We are already into the first full week of
October so its time to name the person that has impressed most in women’s sport
from Waterford over the past month.
In previous months, the name of the person
that impressed most was kept to the last few paragraphs of the piece published
here, with a number of people involved in different sports named throughout the
piece before this.
This month I’m going to make changes.
September was a great month for sport in
Waterford. For a side from Waterford to win one All-Ireland was great. For two
sides from Waterford to win All-Ireland’s was magic.
For both the Waterford Intermediate Camogie
and Ladies Football teams 2015 will live in the memory of many for a long time.
Earlier this year both sides contested league
finals. The Camogie team won theirs beating Laois at a wet Dr. Cullen Park in
Carlow, while the Ladies Football team despite putting in a good showing
against Sligo, they had to settle for second best at Parnell Park in Dublin.
While every team likes to win competitions in
the first half of the year, it’s what happens in the championship that teams
are best remembered for.
And to see both the Camogie and Ladies
Footballers end their year running out from under the Cusack Stand on
All-Ireland Final day was no major surprise as both Sean Fleming (Camogie) and
Pat Sullivan (Ladies Football) both in their first season put together
excellent panels, made up of experience players that they had inherited from
their predecessors and some of the exciting young prospects that they had
worked with in recent years on the underage scene.
And just as it was no surprise to see both
sides end their years at Croke Park, it was no surprise either to have seen
Caithriona McGlone in Camogie and Linda Wall in Ladies Football, lead their way
up the steps of the Hogan Stand at the end of an hours players with big
Waterford support inside the ground on both days sending them up the steps with
a massive roar.
For the Camogie Final, conditions on the day
were very much like the day of the league final four months earlier and some
were wondering could it be an omen.
Waterford had finished second best at G.A.A.
Headquarters for two years running before they won the Junior All-Ireland in
2011, and they had exited the Intermediate Championship at the penultimate
hurdle in their first three years playing in the second tier, but heading to
Croke Park most knew that there was something special about this years team and
many felt that their would be no slip ups this time about.
Waterford started the game as the favourites
with five minors in their starting fifteen, after they had beaten the
Lilly-whites on two other occasions this past year.
Waterford appeared to be a little nervous at
the start of the game.
As a result Kildare raced into an early 1-2
to no score lead, the goal coming on three minutes as Noelle Earley hand-passed
past Deirdre Brennan after the Butlerstown net minder lost her hurley in an
attempt to clear the sliotar just before the goal was scored, after which
Melissa Lyons and Emer Reilly put the sliotar between the uprights.
But Waterford recovered from been further
behind with less time to play in their semi final win over Meath and the
experience of doing so stood to them here.
A brace of Beth Carton points were followed with
efforts from Lorraine Bray and Jennie Simpson and not long after Shona Curran
who made an impact after coming on as a sub against Meath, made a similar
impact here as just before the break her delivery was caught by Aisling Power
who had only one thing on her mind and she made no mistake as she gave
Waterford a 1-4 to 1-2 lead at the break.
Two minutes after the restart there was more
for Waterford supporters to celebrate about as when a 20 metre free was
awarded, Beth Carton spotting a gap in front of the Kildare goal sent a low and
hard shot in the slippery conditions straight to the Kildare net for a second
Waterford goal.
The goal from the brilliant De La Salle Club
player was like driving the final nail in the Kildare coffin.
The Lilly-whites never recovered from that
score. They landed just three further scores in the remainder of the game, two
from the stick of Susie O’Carroll, one of which was a free the other from
Melissa Lyons.
Waterford despite the slow start was for the
best part of the game were always the better team. They finished the game as
strong as they were up to this point.
Lorraine Bray with a brace, Trish Jackman
from a free, Nicola Morrissey and Niamh Rockett all added points to Beth
Carton’s early second half goal to seal a 2-9 to 1-5 win for Waterford, one
which Waterford were full value for.
Coincidently, its worth recording here as it
has been in a few places already that Lorraine Bray wrote herself into the
history books in this game, as the Melleray teenager became the first woman to
score at Croke Park with the aid of Hawkeye.
If Waterford’s All-Ireland Camogie Final win
was good for Waterford, the same could be said of the Ladies Footballers win
over the same county.
Just like the Camogie team, the Ladies
Footballers in the last few years had gone so near.
2015 saw Waterford win the Munster
Intermediate Final for the seventh year in a row, with many of the side
involved in either six or seven of these wins.
But while there was no shortage of
Intermediate Munster Medals in the panel, there was a scarcity of Adult Grade
Inter County All-Ireland medals.
But this year the Waterford panel travelled
to the game intent on putting that to right.
Waterford on the day were magnificent,
running out winners with 13 points to spare (3-14 to 0-10).
The Waterford forwards caused the Kildare
backs all sorts of problems.
Maria
Moolick opened the scoring for Kildare after just 15 seconds but within 12
minutes such was Waterford’s dominance the game was over as a contest.
Aileen Wall
quickly cancelled out the opening score for Kildare and it was followed with
points from Sinead Ryan and Maria Delahunty before Ellen Dowling knocked over a
second score for Kildare.
The first
goal of the game came on 12 the first goal of the game came the way of the
brilliant Aileen Wall and after this there was no turning back for Waterford.
Four more
points for Maria Delahunty and one further score for Aileen Wall followed for
Waterford before the break with responses from Ellen Dowling, Grace Clifford
and Róisín Byrne meant that Waterford returned to there dressing room under the
Cusack Stand at the break holding a 1-9 to 0-5 lead.
Kildare
opened the second half with a Mikaela McKenna point.
Waterford in
the second half sent on Michelle Ryan very early in the half for Mary Foley and
the Ballymacarbry player made a massive impact.
She pointed
shortly after coming on and although it was cancelled out shortly afterwards by
a Maria Moolick effort, Waterford continued to be the better of the two sides.
Michelle
Ryan again pointed which was cancelled out with a brace from Róisín Byrne.
Sinead Ryan
and Maria Moolick swapped points before
Michelle
Ryan on of the great servants of the game finished to the net for a second
Waterford goal with time ticking down and it was followed with a point from
another fantastic servant – Elaine Power.
Late in the
game Aisling Holton received a yellow card meaning that Kildare were going to
end the game with only 14 players, and with a numerical advantage Waterford took
advantage of the situation as Aileen Wall finished with a late goal for
Waterford bringing her total for the afternoon to 2-2.
Just as in
the camogie game with Lorraine Bray becoming the first female player to score
with the aid of Hawkeye, history was made in this game as the Murray sisters,
Emma, Aoife and Katie became the first triplets to win All-Irelands at Croke
Park.
In both
games Waterford players were the winners of the official Player of the Match
award – Lorraine Bray in Camogie and Karen McGrath in Ladies Football and it
would be easy to pick as the player that impressed most in September.
It would be
easy also to pick the two respective captains – Caithriona McGlone in Camogie
and Linda Wall in Ladies Football.
But both
Waterford wins were team wins and there is no ‘I’ or ‘U’ in the word team.
In previous
months, one person was picked out as the person that impressed most but in a
month where there was two team wins, its only right not to pick one win out
over the other and name both the Waterford Intermediate Camogie Team and the
Waterford Intermediate Ladies Football team as the person or person that
impressed most in the month of September when it comes to Ladies Sports in
Waterford.
For the
record, the full panel for both games was as follows:
Camogie:
Deidre Brennan (Butlerstown), Kate McMahon (Butlerstown), Claire Whyte (Saint
Anne’s), Vikki Falconer (Butlerstown), Charlotte Raher (Saint Anne’s), Jennie
Simpson (Saint Anne’s), Iona Heffernan (Ferrybank), Trish Jackman (Gailltir), Lorraine
Bray (Cappoquin), Caithriona McGlone (Lismore), Nicola Morrissey (Lismore),
Beth Carton (De La Salle), Aisling Power (Cappoquin), Niamh Rockett (Saint
Anne’s), Dawn Power (Dungarvan), Brianna O’Regan (De La Salle), Becky Kavanagh
(Saint Anne’s), Claire Murphy (Saint Anne’s), Sibeal Harney (Saint Anne’s), Shona
Curran (Lismore), Valerie O’Brien (Roanmore), Molly Curran (Brickeys), Saoirse
Bonner (Saint Anne’s), Orla Flynn (Clonea), Elizabeth McGrath (Butlerstown),
Jenny McCarthy (Cappoquin).
Ladies Football:
Katie Hannon (Ballyduff Upper), Megan Dunford (Abbeyside), Karen McGrath
(Ballymacarbry), Karen McGrath (Ballymacarbry), Linda Wall (Ballymacarbry),
Emma Murray (Comeragh Rangers), Elaine Power (Tramore), Michelle McGrath
(Ballymacarbry), Louise Ryan (Ballymacarbry), Mairead Wall (Ballymacarbry),
Hannah Landers (Ballyduff Upper), Maria Delahunty (Abbeyside), Aileen Wall
(Ballymacarbry), Mary Kate Morrissey (Na Déise), Sinead Ryan (Ballymacarbry),
Mary Foley (Abbeyside), Ciara Kearney (Ballyduff Upper), Aoife Murray (Comeragh
Rangers), Gráinne Kenneally (Ballyduff Upper), Shauna Dunphy (Comeragh
Rangers), Nicola Fennell (Stradbally), Michelle Ryan (Ballymacarbry), Nora
Dunphy (Comeragh Rangers), Kate McGrath (Kilrossanty/Brickeys), Aoife Landers (Saint
Patrick’s), Caoimhe McGrath (Abbeyside), Katie Murray (Comeragh Rangers), Emer
Scanlon (Saint Patrick’s).
