only other score as Waterford remained comfortably in front.

Waterford’s third goal came from Alisha Flynn following a brainstorming run. Áine O’Neill followed up with a point for the Déise Girls and when Kelsie Obanya whipped in Waterford’s fourth goal in what was a brilliant display by the Déise girls.

WATERFORD: Elena Gallagher; Dara Fitzgerald, Laoise Forrest, Helen Connolly; Aoife Hartley Mairéad O'Brien, Maeve Sheridan; Áine O'Neill, Kelsie Obanya; Aoibhinn O'Grady, Alannah O'Sullivan, Ellen Boylan; Alannah McNulty, Rhona Drohan, Rachel Walsh.

SUBS: Alisha Flynn for Rhona Drohan (37), Natasha Dobbyn for Aoibhinn O'Grady (49), Caoimhe Forrest for Laoise Forrest (55), Ruth O'Regan for Alanna McNulty (58), Chloe Power for Helen Connolly (60).

SCORERS: Alannah O'Sullivan 0-8 (4 frees, 1 '45'),  Áine O'Neill 1-1, Rhona Drohan, Alisha Flynn, Kelsie Obanya 1-0 each, Rachel Walsh, Aoibhinn O'Grady 0-1 each;

LIMERICK: Ciara Mulqueen; Leah Twomey, Clíodhna Ryan, Áine Herbert; Máire Butler, Emma Kennedy, Niamh Moloney; Nadine White, Aoife Nelligan; Fiona Herbert, Teresa Dore, Ella Hession; Sinéad Barry, Megan Walsh, Olivia Kearns.

SUBS: Alice O'Callaghan for Sinéad Barry (HT), Laura Stokes for Fiona Herbert (57)

SCORERS: Megan Walsh 1-0, Nadine White 0-2 (2 frees), Ella Hession 0-1.

REFEREE: John Horgan (Cork).