Déise devastated as Kerry crush Munster dreams again
An emotional Claire Walsh at ful time whistle
Another cruel Munster final defeat in the cruel Kilmallock heat on Sunday.
Some Waterford players sat in tears under the shelter of the stand as Kerry celebrated out on the field. Others lay flat on the ground before family members came over and consoled them. A second kick of a ball loss to the Kingdom in twelve months. Two points in 2025. One point in 2026.
Five super saves from Player of the Match Mary Ellen Bolger secured three in a row for the green and gold. Clare Walsh, Emma Murray, Lauren McGregor and Laura Cusack were all denied green flags by the Kerry shot stopper. To rub salt into the wounds, Bolger has Ballymacarbry connections! The pick of them came early in the second half when she punched the ball out of Murray's hands just as the Waterford captain went to pull the trigger. Nickie Quaidesque!
In the fifth of six added minutes, with the game on the line, she clawed away a close range Cusack shot at the expense of a 45. Waterford went short in search of an equaliser. Walsh appeared to be pushed in the back but referee Conor McCarthy waved play on. Kerry won the ball back and held onto it until the final whistle went.
Amazingly, Déise skipper Emma Murray flew home from Australia to line out in this final. The 2025 All Star landed back on Wednesday. She took part in pre-season training with AFLW side Geelong Cats earlier this month and missed the win over Tipperary. The club allowed her to travel back for this game and Murray left everything out on the field in another box to box performance. Unfortunately, this will be her last match in Déise colours this summer.
Six goal chances will eat away at Murray and company as will the three second half point chances that went astray. Waterford didn’t capitalise on their numerical advantage either when Niamh Carmody got sin binned. Kerry won that ten minutes by a point and saw a goal by Aisling O’Connell disallowed.
In Factor 50 heat, the City of Limerick Pipe Band led the pre-match parade. From the throw in, it was summer football in the summer sunshine. Three goals and three points arrived inside opening ten minutes. Niamh Carmody raised a white flag after just 50 seconds before Karen McGrath blasted over in response. Niamh Ní Chonchúir cut through the Déise defence in the third minute and offloaded to Leah McMahon who palmed home.
It was end to end stuff as Áine O’Neill glided past green and gold jerseys and passed inside to Kate Murray who buried to the bottom corner. In the tenth minute, Emma Costello got a boot to a cross from Mary O’Connell and rattled the Waterford net (2-1 to 1-2).
Kellyann Hogan hit back with a point off the outside of her right before Mary Ellen Bolger stood tall to deny Clare Walsh at her near post. Maeve Daly drove another goal chance right and wide but Hogan added two frees to Waterford’s tally. The Kerry sideline screamed for a breach to no avail and Bríd McMaugh made it 1-6 to 2-1. Three Síofra O’Shea points (two frees) regained the lead for Kerry as cracks appeared in the Déise kickout. Hogan and Jadyn Lucey swapped frees before Lauren McGregor levelled up a cracking contest in injury time (1-8 to 2-5).
On a baking hot afternoon, it proved hard to maintain that tempo in the second period and the scores didn’t flow as freely. Hogan missed a scoreable free before Bolger made that remarkable tackle on Emma Murray when a Waterford goal looked inevitable. Murray was like a player on a mission after that. She made two turnovers and then kicked her team into the lead. Waterford management were furious that McMaugh got penalised for steps and Kerry ended up with a free which O’Shea converted. Bolger saved a low McGregor shot but Áine O’Neill rescued a point out of the move. The number ten ran herself into the ground.
Niamh Carmody saw yellow with sixteen minutes left but Waterford failed to take advantage. Kerry got back level by the time she returned and could have been ahead as Katelyn Gardner made a diving save from O’Shea and O’Connell saw a goal chalked off.
In a grandstand finish, Bolger blocked a Clare Walsh shot and McMaugh missed a point chance off the rebound. Danielle O’Leary edged Kerry ahead in the last minute of normal time but the drama didn’t end there. Murray slipped Laura Cusack through in the 65th minute but Bolger thwarted Waterford once again with a top drawer save.
Síofra O’Shea 0-5 (3fs), Emma Costello, Leah McMahon 1-0 each, Danielle O’Leary, Roisin Rahilly, Jadyn Lucey, Niamh Carmody 0-1 each.
Kellyann Hogan 0-5 (4fs), Katie Murray 1-0, Bríd McMaugh 0-2, Áine O’Neill, Emma Murray, Lauren McGregor, Karen McGrath 0-1 each.
Mary Ellen Bolger; Roisin Rahilly, Deirdre Kearney, Eilis Lynch; Aisling O’Connell, Emma Costello, Aoife Dillane; Anna Galvin, Mary O’Connell; Niamh Carmody, Niamh Ní Chonchúir, Caoimhe Evans; Jadyn Lucey, Leah McMahon, Síofra O’Shea.
Danielle O’Leary for Lucey (HT), Erica McGlynn for McMahon (50).
Katelyn Gardner; Cora Murray, Laura Mulcahy, Rebecca Casey; Ruby Browne, Karen McGrath, Eve Power; Emma Murray, Áine O’Neill; Maeve Daly, Kellyann Hogan, Katie Murray; Lauren McGregor, Bríd McMaugh, Clare Walsh.
Chloe Fennell for Daly (49), Lia Ní hArta for Power (56), Laura Cusack for O’Neill (60).
Conor McCarthy (Cork)
Five saves in a five star display from Mary Ellen Bolger.
Bolger’s stop from Laura Cusack right at the end.
The PA left a lot to be desired. It was hard to hear the speeches during the presentation.
Waterford will face Armagh and Cork in the group stages of the All Ireland.
