Count Down is on for All Ireland Semi-Final for Lismore

Count Down is on for All Ireland Semi-Final

Preparations are well underway in the west Waterford Club of Lismore who are preparing for the All Ireland Club Semi Final takes place in Charleville Co. Cork at 2.30pm on Sunday, February 1^st.  Lismore are up again very tough opposition in Oranmore/Maree Camogie Club of Galway.

Lismore created history last year in capturing the All Ireland Intermediate Club Camogie final and are now are attempting to achieve back to back All Ireland titles.  A two in a row All Ireland is a very difficult feat.

Lismore were pushed to the limit to get out of Waterford this year, when they met St Anne’s  in the Senior Camogie County Final, 21st September in Fraher field.   St Anne’s really pushed Lismore to the pin of their collar but the experience of 2014 really stood to Lismore in the dying minutes and they managed to edge out a win by the narrowest of margins – final score was Lismore 1-07 St. Anne's 0-09. 

And so the journey began again…….

Munster Semi Final - Next up was the Munster Intermediate Club Semi-Final, this took place on 26^th October and their opponents were Borrisoleigh of Tipperary whom had home advantage.  Borrisoleigh had made club history earlier that month by winning their first ever intermediate club championship hence Lismore again held the tag of favourites. Borrisoleigh were well up for this game scoring 1-1 within the first couple of minutes, Lismore held their nerve though and Aoife Hannon was very much on song with her free taking and with 20 minutes to go Lismore edged ahead.Half time score saw Lismore ahead by 7.  If anyone thought the game was over, they were grossly wrong. The Borrisoleigh camogs came back out in the second half and made sure that had to dig deep to get the win – the final score was Borrisoleigh 2-09 to Lismore 2-12.  Lismore had qualified for the Munster Final, the dream to win back to back All Ireland titles was still alive….

Munster Final - The Munster Final saw Lismore up against Sarsfields of Cork - Lismore who were going for their fourth Munster Title and as defending All Ireland Champions were going into this game as favourites 

From the throw in of the ball the Lismore girls were on the attack and were threatening the Sarsfields back line and it only took 5 minutes before Cathriona McGlone had the Sarsfield net rattling, which she followed up with another point only two minutes later – Lismore were on form. Although Sarsfields did regain their composure however there was never any real doubt about the end result and when Ruth Geoghan scored the 2^nd goal half way through the 2^nd half – it was game over. Final Score - Lismore 2-7   Sarsfields(Cork) 0-5

The "Trixie Toomey" Cup was presented to the Lismore Captain Shona Curran for it's fourth year. Prior to this presentation the Player of the match was announced which was presented to Centre Back Shauna Kiernan.  Indeed, the same Shauna Kiernan could have a big role to play on Sunday against Oranmore/Maree.

 Player Profile – Shona Curran – Lismore Captain

Name:         Shona Curran

Club:           Lismore
Position:     Midfield

Sporting Achievements:  4 senior county titles, 4 Munster club titles, 1 club all-Ireland. I've been lucky enough to represent my county in Camogie and Ladies Football for the last few years!

Most memorable moment: Definitely winning the all Ireland with my club - extra special as we have all played together for so many years and had been knocking on the door for a while.

Favourite GAA Player: Very tough one!  Tony Browne - great hurler and the service he gave to his club and county for so many years while not getting the success he deserved.

Advice to Young Players: You only get out what you put into it. Whether it's Camogie, school or work, it's all about the effort you put in yourself!

Influence of Camogie on your life: Cliche as it sounds, Camogie has been a huge part of my life and has opened so many doors for me! I've made some of my best friends, from club, county and college through Camogie. It's a great social outlet and can be a brilliant break from work or study

Ashbourne Cup – Camogie News

The Third-level camogie competitions got underway in earnest yesterday as the opening rounds of the Ashbourne and Purcell Cups took place with Waterford players in action in both competitions.

In the Ashbourne Cup, UCC and WIT played out a draw, 3.5 to 1.11 in the Mardyke. Although WIT started the better, two goals within a minute in the middle of the first-half saw the home side surge ahead and take a 2.2 to 0.7 lead at the break. A similar trend continued in the second half as WIT raised the white flags, but a third UCC goal arrived to tighten the margin. The sides continued to exchange points and although WIT held a one-point lead with time almost up, a free in the last puck of the game resulted in a share of the spoils.

Niamh Rockett operated in the half-forward for the home side and struck over an excellent point in the first-half from distance. Rockett drifted into space on a number of occasions with her aerial prowess and ability to distribute possession to the inside-line catching the eye. The skill and focus of  Patricia Jackman was on show again, she converted 3 free’s for the WIT side. 

Vikki Falconer (Butlerstown) captains WIT this season and gave an accomplished display at corner-back, picking up Cork's Katrina Mackey for the majority of the encounter. With the sides finishing level, the group is very much wide-open, and both sides will face DCU in the coming fortnight, with two teams advancing to the championship weekend. WIT will host DCU at 7pm in the WIT Sports Campus next Tuesday, January 27th.

Purcell Cup

Meanwhile, in the Purcell Cup, Mary Immaculate College had a comprehensive victory over NUI Maynooth yesterday in Limerick. Having held a comfortable lead at the break (1.7 to 1.2), the Limerick side extended their advantage to run out 2.14 to 1.5 winners. Fiona Morrissey (An Rinn) captained the side from centre-back, with Jenny McCarthy (Cappoquin) also lining out at in the Mary I rearguard. With an influx of talent this season, Mary Immaculate College are expected to challenge strongly for honours at the Ashbourne/Purcell weekend, a weekend which will also see a celebration of the the 100th Ashbourne Cup Competition.

Waterford County Camogie Board need your financial support.

Waterford Camogie Fundraiser

 On Saturday 31st January the Waterford Camogie County Board are holding a fundraiser at Kilcohan greyhound track which we hope that all clubs will support. Waterford camogie had an extremely successful year in 2014 but funding the various County squads is expensive and we need the support of players, their families and local business to help us continue the excellent work that is occurring.

Clubs will be issued the tickets at the next county board meeting.

Why not make this event a club social event so that players, coaches and Waterford supporters can get together and celebrate what camogie in Waterford achieved in 2014 while helping us prepare for the playing season ahead. Advertisements in the program are still accepted and cost €40 for a quarter page, €60 for a half page and €100 for a full page.

 

Lismore Camogie Team

Best wishes to Lismore Camogie team that are preparing to defend their All Ireland Intermediate Club title. They play Oranmore/Maree from Galway in the semi-final on February 1st. .

 

Mercy Secondary Camogie Team

Congratulations to the Mercy Secondary School camogie team that won the Munster Junior D title last Saturday in blustery conditions at Passage GAA grounds against Loretta from Fermoy. Although trailing at halftime the team went onto win the title by 2-03 to 1-02.

 

Level 1 Coaching Course

A Level 1 Camán Get Hooked Coaching Course will take place on February 6^th, 7^th and 14^th at a West Waterford venue.

The course is open to all coaches who have completed a foundation course over 12 months ago and are involved with underage club teams.

The course runs from 6pm-10pm on Friday February 6^th, 9.30am-5pm on Saturday February 7^th and 9.30-5pm on Saturday February 14^th.

The cost is €40 per persons in 2014.

Waterford Intermediate Ladies Football team kick off the new season.

The holidays are over and it’s back to the grindstone for the Waterford Intermediate ladies football team who open their campaign with a home match in the Kennedy Cup against Limerick, the team they beat in this year’s Munster final. This will also be the first match for the ladies under the new manager Pat Sullivan. It is a very early start in the year for the team but with the new league campaign just around the corner the girls will relish getting in some match practice before they face last year’s All Ireland Junior champions Wexford in the first round of the league in early February.

Limerick in the Kennedy Cup, will be a good test and both management teams will use the game to experiment and try out some new players and these two teams invariably provide a close contest for each other .They met twice in last year’s championship with Waterford prevailing on both occasions. In the Munster final we saw an exhibition of sharp shooting in the first half by the Déise girls when fifteen scoring chances resulted in fifteen points. This however is a new season and both counties will be out to improve on the disappointments of last year. Limerick will be buoyed by the success of the Murroe Boher club who won the All Ireland Junior club championship in emphatic fashion early in December.

This match is a hard one to call and much will depend on the various line outs put out by both management teams. Throw In for the match which will be Waterford’s only home game in the Kennedy Cup competition takes place at 7:15 pm on Wednesday night 7^th January in the Dungarvan GAA grounds at 7:15

Waterford’s other Kennedy Cup fixtures are as follows:

Wednesday 14th Jan UCC V Waterford at 8pm in UCC

Friday 16th Jan UL V Waterford at 7:30 in UL

Sunday 25th Jan Mary Immaculate College V Waterford at 1pm in Mary I

Season's Greetings

Christmas Greetings from Waterford Camogie

After the eventful season of camogie that we completed in 2014, we are all looking forward with anticipation to 2015. The fixtures that were released last week means that some of the county teams will be back training as soon as 2015 starts and we wish them well in their respective competitions.

The Camogie County executive would like to take this opportunity to thank all clubs, members, coaches and player's families for all their help during the season and to wish them our best wises during this festive period.

Seasons Greetings

 

Seasons Greetings

On behalf of the County Board, I would like to wish everybody connected with Ladies Football in the county, a Happy Christmas and a successful New Year.Thanks to our generous sponsors who helped us financially during the last year. Many thanks to our friends in the media for all their help and co-operation in 2014.

League and Championship Fixtures announced.

The fixtures for the 2015 season were issued this past week.  Some teams are back in action from February so lots of preparation required between now and then. The following are the fixtures:

 

Irish Daily Star National League

The Waterford team will play in Division 2 of the Irish Daily Star National league and will be playing against Down, Kilkenny, Cork, Meath and Tipperary.

Dates of Waterford games are as follows:

Round 1 on Sunday 22^nd February    Home to Tipperary

Round 2 on Sunday 8^th March           Away to Cork

Round 3 on Sunday 15^th March         Away to Meath

Round 4 Sunday 22^nd March             Home to Kilkenny

Round 5 Sunday 5^th April                   Away to Down (Easter Sunday)

Semi-final on 19^th April

Final on 3^rd May

 

All Ireland Minor A Championship

After the success in 2014 of winning the ‘B’ All Ireland, this year’s team are playing in the ‘A’ Division and will play against Limerick, Offaly, Galway and Dublin.

Dates of Waterford games are as follows:

Round 1 Weekend of 21^st/22^nd Feb      Away to Offaly

Round 2 Saturday 28^th February           Away to Galway

Round 3 Saturday 21^st March                Home to Limerick

Round 4 Saturday 29^th March                Bye

Round 5 Saturday 4^th April                     Home to Dublin

Semi-final on 18^th April

Final on 25^th April

  

Liberty Insurance All Ireland Intermediate Championship

After having featured in the last three All Ireland Intermediate semi-finals and being beaten by the eventual winners on the last two, we are hopeful that the team can excel this year.

The 2015 All Ireland championship sees Waterford in a Group with Tipperary, Kilkenny, Kildare and Antrim.

The fixtures for the 2015 All Ireland championship are as follows:

Round 1 Saturday 4^th July          Home to Antrim

Round 2 Saturday 11^th July       Bye

Round 3 Saturday 18^th July        Away to Tipperary

Round 4 Saturday 25^th July        Home to Kilkenny

Round 5 Saturday 2^nd August    Away to Kildare

Semi-finals 22^nd/23^rd August

Final    13^th September

 

U16  All Ireland Championship

Continuing to show the rise of popularity in Waterford of camogie, we are in a position to enter two teams at the U16 Grade due to playing numbers. One team will compete in the B section while the other will compete in the C section.

 

This B section team are in a Group with Cork, Antrim and Dublin.

Saturday 19^th July                               Home v Dublin

Saturday 26^th July                              v Antrim (halfway venue)

Sunday 2^nd August                             Away to Cork

 

This C section team are in a Group with Cavan, Donegal, Carlow, Roscommon and Kildare

Round 1 on Saturday 4^th July            Away to Roscommon

Round 2 on Saturday 11^th July          v Donegal (halfway venue)

Round 3 on Saturday 18^th July          Home v Kildare

Round 4 on Saturday 25^th July          Away v Carlow

Round 5 on Saturday 1^st August       Home v Cavan

 

Best wishes to all player and management of these teams and hopefully 2015 will be as rewarding to Waterford camogie as 2014 has been.

Waterford's Camogie Year reviewed.

2014 - A remarkable Year for Waterford Camogie

Looking back at 2014 and the activities and titles that Waterford Camogie were involved with can only be described as remarkable. When preparing this article, individuals, club teams and the various County teams won a combined total of seven All Ireland titles, as well as one Munster title. This success can be attributed to dedication of clubs, mentors and players at the different grades and one which we will hopefully build on into the 2015 season. There is no doubt of the optimism for the future of camogie in Waterford and the standard that Waterford teams can achieve. There is certainly no shortage of material to write after an action packed year.

All Ireland Title No. 1

Lismore Camogie Club won the first All Ireland title of the year when they beat Ballyhale Shamrocks in the All Ireland Intermediate Club Championship after a replay. Lismore had to come from behind in the first match played in Croke Park in early March to eventually win the re-match on a score of 3-08 to 0-07 when the match was played at the Clonmel Sportsfield.

All Ireland Title No. 2

Our Minor team won the All Ireland ‘B’ title when they beat Derry at the end of April by 4-06 to 0-02 having previously lost to Derry in the Group stages.

All Ireland No. 3

The Waterford U16 team won the All Ireland ‘B’ title. After finishing runners-up to Cork last year, the team went one step further this year when they beat Derry in the final on a score of 6-17 to 3-05.

All Ireland Title No. 4

Patricia Jackman has excelled at the Poc Fada held each year in the Cooley mountains and 2014 saw Patricia win her sixth consecutive title at this event.

All Ireland Titles No. 5 and 6

Gailltir camogie club won the ‘B’ section of Feile for the second year running while De la Salle won the Feile Plate in the ‘C’ section.

All Ireland No. 7

The Waterford U14 team completed the seventh title when they won the U14 All Ireland blitz held in Dublin in September.

Munster Title

The U16 team retained their Munster ‘B’ title when they beat Cork in March.

Adult County Team – A  Review

The 2014 season saw the appointment of a new manager of the adult team. The person tasked with guiding the team through the 2014 campaign was Niall O’Donnell, the former Ballygunner player who won three Senior County titles and a Munster Senior title with his adopted club and had won inter-county titles at Minor, Intermediate and U21 with Cork. The previous two seasons had seen the Waterford Intermediate team reach two All Ireland semi-finals but were beaten narrowly on both occasions and the team were eager to take one step further at least this year. Before the championship there was the matter of the league to compete in.

League Campaign

Waterford competed in Division 2 of the Irish Daily Star sponsored league and played against Cork, Meath and Kildare. This league was always going to be a difficult campaign due to the involvement of so many regular players with the Lismore camogie team who were contesting the All Ireland Intermediate Club championship. And so it proved, with the team losing all three matches but the performance of the available players and especially the younger players was promising.

16^th March 2014         Waterford 0-10          v          3-08 Meath                 Venue: Walsh Park

23^rd March 2014         Kildare 0-15                v          2-08 Waterford          Venue: Johnstownbridge

6^th April 2014              Waterford 1-06          v          1-13 Cork                    Venue: Bushy Park

Munster Senior Cup

After winning the Munster Intermediate Cup in 2013, Waterford entered the Munster Senior Cup for the 2014 season. On the Bank holiday Monday in May, the team travelled to ‘The Ragg’ (outside Thurles) to face the Tipperary Senior team. At the midpoint interval Waterford were trailing by two points by 0-07 to 1-02. Unfortunately, Waterford could not narrow the gap and the match ended up Tipperary 1-12 to Waterford’s 2-07 with Waterford Scorers on the day were Trish Jackman (1-02), Karen Kelly (0-03), Lorraine Bray (1-0), Nicola Morrissey and Shona Curran 1 pt each.

A great display by the team when facing a Senior graded team showing the skill level and player potential of this team.

2014 All Ireland Championship

The 2014 Liberty Insurance sponsored All Ireland Intermediate Championship saw Waterford in a group with Meath, Cork, Kilkenny and Wexford with the matches played in June and July.

21^st June 2014             Meath 1-07                 v          1-09 Waterford          Venue: Rathmoylon, Co. Meath

28^th June 2014            Waterford 4-13          v          2-08 Cork                    Venue: Carriganore

5^th July 2014                Kilkenny 2-09              v          1-06 Kilkenny              Venue: John Lockes Park, Callan

12^th July 2014              Waterford 1-13          v          0-04 Wexford             Venue: Fraher Field

The Waterford team had a solid performance through the championship eventually finishing runners-up to Kilkenny. The Waterford performances over the entire Championship had ensured that the team progressed to the All Ireland Intermediate semi-final against Limerick who topped the other Group.

This match was played on 16^th August in Carlow and in a tight encounter, the Limerick side were eventual winners on a score of 0-09 to 0-08. Limerick went on to win the All Ireland beating Kilkenny in the final.

Since Waterford won the All Ireland Junior title in 2011 and being promoted to Intermediate grade we have contested three successive All Ireland semi-finals losing to the eventual winners in the previous two years. Consistent results such as these can only be achieved by a committed group of players, mentors and backroom staff that want the camogie standard in Waterford to improve. 

The results achieved in 2014 for all our teams shows that the talent and commitment is there and with this belief we look forward to the 2015 season.

Over the next couple of weeks we shall continue the 2014 review of camogie in Waterford at underage and adult level.

Waterford Camogie Fundraiser

A major fundraiser for Waterford County teams into 2015 is being organised for January 2015. We are hosting a race night in Kilcohan Greyhound Stadium on January 31st and the we are seeking sponsorship for the match program. Any assistance from businesses or individuals would be much appreciated and all funds raised from this event will be used directly to prepare the various county teams. Please contact Waterford Camogie Treasurer John Flood on 087-6684474 for further details. There will be further information on this important upcoming event over the coming weeks.