U23 All Ireland Championship 2nd Round
Kilkenny 0-13 Waterford 1-8
By Aoife Lanigan, PRO
After suffering defeat in the 1st Round of the U23 All Ireland Championship, Kilkenny bounced back by getting the better of a determined Waterford in Round 2
A strong second half performance did the trick for Kilkenny, who worked hard to get the better of the Deise side
Waterford opened the scoring at John Locke Park with a point from Ciara Sherlock before Roisin Kirwan doubled their lead with a pointed free
Emma Mulhall led the Kilkenny reply, scoring a great point for Kilkenny, despite being surrounded by Waterford defenders
However, Waterford then hit three unanswered points from Roisin Kirwan (2f), to go into a 0-5 to 0-1 within 12 minutes on the clock. Kilkenny then got back into the game when they hit a scoring run of their own, the Cats rattled off three unanswered points through Keara Ryan, Katie Brennan & Rachel Dowling (f) to leave just a point between the teams
At that stage the game seemed to be on a knife edge but, heading towards the half time whistle, Roisin Kirwan got in for a goal for Waterford. It was a huge score, leaving the Deise with a 1-5 to 0-4 lead at the break
Whatever was said in the Kilkenny Dressing Room at half time worked as the Cats upped their game on the restart
Rachel Dowling got the revival going, slotting over a free after she was fouled before Laura Phelan scored a great point, after she ran at speed towards the Deise goal with the opposition trying to catch her
Kilkenny kept pushing on and by the 47th minute were all square (0-8 to 1-5) when Keara Ryan split the posts
Both teams battled it out for supremacy, but neither could shake their rivals off. Onelia Whelan & Roisin Kirwan (45) grabbed scores for the Deise and Rachel Dowling (f) & Amy Brennan hit back for Kilkenny
Then with the game in the melting pot, Ellen Gunner put the homeside ahead with a pointed free in the first minute of injury time, Waterford wouldn’t go down without a fight though, Laoise Forest equalised for the visitors a minute later
Kilkenny had the momentum behind them and with time running out, they took a decisive step. Awarded a free on the stand sideline, Ellen Gunner remained ice cool to raise the white flag. Now they had the lead they refused to let it go, sub Rose Kelly cementing their advantage, when she slotted over a point to give the homeside a two point win
Kilkenny will be hoping to continue their good form when they play Tipperary in the third round of the Championship on Saturday June 14
Scorers – Kilkenny – Rachel Dowling 0-3 (3f), Keara Ryan, Amy Brennan 0-2 each, Ellen Gunner 0-2 (2f), Emma Mulhall, Katie Brennan, Laura Phelan, Rose Kelly 0-1 each
Waterford – Roisin Kirwan 1-5 (3f, 1 45), Ciara Sherlock, Laoise Forest, Onelia Whelan 0-1 each
Kilkenny – Sinead Farrell, Hannah Larkin, Laoise Nolan, Sofia Kerr, Caoimhe Carroll (Captain), Tara McGrath, Aisling Browne, Laura Phelan, Emma Mulhall, Keara Ryan, Rachel Dowling, Ellen Gunner, Lauren Ronan, Katie Brennan, Amy Brennan
Subs – Rose Kelly for Katie Brennan, Amy Cody for Rachel Dowling, Katie Byrne for Lauren Ronan, Rachel Moloney, Katie Ryan, Eabha Carroll, Maire Claire O’Dwyer, Muireann Gannon, Julie Lennon, Eadaoin Coady, Emma Poyntz, Anna Doheny, Niamh Holohan, Grace Barcoe, Ciara O’Keeffe
Waterford – Hayleigh Acheson, Alex Healy, Faye Murphy, Aoife Murphy, Kaci Brazil, Laoise Forest, Jane Landers, Onelia Whelan, Ciara Sherlock, Rachel O’Brien, Roisin Kirwan, Clodagh Landers, Kelsie Obanya, Rhona Drohan, Mia Delaney
Subs – Vickey O’Sullivan for Rhona Drohan, Alyssa Farrell, Ruby O’Neill, Niamh Hally, Hannah Hamilton, Aoife Hartley, Katelyn Lyons, Niamh Ryan, Layra Buckner
Referee – Donnacha O’Callaghan, Limerick
By PRO Thu 5th Jun
