‘This is a missed opportunity for Waterford when they reflect on things’
Uachtarán an Chumainn Camógaíochta, Brian Molloy greets the Waterford team before the National Camogie Division 1A League final. Photos: INPHO/David Ribeiro
The Sunday Game panel of Elaine Aylward, Ursula Jacob, and Ann Marie Hayes were of the view that this was a missed opportunity for Waterford to lift their first National Camogie League Division 1A league title after a 0-13 to 0-11 loss to Galway.
Speaking after the game, co-commentator Aylward said: “I think it was a bit of nervousness on both teams, which, from a Galway viewpoint, is unexplainable considering they are the All-Ireland champions. Maybe it was the slow start to the league or the fact of a couple of weeks of a layoff.
“The game really started to get going in the last ten minutes when both teams needed to find a winner. Credit to Galway, they are All-Ireland champions, and they are a team that are able to find a winner whatever way you like.
“You can go through some of the really big names on both sides, but no one player bar maybe Carrie Dolan for her scores, stood up. There was nobody really who dominated that game.
“That will probably be Waterford’s biggest regret when it comes to it. Mairead O’Brien stood up at times, but they needed big performances all over the field. They got them, but they’ve come up against an exceptional Galway team."
Aylward added: “Again it’s Waterford knocking on the door. When they look back on it, they’ll probably regret the amount of possession that they gave away to Ciara Hickey at times. They had to work so hard around the middle of the field.
“They were just so tired that their delivery was straight down the throat of Hickey. She’ll punish you time and time again. They were going from being in a really good position to Ciara Hickey sending Galway on the attack at the far end of the pitch. They won’t be long dwelling on it as they have a championship next weekend.”
Panellist Ursula Jacob said, “The Galway know-how got them over the line in the end. That’s the difference. In those key moments at the end, Galway were able to hold out the Waterford attack and then get the crucial scores.
“It’s a missed opportunity for Waterford because it was there for the taking, but in the end, Galway got the crucial scores. Carrie Dolan again standing tall, Caoimhe Kelly making an impact, but Waterford found it hard to breakdown that defence.
“I think that Galway has that lovely blend of youth and experience. I think that Cathal and his management team will be so pleased with how the league has turned out for them. They got to get so much game time into the panel members.
Galway have come back, and they know how to win the key games at the most crucial times, but this was a missed opportunity for Waterford. When they reflect on it, they’ll see that they got a huge amount of positives from the league.
“They’ve reached another final, which is a positive. They’ll be looking forward to the Munster Championship and hopefully get back to a Munster final. Some of the girls today were outstanding. Mairead O’Brien with good scores, Lorraine in the second-half, and they’ll take encouragement even if they’ll be disappointed.”
Ann Marie Hayes said: “I feel that Galway got the last few scores easier than Waterford were getting there. Carrie Dolan got a couple of great scores, riding the tackle to put the ball over the bar.
“I think that she was the player that did stand up for Galway today. Left or right, she is a great player. Caoimhe got two cracking points for Galway when she came on, so she’ll be delighted with herself.
“I think that Galway has a great professionalism that they bring to it. They get the best out of the players. For Waterford, I think that they had a lot of overlapping of play, which was too tight.
“They needed to play the ball longer and quicker because they have good forwards inside, but I always felt that Galway were going to get away from them. To put Lorraine Bray in the halfback line in the beginning was a crazy move for me.”
