Waterford Under 16 Ladies Reach All Ireland Final

Waterford Under 16 Ladies Football team has qualified for the All Ireland Final with a last gasp one point victory over Ulster champions Monaghan in Clara GAA grounds on Wednesday last. The game played in excellent conditions was exciting from the start with the Ulster champions taking control playing a brand of football that took them to the Ulster title. Playing into a slight breeze the Waterford girls were rocked by the intensity of their Monaghan opponents and found themselves eight points down after 10 minutes with two goals scored by Monaghan full forward Hannah Sherlock. It was indeed to be 12 minutes before Waterford registered their first score, a point from Aoife Fitzgerald to lift Waterford spirits. This encouraged a tentative Waterford attack and with points from Sheena Mc Guckian and Kelly Ann Hogan Waterford slowly edged their way back into the game and by half time there were only three between the teams with Monaghan leading on a score line of Monaghan 2-3 Waterford 0-6.

Early in the second half Monaghan got another goal courtesy of corner forward Gráinne Tibby but great credit is due to the Waterford girls who kept plugging away at what seemed to be a lost cause. The Waterford crowd erupted in the 23^rd minute when Aoife Brazil was on hand to finish a move to the net to narrow the gap to three points Monaghan 3-8 Waterford 1-11. In the remaining minutes of the game Waterford took over and a barrage of points, four in all pushed Waterford in front for the first time in the game in the 6^th minute of stoppage time. Waterford had to endure another 2 minutes of play in which Monaghan laid siege to the Waterford goal in an attempt to snatch an equaliser but the Waterford defence held firm and a historic victory was recorded with Waterford coming out on top by a solitary point on the final score Waterford 1-15 Monaghan 3-8.

This was a good solid result for a very determined Waterford team against top class Northern opposition. Waterford had to dig deep in both halves, in the first to get back into contention and in the second to eke out a fantastic victory. The Waterford back line after a nervous start got their act together with goalkeeper Rosie Landers and half backs Tao Behan and Mary Kate Curran really impressing. In midfield Kelly Ann Hogan and Keeley Corbett Barry took control and ensured that the forward line got a plentiful supply of possession to convert into the all important scores. Up front the forwards after coming to grips with the Monaghan style of defending got some very good scores. Aoife Brazil got the vital goal and Aoife and Annie Fitzgerald also made excellent contributions. In the corner Sarah Lacey chipped in with points at the vital time and Sheenagh McGuckian scored a great early point and really kept her composure when picking out Aoife Fitzgerald with a 40 yard pass to enable the Gaultier girl to get the winning score.

This was a great team performance and manager Johnny Troy was pleased with the overall result. He is well aware that there is room for major improvement in all sectors of the field as the team prepares for a battle-royale against Kildare who also had a late, late win over favourites for the competition Roscommon. Waterford and Kildare meet in the All Ireland final on Wednesday next 26^th July at a venue to be confirmed and all are hoping and confident that this wonderful group of players will bring the All Ireland title back to Waterford.