O’Shea points the way for victorious minors

Electric Ireland Minor A All Ireland Championship Round 3

Kilkenny 0-12

Waterford 1-7

By Nicole Kirk, PR Og

March 24^th 2024, A wet and windy day in MW Training Centre Dunmore, saw Kilkenny’s minor A camogie team take on Waterford. Following Kilkenny’s loss to Waterford in last years All Ireland campaign, the Kilkenny Kittens were eager to get a win here.

The ball was thrown in by referee Cathal McAllister and instantly Waterford made it clear they were visiting Kilkenny for a fight by winning the throw in. The response from Kilkenny was immediate as Rachel Phelan burst out from behind her marker at corner back which resulted in a Waterford sideline. The sideline was taken by Waterford but Orlaith Kirwan proved the hungriest of the bunch as she came away with the sliotar and laid it off to Angela Carroll. Shortly after this the first scoring chance of the day was awarded to Waterford as Maggie Gostl took a shot from a placed ball. Gostl hit the post and the ball was collected by Kilkenny’s Rachel Phelan. Phelan handpassed the sliotar to Ciara Dunne who let a long ball down the field to Katie Brennan who converted the first score of the day.

Kilkenny: 0-01 Waterford: 0-00

The Waterford puckout resulted in a Kilkenny line ball taken by Anna Doheny. Doheny took the quick option and let the ball down to Ciara Dunne who missed the target by the smallest of margins. Dunne’s determination was vital to the next play as she overturned the Waterford puckout. A lack of support from her fellow players and being swallowed up by the Waterford defense made it effortless for the Waterford defense to work out the sliotar. From the clearance a ruck formed in the middle of the pitch. Ciara Dunne once again came away with the sliotar and sent the ball in towards Laura Doherty at corner forward. The sliotar broke loose off Doherty’s hurl and was collected by Alex Healy of Waterford. Waterford had some lovely passes and worked the ball the whole way up the pitch. The final pass was received by Molly Kearney who took on the shot. Kearney just misjudged the target, and the umpire waved her shot wide. A quick puckout from Kilkenny’s keeper, Rachel Maloney, proves that the simple plays are most important in camogie. Maloney landed the sliotar down on top of a free Aisling Browne who saw Katie Brennan making a run. Brennan demanded the ball and put over not only Kilkenny’s second point but her second point too.

Kilkenny: 0-02  Waterford:0-00

 

Soon after Waterford’s Ali Ferguson took a dash down the pitch. Bearing down on goal, Kilkenny’s Anna Doheny had no choice but to take one for the team as she swiped the ball from Ferguson’s hand. This resulted in a Waterford free taken once again by Maggie Gostl and this time    Gostl made no error as the sliotar sailed over the black spot. Waterford’s first score of the day.

Kilkenny: 0-02 Waterford: 0-01

Rachel Maloney’s enormous puckout landed just in front of Laura Doherty. Doherty picked the sliotar and landed it on the edge of the square. A ruck formed in front of the goal and there was only one woman for the job. Ciara Dunne swooped in, took the ball from the ruck and picked up a well-deserved score for Kilkenny.

Kilkenny 0-04 Waterford 0-01

Waterford’s puckout landed on top of a huddle of both Waterford and Kilkenny players. Cathal McCallister spotted the push on the back of Ciara O’ Shea. O’ Shea took the free herself and converted her first free of the day.

Kilkenny: 0-05 Waterford:0-01

Waterford’s puck out landed straight on top of Kilkenny’s center back, Anna Doheny. Doheny, cool calm and collected, put her trust in Ciara Dunne as she laid off the sliotar to her. Of course, Dunne made no mistake and scored once again.

Kilkenny: 0-6 Waterford: 0-01

 

It was like Deja Vu of five minutes previous as the Waterford puck out dropped around mid-field and McCallister blew his whistle. This time the free in favor of Waterford. Maggie Gostl dropped the free. The ball lobbed in and Rachel Maloney Handled it as well as she could which resulted in a 45. Once again Gostl stepped up and this time slotted it over the bar.

Kilkenny: 0-06  Waterford: 0-02

Maloney’s puck out was overturned by Waterford’s Holly ‘O’ Sullivan. ‘O’ Sullivan let fly on the sliotar and directed it towards her half forward line. Cathal McAllister awarded a free to the Déise after he claimed to have seen Kilkenny’s Rachel Phelan pick the sliotar off the ground. A change of free taker this time as Eimear ‘O’ Neill stood over the sliotar. The angle proved to difficult for ‘O’ Neill as the ball sailed just left of the post. Maloney’s puckout resulted in a ruck on her own 65. Anna Doheny came away from the ruck with the sliotar and was blocked down by Waterford’s Molly Kearney. Advantage was already with Doheny and she was awarded a free which she took herself. Taken quickly, Aisling Browne collected the sliotar and made a dash down the sideline. Despite Browne’s best efforts the shot was slightly off target. The quick puckout as a result caught Kilkenny off-guard and Waterford had some excellent passages of play up the pitch. The attempt of Molly Kearney just dropped short and Maloney came off her line to swoop up the sliotar but the ball might as well have been covered in grease, it was too slippery because of the rain. Maloney once again put it out for a Waterford 45. The 45 was caught by the ever reliable Anna Doheny and passed out to Rachel Phelan. Phelan was pulled back by her hurl and awarded a free. Waterford’s Eimear O’ Neill overturned the free which was taken quickly by Phelan and laid it off to Maggie Gostl who was then fouled. Gostl took her own free and now there was only a goal between the 2 sides.

Kilkenny: 0-06 Waterford: 0-03

Kilkenny’s puckout was excellently won by Aisling Browne. Browne once again took a dash down the sideline but was swallowed up by the Waterford defense and was pushed out over the sideline. The sideline was taken by O’ Neill and was won by Gostl and once again Gostl won, took and scored her own free.

Kilkenny: 0-06 Waterford: 0-04

Kilkenny’s next score came as a result of a foul on Niamh Davis.  Ciara O’ Shea stood over the placed ball and made no error.

Kilkenny: 0-07 Waterford: 0-04

Although Ciara O’ Shea’s point was the last score of the first half a lot of excitement was built after this. Waterford’s goalkeeper landed her puck out down on top of Ali Ferguson and Caoimhe Power. Power laid the ball off in the direction of Katie Brennan. The pass was just out of reach of Brennan and Waterford were awarded a line ball. From the sideline a score opportunity arose for Waterford but once again the shot from Maggie Gostl was just to the left of the target. Maloney’s puckout started what looked like would have been one last attack for Kilkenny of this half. And once again Kilkenny were on the attack, but not for long. A hungry Waterford defense battled the ball back up the pitch to nobody other than Kilkenny’s Rachel Phelan. Phelan plucked the ball from the skies and directed her pass to Doherty. A nasty tackle on Doherty and the whistle was blown. Once again Ciara O’ Shea stood over the free but this time dropped it short to Katie Brennan. Brennan, bearing down on goal took the shot but goalkeeper, Aisling Bonnar stopped the sliotar in its tracks. After Kilkenny’s final attack Cathal McAllister blew the whistle for half time.

HALF TIME

KILKENNY: 0-07

WATERFORD: 0-04

 

The second half began with no lift in the weather conditions. One sub was made by Kilkenny at half time as Shona Ruane made way for Julie Lennon to make her appearance.  McAllister threw in the sliotar and the second half was underway.  Waterford’s Hannah McGrath came with the sliotar but similarly to the start of the first half her pass was interjected by Rachel Phelan. Phelan put a long ball from corner back to mid field where Anna Doheny collected and won Kilkenny’s first free of the second half. Doheny took her free but there was a sea of white jerseys. Molly Kearney took in the sliotar and let off a down field pass to Niamh Ryan. Ryan took on the shot and despite the wind being in her favor the sliotar dropped wide and was seen out by Rachel Maloney. Waterford’s Molly Kearney proved to be a force to be reckoned with as she won Kilkenny’s puckout and let the ball back in. Kilkenny’s next attack was a free taken by Ciara O’ Shea. O’ Shea dropped the sliotar just right of the post but it was kept in by Doherty. Doherty was eager to get her shot on goal but the push in the back on Waterford’s Alex Healy denied her this opportunity as a free out was given. Aisling Bonnar took the free and let it up the line to a free Emma Fitzgerald who pointed her first free of the day.

Kilkenny: 0-07 Waterford: 0-05

Julie Lennon proved to be a very good impact substitute as she was winning balls left, right and center. Along with this came the free she won after being pulled back following the sideline which she had also won. During the stoppage Kilkenny made another change as Amber Laherty, who was originally on the program to start, came on in replacement of Niamh Davis. Anna Doherty put in the free won by Julie Lennon on top of Lennon in corner forward. Once again The Déise defense swallowed up the Kilkenny forwards. It seemed as if the Kilkenny forwards were 2 against one all the time. Following Waterford’s clearance, they won a free on their own 65-yard line taken by Holly O’ Sullivan. There was a tussle on the edge of the square and a point was scored by Waterford after a missed goal opportunity.

Kilkenny: 0-07 Waterford 0-06

After a long period of play with no score from either side, Kilkenny’s Emily Smith was fouled with a push on the back. Anna Doheny’s free landed short, Ciara O’ Shea picked up the sliotar and laid it off to Dunne, Dunne to Julie Lennon and Julie Lennon makes no mistake and slots the sliotar right over the black spot. The impact sub was well and truly making an impact.

Kilkenny: 0-08  Waterford:0-06

Shortly after, Kilkenny created a brilliant goal scoring opportunity for themselves. It started with Aisling Browne in mid field, Browne to O’ Shea who laid it off to Doherty. Doherty put a cross field ball to Brennan in at full forward. Brennans turn of foot was like one of a ballet dancer but she had made the angle to hard for herself and she missed the target. It wasn’t long before Brennan made up for her mistake as she slotted over a point just a matter of minutes later.

Kilkenny: 0-09 Waterford:0-06

After the score Cathal McAllister allowed for both teams to make substitutions as the arrival of Kilkenny’s Louisa Gilmore saw Caoimhe Power leave the pitch and Waterford’s Katelyn Lyons made way for Rebecca Farrell. A Ciara O’ Shea point several minutes later saw the gap widen to 4 between the 2 teams.

Kilkenny:0-10 Waterford: 0-06

Waterford made another substitution. This time the introduction of Amelie Quanne saw Molly Kearney leave the field of play. From Waterford’s puckout they received a free on the half way line. Gostl, who had been quiet so far in the second half, stepped up and it was clear from the minute she placed the ball she was dropping it in. Gostl shortened her grip and lobbed the ball in and Rachel Maloney dealt with it at ease, batting out the ball to outside her square. On the rebound, Niamh Ryan took her chances and took a shot but Una Duggan, solid as a rock at full back, blocked her down. Despite the best efforts of the Kilkenny defense Waterford’s Eimear ‘O’ Neill snuck in and whipped the ball on the ground into the bottom left hand side of the net, where nobody would reach it.

Kilkenny:-0-10 Waterford: 1-06

Now with just a little over 5 minutes to go and only one point between the teams, it was vital that Kilkenny got the next score. And a free won by Katie Brennan gave Ciara O’ Shea just the opportunity to do that. While O’ Shea prepared herself to take arguably the most important free this match would bring Waterford made another substitute. Holly O’ Sullivan got called to the sideline for Chloe Morrissey to be introduced. O’ Shea once again made no error and showed off her top class free taking ability putting over a vital score just like it was the warm up.

Kilkenny: 0-11 Waterford: 1-06

With 3 minutes to go Kilkenny made the change of Aoife Shealy in replacement of Laura Doherty. While this change was being made a free was awarded to Waterford. But at the same time Rachel Phelan was down injured after an off the ball incident. Thankfully the extent of Phelan’s injuries did not force her off the pitch and she proved a vital part to the last few minutes of play as Kilkenny’s defense were put to the test. 3 minutes to go and 2 points down.             Waterford have no choice only to drop the sliotar short and Maggie Gostl done just that. Aisling Browne tracked the whole way back from wing forward into her own full back line and her journey proved worthwhile as she burst out through the Waterford attackers. Waterford weren’t going down without a fight, and they overturned the play again and went back on the attack. Anna Doheny to the rescue once again but Doheny struggled to pick the slippery ball and the Waterford forwards forced her to put it out for a 45. Tara Roche was introduced for Kilkenny in replacement of Katie Brennan Just as full time was up, but there was still 4 minutes of injury time to be played. Waterford’s Maggie Gostl pointed the 45 to bring the margin back to one point.

Kilkenny: 0-11 Waterford: 1-07

Rachel Malone directed her puckout into the hands of Julie Lennon. Lennon drove the sliotar down the line to space. A race was on. A ruck formed in between the Waterford 45 and 21. Ciara Dunne, like a magician when it comes to rucks, came away with the sliotar in her hand but nearly without a hurl as she was pulled back. Cathal McAllister blew his whistle and with 64 minutes on the clock, Ciara O’ Shea found herself in a very similar situation to about 8 minutes previous. O’ Shea, once again stood up with confidence. O’ Shea, once again put the ball over the bar.

Kilkenny: 0-12 Waterford: 1-07

Despite Waterford’s best efforts to get in one last score Kilkenny had 14 out of 15 players in their own half of the field. No matter what Waterford tried they couldn’t pass the black and amber wall. After giving Waterford one last chance and playing 5 minutes over time, Cathal McAllister blew the final whistle as Ciara O’ Shea came out with the sliotar after a fantastic team performance.

 

FULL TIME SCORE

KILKENNY: 0-12

WATEFORD: 1-07

Scorers – Kilkenny – Ciara O’Shea 0-5 (5f), Katie Brennan 0-3, Ciara Dunne 0-2, Aisling Browne, Julie Lennon 0-1 each

Waterford – Maggie Gostl 0-5 (5f), Eimear O’Neill 1-1, Emma Fitzgerald 0-1

Kilkenny – Rachel Moloney, Rachel Phelan, Una Duggan, Orlaith Kirwan, Caoimhe Power, Anna Doheny, Angela Carroll, Emily Smith, Ciara O’Shea, Ciara Dunne, Shona Ruane, Aisling Browne, Laura Doherty, Katie Brennan, Niamh Davis

Julie Lennon for Shona Ruane, Amber Laherty for Niamh Davis, Louisa Gilmore for Caoimhe Power, Aoife Shealy for Laura Doherty, Tara Roche for Katie Brennan, Jenny Saunders, Lucy Boyd, Ava Dermody, Megan Kenneally, Aoife O’Shea, Michelle Killeen, Jill O’Brien, Ellen Murphy, Molly Conroy, Oonagh Malone

Waterford – Aisling Bonnar, Alex Healy, Anna McGoldrick, Cara Cantwell, Katie O’Neill, Holly O’Sullivan, Abbir Burrows, Hannah McGrath, Ali Ferguson, Molly Kearney, Eimear O’Neill, Katelyn Lyons, Maggie Gostl, Niamh Ryan, Emma Fitzgerald

Rebecca Farrell for Katelyn Lyons, Ameila Quanne for Molly Kearney, Chloe Morrissey for Holly O’Sullivan, Clodagh Alverd, Aine Groves, Aoife Ryan, Caoimhe Walsh, Emily Foran, Emma Walsh, Hannah Godkin, Mya Kelly, Olivia Flynn, Rebecca Mason, Aoife Connelly

Referee – Cathal McAllister