Waterford Ladies footballers made up for the heartache
suffered in their last two appearances in Croke Park when they recorded a
memorable win over Kildare in the TG4 All Ireland Intermediate final. Played in
beautiful weather conditions the Deise girls showed heart, character and an
ingrained desire to win to defeat a strong Lilywhite team who had been
operating at senior level last year. In a whirl-wind opening sequence, Kildare
drew first blood with a strong penetrating run by midfielder Aisling Holton led
to a point being scored by full forward Maria Moolick in the 16th
second. Waterford’s reply was instant with Aileen Wall tearing the defence to
shreds and scoring a great point. This was followed by a pointed free in the 7th
minute from Sinead Ryan to give Waterford the lead that they would not give up
for the rest of the game. Maria Delahunty kicked the first of her six points in
the 11th minute from a free when the Kildare goalkeeper was
penalised for delaying the kick out. Kildare’s centre forward Roisin Byrne
replied with a point in the 11th minute. Blue and white euphoria
erupted all over Croke Park in the 12th minute when Aileen Wall
scored a marvellous solo effort and rocketed the ball to the Kildare net. Ellen
Dowling cut the deficit in the 14th minute with a point but
Waterford’s reply was quick with a pointed free from Maria Delahunty when
Grainne Kenneally was taken down on the edge of the square. From the kick out
Grainne Kenneally was involved again when she robbed her marker of possession and
fed Maria Delahunty who popped over another point from play. Grace Clifford
kept the Kildare tally ticking over with a point but true to form it was
cancelled out by Delahunty again on the end of a slick passing movement in the
21st minute. Aileen Wall stretched the lead to six in the 23rd
minute and two points from Maria Delahunty followed by a point from Kildare’s
Roisin Byrne meant that the Deise girls went in at half time leading by 1-9 to
0-4.
Kildare opened the scoring in the 3rd
minute of the second half when substitute Mikaela Mc Kenna capitalised on an
error and pointed. Waterford got back in scoring mode in the 10th
minute with a point from substitute Michelle Ryan and Ryan was on hand at the
end of a series of 13 hand passes to finish with a wonderful point in the 13th
minute. Then followed Kildare’s best spell in the match with three unanswered
points to cut the deficit to five with 13 minutes remaining. Sinead Ryan got
another Waterford point following a great run and pass from Megan Dunford with
12 minutes to go. Maria Moolick cut the gap once again with a point but
Michelle Ryan was in impressive form with a point in the 22nd
minute. Michelle won a ball from the kick out and sent the Deise fans into wild
delight when she buried the ball in the back of the net and Kildare’s hopes
rapidly evaporated. Elaine Power burst through the defence to tack on yet
another point to leave ten between the teams. Katie Hannon was then called into
action when Maria Moolick burst through but the Ballyduff girl brilliantly
saved the rocket and kept the Deise net intact. With two minutes to go Aileen
Wall put the icing on the cake and capped a memorable performance for herself
with a wonderful goal top leave the Deise All Ireland champions on the score
line Waterford 3-14 Kildare 0-10. Waterford’s full back Karen McGrath was named
TG4 Player of the Match but in truth there were many wonderful performances
from the Deise girls today. The backs as a unit were solid giving a much
vaunted Kildare attack no clear opportunity on goal. Captain Linda Wall led by
example and was well supported by Megan Dunford, Karen Mc Grath, Emma Murray,
Elaine Power and Michelle Mc Grath. Louise Ryan, Mairead Wall, Grainne
Kenneally and Caoimhe Mc Grath kept a close eye on things in the middle sector
of the field linking well with the forwards and tracking back to ensure no
breaches of the Waterford goal. Mary Foley and Sinead Ryan were instrumental in
setting up many fine scores for Aileen Wall, Maria Delahunty and Michelle Ryan
and the rest of the subs Hannah Landers, Aoife Murray, Nicola Fennell and Nora
Dunphy all played their part in this historic victory. A team is only as good
as the panel members who push them all the way for a starting position and
Ciara Kearney, Aoife Landers, Shauna Dunphy, Kate Mc Grath, Katie Murray and
Emer Scanlon did exactly that.
Congratulations are due to manager Pat Sullivan and
his back-room team of Noel O Connor, Trish Fitzgerald, Gary Collins, Lisa
Cronin, Kealan O Neill and Colin Walsh for the meticulous preparation of the
team. To the wonderful Waterford support both in Croke Park and back in
Dungarvan for the home-coming a massive thank you. You were that 16th
player when it was needed in the second half. The attendance at the Ladies
final was an amazing 31,083 which is a record for any ladies sporting event in
Europe this year. Well done to all concerned, an amazing year for Waterford’s
ladies sport, two under 16 All Ireland titles in Camogie and Football and now
two intermediate titles.
Waterford: K Hannon; M Wall, M McGrath, L Wall; E Power
(0-01), M Dunford, L Ryan; K McGrath, E Murray; C McGrath, M Foley, G
Kenneally; M Delahunty (0-06, 3f), S Ryan (0-02, 1f), A Wall (2-02).
Subs: M Ryan (1-03) for Foley (31), H Landers for S
Ryan (52), A Murray for C McGrath (55), N Fennell for L Ryan (56), N Dunphy for
M Wall (58).
Kildare: R McGuirk; T Hallinan, A Savage, R Reidy; P
Keatley, A Curley, L Furey; A Holton, J Timmins; E Connolly, R Byrne (0-03,
1f), G Clifford (0-01); E Dowling (0-02), M Moolick (0-03), T Duggan.
Subs: M McKenna (0-01) for Clifford (29), R Cribbin
for Furey (39), N Mulhall for Dowling (44), M Price for Keatley (55).
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