Limerick Book Camogie League Semi-Final Place After Nail Biting Draw With Waterford

Limerick reached the semi finals of the Littlewoods Ireland Division 1 Camogie League after playing out a hard fought 1-09 draw with Waterford at Ballyagran on Sunday last.

The share of the spoils means Limerick pip Waterford to the Division 1 semi final place on offer by the virtue of Limerick superior points difference and the Shannonsiders rewards is a Clash with rivals Cork.

Limerick led 1-03 to 0-05 at half time, Limerick goal coming from top scorer Niamh Mulcahy inside three minutes after the lively Rebecca Delee had pointed Limerick in Front. Despite suffering that early body blow Waterford recovered and had drawn level by the 22^nd minute when outscoring their opponents by 0-5 to 0-1. Indeed had it not been for excellent save by Limerick Goalkeeper Laura O’Neill who did superbly to deflect Kaeisha Tobin close range effort over the crossbar Waterford could have easily been ahead at half time.

Limerick looked to have gained a decisive edge when points from Mary O’Callaghan and a Mulcahy free had them 1-05 to 0-5 to the good four minutes in the second half.

However resilient Waterford hit back to edge a point in front 1-08 to 1-07 with a fantastic goal from Kaeisha Tobin with five minutes to go.  Waterford were well on top with Carton, Fitzgerald and Niamh Rockett all dominating. Caoimhe Costello levelled for limerick after a fine run by Sarah Carey.  Aisling Power scored a great point for Waterford levelling it once again. Limerick were then awarded a soft enough free which the ever accurate Mulcahy had no trouble converting. Waterford refused to give up and Beth Carton scored the final point levelling it for Waterford with one minute to go of normal time. However time ran out with the ref blowing it a minute later with no injury time played.

Waterford will take a lot of confidence of this game as a lot of the camogie pundits had wrote them off.  Waterford under the charges of Donal O’Rourke made great progress this season with two wins, two draws and one loss. Next up for Waterford is Munster championship against Cork on April 21^st. This game will be playing in WIT Carrignore.

Waterford: Brianna O’Regan, Mairead Power, Iona Heffernan, Sibeal Harney, Aoife Landers, Áine Lyng, Claire Whyte, Lorraine Bray, Shauna Kiernan, Niamh Rockett, Deirdre Fahy, Fiona Morrissey, Annie Fitzgerald, Beth Carton and Kaeisha Tobin,

Subs: Aisling Power for Fiona Morrissey (36mins) Marie Russell for Whyte (53mins)

Scorers:  Beth Carton 0-07 (0-04 frees 0-01 45’) Kaeisha Tobin 1-01, Aisling Power 0-01.

 Limerick:  Laura O’Neill, Marian O’Connell, Sinead McNamara, Marian Quaid, Caoimhe Costelloe, Judith Mulcahy, Lisa Scanlon, Sarah Carey, Karen O’Leary, Rebecca Delee, Mary O’Callaghan, Deborah Murphy, Megan O’Mara, Aisling Scanlon, Niamh Mulcahy

Subs: Caoimhne Lyons for O Mara 41mins, Dearbhla Egan for Scanlon 51mins, Muireann Creamer for O’Callaghan 57mins.

Scorers: Niamh Mulcahy 1-06 (0-04 Frees) Mary O’Callaghan, Rebecca Delee, Caoimhe Costello 0-01 each.

All Ireland Minor ‘A’ Championship

Waterford Begin Minor ‘A’ Championship with Crucial Away Victory over Limerick

Waterford 0-18 Limerick 3-3

Saturday 24^th Venue: LIT Campus

Waterford opened their Minor ‘A’ Championship with a trip to Limerick on Saturday with the home team hoping to bounce back from an opening day defeat to Clare.  In what turned out to be a physical encounter, the away side were able give the travelling support something to cheer for with some excellent pieces of play throughout while finishing the game in a dominant fashion to run out six point winners. 

Both teams traded points in the opening exchanges with Waterford getting the first score of the game through a placed ball.  Waterford took the game to Limerick from the outset with attacks built from the back with quick interplay evident throughout the team. Waterford had several goal chances but failed to find the back of the net.  Against the run of play Limerick got the first of their goals in the opening half. The Deise girls however kept their heads up and continued to run at the Limerick defence in numbers with Maggie Boylan leading the half forward line with a powerful performance.  

Waterford continued to cause the Limerick defence problems with the quick forward play drawing fouls and punishing them by converting the awarded frees.  Limerick again found the back of the net in similar fashion against the run of play, but yet again Waterford failed to back down and found themselves tacking over some nicely pointed scores with Aoife Fitzgerald and Kaiesha Tobin taking care of the free taking duties going in at half time leading by the slimmest of margins.  0-09 to 2:02.

The second half opened with Waterford putting over four frees with the Limerick defence finding it difficult to hold a very mobile forward line resorting to fouling as a means to stop the Deise girls.  Waterford were led from the back with Mary Kate Curran at centre back commanding that position very effectively while the dynamic midfield partnership of Clara Griffin and Keeley Corbett Barry linking the defence and attack to great effect.  Limerick got their final goal of the game to bring the margin down further going into the last twenty minutes.  Waterford began to introduce players from the bench and that gave fresh impetus to both the defence and attack.  With the strength coming from the bench Waterford were able to finish out the game strongly in what was a very competent performance with the margin of victory six points.

The next step for the minor’s is a home game against Offaly on St. Patricks Day (March 17^th) with WIT’s Carriganore as the venue.

Waterford Team: Megan Foran, Isabella Markiewiz, Shauna Fitzgerald, Aoife Hahessy, Hannah Flynn, Mary Kate Curran, Roisin Dunphy, Clara Griffin, Keeley Corbett Barry, Ciara O Sullivan, Maggie Boylan, Sarah Lacey, Kaiesha Tobin, Aoife Fitzgerald, Annie Fitzgerald

Subs: Clodagh Carroll for Annie Fitzgerald, Leah Sheridan for Aoife Hahessy, Lorna Foley for Kaiesha Tobin, Sally Kelly for Aoife Fitzgerald, Roisin Kirwan for Ciara O Sullivan.

Scorers: Kaiesha Tobin 0-11 (0-09f), Aoife Fitzgerald 0-05 (0-04f), Maggie Boylan 0-02

Limerick Team: Claire McNamara, Michelle Curtin, Kate Ambrose, Aisling Herbert, Eva Butler, Edel Cunningham, Aoife Curtin, Anna Rose Kennedy, Katie Heelan, Shauna Foley, Roisin Ambrose, Eimear Gavan, Ciara Barry, Aoife McMahon, Noirin Lenihan 

Post Primary Senior B Final

Ursuline Waterford vs Colaiste Iosagain Dublin

Saturday 4^th of March

Venue: Conahy Shamrocks GAA, Jenkinstown, Co.Kilkenny  

Best of luck to the Ursuline Waterford who play in the Post primary School final on Saturday next. There are six clubs represented on this team. We would urge all our supporters to come out and support.   

Waterford Under 14 School of excellence

Saturday last marked the end of our U14 School of excellence- and what an experience it was…A really special thank you to all the girls (and their parents) who attended and also a huge thanks to all the club coaches who were crucial in the planning and roll-out of this project.

The skills on display were superb but more importantly skill was equally matched by the positive attitude and sheer determination of each and every girl who participated. Well done to all involved.  The future of Camogie in Waterford is really positive.

Waterford Camogie Office

Waterford Camogie office is opened every day Monday to Friday from 9am to 1PM. Our Office is located in Dungarvan Nissan.  If you have any queries or want to get in contact with us please contact Tanya on 086 8113531 or John Flood on 087 6684474.  You will also find us on Facebook and twitter.

Waterford Camogie Academy proves a Fruitful Venture

BY COLIN BREHENY

The Curtains came down on the Preliminary Stages of a highly successful and popular four week U’14 Waterford Camogie Academy at a bitterly cold WIT Sports’ Arena in Carriganore in front of large crowds of interested spectators on Saturday afternoon last.

“The Beast from the East”, Ireland’s unwelcome Scandinavian visitor over the last few days,  certainly met its match in Carriganore at the weekend where over 100 resilient girls from all four corners of the County served up a red hot feast of A-Rated Camogie over six games, in the face of the biting winds that enveloped the Country.

The day’s proceedings were opened with a confidence building session for the girls, delivered by well-known hurling tutor John Burns, who emphasized the importance of the inclusivity of Camogie for all participants regardless of external factors.

Burns also used the opportunity to invite the girls to share their thoughts on the Academy and the impact it has on breaking down Club barriers and developing common friendships through Camogie.

On the back of six hours of specialised coaching with a range of guest trainers from across the hurling fraternity over the previous number of weeks, Saturday’s games offered coaches the chance to observe the players performing in full scale 15-aside games in their chosen positions.

Tramore Coach, Johnny Dunphy was suitably impressed with the levels of skill on view across all games. “It’s great to see how well players executed the skills of Camogie out there today. Despite the cutting breeze, each and every one of the girls can be proud of their performances. It’s certainly a tribute to the work that is going on at the grass root level back in the clubs that we can have such big numbers of girls competing so well on a day like this”.

On a day where participants, parents and coaches were all given a forum on which to offer their views on how such Academies can best serve Camogie in the County in the forthcoming years, Waterford Camogie Chairperson Ita Murphy emphasized the importance of opportunities like this.

“Days like today are vitally important to the continued promotion of Camogie within our County. Today alone, we have over 100 participants, 16 coaches, a huge number of parents and representatives from Camogie teams all over the County in attendance here. The feedback we glean from across all sectors assembled here will be of utmost important in the future development of such Academies in Camogie”.

Addressing the girls after the session, Sheila O’Donoghue commended the group on their performances, attitude and commitment shown over the past six weeks. “We have an unbelievable amount of talent here in this room and it’s fantastic to see girls mingling freely and developing friendships with peers from clubs across the County. That was the aim of a project like this – providing an experience where girls can go back to their clubs feeling that Camogie is something that they really want to be part of”.

All participants were later presented with their own individual Waterford Camogie training tops. Further trials will take place next weekend at a time and venue to be confirmed, with the Waterford U’14 Intercounty season due to kick off in mid-April.

Clubs will be informed of the next stages of trials via email this week.