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Irish Examiner
2 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Half-time message was to have no regrets as Cork found way to break down Waterford's defence
Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Senior Camogie semi-final: Cork 1-21 Waterford 1-11 Have no regrets. That was the message at half time in UPMC Nowlan Park on Saturday after hot favourites Cork went to the dressing-room one point in arrears in the Glen Dimplex All-Ireland senior camogie championship semi-final. Courageous Waterford had put it up to them and Beth Carton's 15th minute goal - Mairéad O'Brien the provider - was a big moment in that first half. Cork struggled with the opposition's game plan. Abby Flynn's stoppage time point enabled Waterford to lead 1-7 to 0-9 at the interval. A significantly-improved second half performance led to the three-in-a-row seeking champions carving out a 10-point victory and a highly-anticipated meeting with familiar foes Galway in a repeat of last year's final in two weeks time. 'They set up with two extra at the back and it probably took us a while to figure out how to get our forwards on the ball,' captain Méabh Cahalane explained. 'At half time we discussed that if we ran it through the lines and forced Waterford to come out and defend from higher up, we'd have a great chance. 'Laura Treacy, as our spare player, she kind of dictated the whole thing and was telling who to take who, and once we got our running game going in the third quarter I felt it gave us a great platform going into the final stretch. 'The big thing about sport is, it is always hard when you have regrets. We came in at half time and we felt we would have regrets if we didn't go out in the second half (and perform). There is no game won after 30 minutes, we had another 30 minutes to rectify what we weren't doing right. We definitely needed to bring more energy to our play, get in on the rucks and tackle harder.' With the double header drawing a crowd of 7,120 to the superb Kilkenny venue, the atmosphere was electric. In fact, Mick Boland's side could have had another goal in that period but Carton's brave effort in the eighth minute inched over the bar rather than under. Cork had come off a four-week break and that may have led to some rustiness. They were thankful to prolific attacker Saoirse McCarthy who gave the Rebel support something to cheer about. She had a major influence on the outcome tallying seven points - four in the opening 30 minutes. Incidentally Boland, who lives in Carrigtwohill, coached McCarthy when Courcey Rovers won the Cork senior championship in 2020. Cork were a different proposition after the restart outscoring their near neighbours seven points to two in a wind-assisted 15-minute spell. Katrina Mackey was a late replacement for the injured Clodagh Finn and in her 17th senior inter-county season the Douglas legend struck three points in six minutes. With Cork's defensive structure now in full swing the Déise were beginning to struggle. Yet with 12 minutes remaining, they were very much in the hunt, 0-16 to 1-10. Cork, however, continued to build momentum and influential substitute Orlaith Mullins' stoppage time goal - put through by Orlaith Cahalane - gave the Sarsfields lady a day to remember. She sensationally grabbed 1-2 after being introduced three minutes from time. 'When it mattered we stepped it up,' noted manager Ger Manley. 'We said that to them at half time to step it up and the girls pushed themselves. I thought in the second half they were excellent. 'Will it do for the final? Probably not. But 1-21 is a solid score. 'You have to give credit to Waterford, they worked very hard. They played two sweepers. 'Carton had a great game early on but I think Pamela Mackey was unbelievable on her and Carton is one of the best players in camogie history so both Mackeys, they were excellent. 'Katrina has been injured, we only got her back in the last couple of weeks. She has quality. 'There is huge quality there but you need it all.' Scorers for Cork: S McCarthy (0-7, 0-4 frees), O Mullins (1-2), K Mackey (0-4), A O'Connor (0-3, 0-2 frees, 0-1 45), E Murphy and S McCartan (0-2 each), L Hayes (0-1). Scorers for Waterford: B Carton (1-4), Rockett (0-5, 0-3 frees), L Bray and A Flynn (0-1 each). CORK: A Lee; P Mackey, L Coppinger, M Cahalane (Capt); A Healy, L Treacy, L Hayes; H Looney, A Thompson; E Murphy, S McCartan, E Murphy; O Cahalane, K Mackey, A O'Connor. Subs: C Healy for E Murphy (53), M Murphy for A Thompson, O Mullins for S McCartan (both 57), A Fitzgerald for L Hayes (62). WATERFORD: B O'Regan; A McNulty, K Corbett Barry, V Falconer; B Bowdren, R Walsh, O Hickey; L Bray (Capt), A Flynn; E O'Neill; B Carton, E O'Neill, M O'Brien; A Fitzgerald, N Rockett, K Lynch. Subs: T Power for B Bowdren (40), M Gostl for M O'Brien (46), M Comerford for A Flynn (55), N Ahearne for A Fitzgerald (63). Referee: Gavin Donegan (Dublin).
RTÉ News
3 days ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Cork come good to keep three-in-a-row hopes alive
Cork's three-in-a-row bid continued on Saturday as they came from behind to defeat Waterford 1-21 to 1-11 in UPMC Nowlan Park, setting up an All-Ireland final rematch with Galway. It was death by a thousand cuts for Waterford in the end, with substitute Orlaith Mullins' goal and two points in injury time providing a final flourish for Cork. If ten points feels a little harsh on the Déise, they did need Brianne O'Regan to make two phenomenal saves in the second half from Katrina Mackey, whose three early second-half points sent the Rebels on their way, and Orlaith Cahalane. But the Déise did so much right and no one could say they did not deserve to lead at half-time, by 1-07 to 0-09. Niamh Rockett was threatening but Beth Carton was near unmarkable, scoring a goal and three points from play. Orlaith Mullins put the icing on the cake for final-bound Cork with a goal 📱 📻 — The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) July 26, 2025 They started really well, every pass sticking, winning a lot of the physical tussles, Vikki Falconer and Keely Corbett Barry dominant in defence, where Kate Lynch was an effective sweeper, and the forwards taking their chances. The goal came in the 15th minute, as Mairéad O'Brien shaped to shoot but placed the sliotar on the bas of her hurley and she was away. Suddenly, she had created a two-on-one. From there it was about the pass. It was perfect and Carton approached Amy Lee with menace, before rattling the net. That opened a four-point gap but in the final ten minutes, Cork began to work their patterns, in particular sending the pacey Saoirse McCarthy rattling down Waterford's right flank first and then the middle. The Courcey Rovers flier lofted some lovely scores from play and frees, and Sorcha McCartan had another as Ger Manley's squad drew level but Waterford had the last say via Abby Flynn. Beth Carton caps Waterford's excellent start against Cork with a goal 📱 📻 — The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) July 26, 2025 Cork had the wind in the second half and while that really didn't have any impact on their possession and support style of play, it made it harder to hit Rockett, who cut a more isolated figure up top as the game wore on. Aoife Healy and Laura Hayes helped secure the upper hand around the middle third and by and large, Cork were happy to keep the scoreboard ticking over. Mackey brought her tally to four, Emma Murphy slotted her second after a lightning break, while McCarthy lofted over some scoring points from frees, and an absolute peach from play, a stand-and-deliver drive off the back foot from tight to the left touchline. It was still only a five-point game when Lorraine Bray pointed approaching the hour but then Mullins hit her purple patch, having only come into the game in the 57th minute. Cork: A Lee, P Mackey, L Coppinger, M Cahalane, A Healy, L Treacy, L Hayes (0-01), H Looney, A Thompson, E Murphy (0-02), S McCartan (0-02), S McCarthy (0-07, 0-04fs), O Cahalane, K Mackey (0-04), A O'Connor (0-03, 0-02fs, 0-01 45). Subs: C Healy for E Murphy (53); M Murphy for Thompson, O Mullins (1-02) for McCartan (57); A Fitzgerald for Hayes (60+2). Waterford: B O'Regan, A McNulty, K Corbett Barry, V Falconer, B Bowdren, R Walsh, O Hickey, L Bray (0-01), A Flynn (0-01), E O'Neill, B Carton (1-04), M O'Brien, A Fitzgerald, N Rockett (0-05, 0-03fs), Kate Lynch.
Irish Examiner
07-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
'Back to the drawing board but a monkey off the back' says Waterford's Orla Hickey
Glen Dimplex All-Ireland senior quarter-final: Waterford 2-20 Clare 2-10 Nobody thought ten points was a fair reflection of the action when Liz Dempsey blew the final whistle on Saturday's rip-roaring Glen Dimplex All-Ireland senior quarter-final between Waterford and Clare. The scoreboard read 2-20 to 2-10 in Waterford's favour and the Déise certainly had a number of other goal scoring chances, not least a first-half penalty from Beth Carton saved spectacularly by Rachael Daly. Annie Fitzgerald's major in injury time at the end of the first half, and then the 55th minute goal from the inspirational Niamh Rockett, who finished with 1-11, were key scores in the context of the game after two sensational goals by the always dangerous Clare captain, Áine O'Loughlin had rocked the Déise on their heels. From the start, Clare played at a pace and with ferocious industry that seemed to catch the Suirsiders unawares. They clipped some neat points, got the hooks and blocks in, hunted in packs from the forwards backwards. Flynn's goal gave Waterford a 1-11 to 2-5 interval lead but Clare kept tabs on them and had plenty of goal chances themselves, some last-ditch defending, smart goalkeeping by Brianna O'Regan and astute utilisation of the law of the jungle holding the Banner girls at bay. Rockett's goal after a 1-2 with sub Maggie Gostl put the affair to bed but defender Orla Hickey was in no doubt that more will be needed if the 2023 All-Ireland finalists are to return to the big stage. 'We certainly made it hard for ourselves I can tell you,' said Hickey. 'We'll have to go back to the drawing board on Tuesday when we go back training and start from scratch again.' Manager, Mick Boland agreed and revealed that there were some 'harsh words' during the break. 'They dug it out is the best way to say it,' Boland declared. 'Parts of it were scrappy. Some of it was very good. We created goal chances in the early part of the game, missed a penalty and then all of a sudden conceded a goal and a second goal with two high balls into the square. 'We got the goal just before half time, deserved that bit of luck after what happened before that. The second half was a bit more controlled. We controlled the ball and kept the scoreboard ticking over. 'Let's be very honest, that will win no semi-final. The performance has to go up a lot higher than that. Maybe the quarter final was a good route to take because it gave us that opportunity to play up here, it gives the girls a small bit more confidence. In fairness to Clare, they played very well today. That was one of their best performances of the year I'd say.' 'Annie's goal was very important. It probably came at the right time. There was an awful lot of harsh words (at half-time). They said it themselves. These girls set high standards. They knew that the performance wasn't where it should have been. Hopefully, in the next two to three weeks, that will all come together.' The reference to winning in Croke Park was notable, as it was Waterford's first triumph at HQ since the 2015 All-Ireland intermediate final. 'I think it was a monkey on our back for a while,' Hickey stated. 'We played in Croke Park a few times and we lost. That monkey is off our back now. We go back to the training ground Tuesday and focus on what we need to do. There's a few things today that we just didn't get right. We will get it right, it just takes time. We'll go back to the drawing board now and we'll get to it.' John Carmody was justifiably proud of the Clare players and after hailing O'Loughlin, was looking to the future. 'Mixed emotions,' Carmody conceded initially. 'I'm proud of the girls. Fantastic battling display, some quality scores. I felt ten points didn't do ourselves justice in the end. We were right there half-way through the second half. 'Not blaming the referee but I thought Waterford got a couple of vital decisions around that time. I thought Áine O'Loughlin came in, got whipped down and got her pass away to Andrea O'Keeffe, who was hooked but we felt Áine was fouled for a penalty and that would have put us a point ahead at the time. I just felt they got one or two soft frees that pushed it out to five points and the game was gone on us. 'But I'm really proud of the girls. Fantastic display. Huge workrate. People forget, it's a very, very young team. The next step is to try get back to this stage again and close the gap further and maybe even eliminate it. 'The goal before half-time was a big score for Waterford. They showed their experience. It was a well worked goal, they took it well but it was a key score in the game, if we had gone in level.. 'But we were pleased at half-time. We felt we had every opportunity in the second half and half-way through the second half we were still there in the game. And that's that bit of experience that I talk about. I thought Niamh Rockett stormed into the game at that stage, Lorraine Bray from the middle of the field drove forward and got two brilliant scores. They were key scores at that point. 'Hats off to Waterford. They're further down the road than us. They are real contenders for the All-Ireland and best wishes to the in the semi-final. 'I was delighted for Áine. Her form hadn't been great. She picked up a back injury a few weeks ago. I rang her during the week and I says,, 'Áine, forget about form, Saturday is the day for form,' and by God did she perform today. She was outstanding. 'We need more Áine O'Loughlins and Clare Hehirs but they're there. We've had a few girls out injured that will come back into the fold, a few travelling the world. There's a panel of 35 players there, about 20 of them under 21 years of age and the key for Clare camogie is to keep that group together, to grow and take this on further and make sure we're back here again in a year's time.' For Boland, there is much to work on, but a realisation too that small details make big differences at elite level and that his charges aren't far off at all. 'The last two games we've come up against two teams that have played a plus one and we're finding it difficult to break them down at times. We're creating some goal chances but we're finding it difficult when they put a lot of bodies around the middle. They seem to turn over a bit of ball when they put bodies in that area. We're going have to work a lot harder to create space in that area. 'You can have plenty in the tank but it's about bringing it out. It doesn't matter what you have in the tank, if you don't bring it to the field you don't win matches. But the thing I will say is Clare were very hard to play against today because they committed so many bodies around that area. We found it very hard to play against them and it's something we have to really work on hard over the next two or three weeks because any team we're going to play now are gonna filter players back the field. Their half-forwards are gonna be back and they're gonna squeeze up. We're going to have to find a way to work that ball through the hands and create them little triangles of space to get them scores. 'I really don't think we're miles away. I think we're a lot closer than we think. It's just to fine-tune the small little things. If you go back to the first half, the two or three goal chances. They're very fine margins. 'And if I'm saying anything more than anything else it's that every time you go out or every performance you put in, sometimes you have to grind a result out and that was one of those results that we ground it out.' Scorers for Waterford: N Rockett 1-11 (0-7fs, 0-1 45); A Fitzgerald 1-2; A Flynn 0-3; L Bray, B Carton 0-2 each Scorers for Clare: A O'Loughlin 2-0; C Hehir 0-3(fs); A O'Keeffe, J Daly, Z Spillane 0-2 each; C Cahill 0-1 WATERFORD: B O'Regan, R Walsh, K Lynch, V Falconer, B Bowdren, K Corbett Barry, O Hickey. A McNulty, L Bray, E O'Neill, B Carton, A Flynn, N Rockett, M O'Brien, A Fitzgerald. Subs: M Gostl for O'Neill (44); T Power for Hickey (57); M Comerford for Flynn (59); I Heffernan for Corbett Barry (60); A O'Sullivan for O'Brien (60+2) CLARE: R Daly, S O'Keeffe, C Hehir, S Daly, L Daly, A Walsh, D Griffin, N Mulqueen, A Andersen, A O'Keeffe, C Cahill, J Daly, R Begley, A O'Loughlin, Z Spillane. Subs: C Carmody for Spillane (39); E Casey for Andersen (42); G Carmody for A O'Keeffe (57); C Grogan for S Daly, A Cooney for J Daly (58); M Scanlon for Hehir blood (60) Referee: Liz Dempsey (Kilkenny)
RTÉ News
31-05-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Mairéad O'Brien is Waterford's silent assassin
Ask your general camogie supporter to name a few Waterford players, and the names will trip off the tongue. Beth Carton, Niamh Rockett, Lorraine Bray, Brianna O'Regan. High calibre operators, the first three All-Stars, the latter an annual nominee who somehow is still awaiting the coveted individual recognition. It is no reflection on Mairéad O'Brien's talent or influence that that she seems to fly under the radar. Nor does it bother her one iota. The likelihood is she hasn't spent a millisecond thinking about it. It takes a lot more to knock the almost horizontally laidback Modeligo sharpshooter out of her equilibrium. That makes her a positive addition to any dressing room but her contribution to the Déise cause is far, far more than what she brings in terms of serenity and personality. Like much of what she does, the 22-year-old's feat of concluding the National League as the leading scorer from play in Division 1A with 3-04 would have escaped the attention of many. Given Waterford only won two games, it was a notable achievement. It is particularly so when O'Brien is such a team player, powerful in the air and over the sliotar, happy to get down and dirty to supply those around her. But the nose for a goal has been showcased ever since Derek Lyons called her into the senior panel. Despite her youth, she nabbed three goals in the group stages alone as Waterford moved onto a first All-Ireland senior final in 78 years in 2023. That has continued unabated and opposition defences have surely cottoned on now. Today, the Suirsiders get their Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Championship Group 2 campaign under way against neighbours Kilkenny, who already have a win under their belt, at UPMC Nowlan Park (throw-in 12.30pm) and O'Brien cannot wait. Given she hit the Cats for a brace of goals on the way to defeat in the League in March, Tommy Shefflin and co will definitely be forewarned about her threat but even if they weren't, the likes of Caoimhe Keher Murtagh would inform them. Keher Murtagh was a colleague of O'Brien's as UL won the Ashbourne Cup for a second season on the trot and they were both named in the third level team of the year. Whereas Keher-Murtagh's Rower-Inistioge are a storied, traditional hurling club however, Modeligo used to be focussed entirely on the big ball, with hurleys extremely thin on the ground until very recently. The camogie club was only established in 2011 to field an U12 team and O'Brien has been the core of everything that has been good since, highlighted by her tally of 1-04 as Modeligo defeated Tipperary outfit, Fethard by 2-05 to 0-10 in the Munster junior club final last November. "The first adult team was put out in 2017, we won the junior in 2019 and then, obviously, last year we had a good run of luck," says O'Brien with just a touch of understatement. "As a group, our main aim was to get back to the county final and try and win it. I think we probably bottled a lot of disappointment from the year previous. But to be fair, we used it to our advantage and we went back training that bit earlier, and worked really hard throughout the year. "And once we got out of the county, we were definitely in bonus territory and unknown territory to be honest. The lads involved were great when it came to the big days. They never kind of picked up on the occasion too much. I suppose their main point, is just to go out and enjoy it and work really hard. And that's what happened." The smile breaks out just thinking about the odyssey and what it meant in the small country parish to the west of the county. "It was just unbelievable. We had a few good celebrations. We just enjoyed it. When we were enjoying it, we were just playing well. The whole community was behind us. And in the Munster final, they were definitely a 16th player. We were struggling for scores in the second half and we had phenomenal support that got us over the line." The skipper of that team, Rhona Drohan is vice-captain of the Waterford U23 squad that also includes Mairéad's younger sister Rachel. A rising tide does what it does. It has been a bit of a period of upheaval since the conclusion of the League, with Waterford manager, Jerry Wallace departing and Mick Boland stepping into the plate. Meanwhile, there was the entire skorts discourse, with Waterford playing a brave and central role in the campaign that included the postponement of their Munster final with Cork and ultimately led to the alteration of the rule on kit by a 98% majority that allowed players to choose shorts or skorts on match day. It was a decision hailed by president Brian Molloy as "a historic day for the association". "Yeah, we were definitely delighted. We got the news at training, and we were just about to do our running block. I swear we've never run so fast all year! "It is a massive step. There was an issue with comfort levels but the players was listened to, and the results were pretty significant. And any step forward for keeping younger girls involved is great. "It was frustrating to have the Munster final postponed 16 hours before when all the preparations had been made to optimise our performance. We had been training well and had a good win over Tipp to get there. "There was a change (of manager), but all the rest of the management are still on board. And suppose as a group, we're just driving it forward and just focusing on the championship now. And I think the management team we have currently is phenomenal. The commitment they've shown is as much as the girls'. We're all just kind of working together and pushing forward as a group and trying to get the best out of each other." A former dual operator, O'Brien stepped away from Waterford's ladies football squad this year as she was completing her final year at UL in physio. She has just completed her last placement and is looking forward to getting the professional phase of her life under way, perhaps in the autumn. Everything right now is zoned in on the next couple of months with Waterford camogie. A date with the Stripeywomen ensures that it is no soft launch. "They beat us in the League but we would be looking to improve our performance from then. We got off to a good start but in the second half we didn't maintain it. I don't think we've ever actually beaten them in championship so hopefully we will put that right this time. "We've got quite a competitive group (completed by Galway, Dublin and so it's definitely going to be a challenge to get out of it, but at the end of the day, it's a challenge we're looking forward to as well."
Irish Examiner
31-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Low-key O'Brien an ace in the Déise pack
Ask your general camogie supporter to name Waterford players and names will trip off the tongue. Beth Carton, Niamh Rockett, Lorraine Bray, Brianna O'Regan. High calibre operators, the first three All-Stars, the latter an annual nominee somehow still awaiting the coveted individual recognition. It is no reflection on Mairéad O'Brien's talent or influence that she seems to fly under the radar. Nor does it bother her one iota. It takes a lot more to knock the laidback Modeligo sharpshooter out of her equilibrium. The 22-year-old's feat of concluding the National League as the leading scorer from play in Division 1A with 3-4 escaped the attention of many. Given Waterford only won two games, it was a notable achievement. It is particularly so when O'Brien is such a team player, powerful in the air and over the sliotar, happy to get down and dirty to supply those around her. But the nose for a goal has been showcased ever since Derek Lyons called her into the senior panel. Despite her youth, she nabbed three goals in the group stages alone as Waterford moved onto a first All-Ireland senior final in 78 years in 2023. That knack has continued unabated. Today, the Suirsiders get their Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Championship Group 2 campaign under way against neighbours Kilkenny, who already have a win under their belt, at UPMC Nowlan Park (12.30pm) and O'Brien cannot wait. She hit the Cats for a brace of goals on the way to defeat in the League in March, so Tommy Shefflin and co will be forewarned about her threat. Even if they weren't, the likes of Caoimhe Keher Murtagh would inform them. Keher Murtagh was a colleague of O'Brien's as UL retained the Ashbourne Cup and both were named in the third level team of the year. It has been a period of upheaval for Waterford since the conclusion of the League, with manager Jerry Wallace departing and Mick Boland stepping in. There was the entire skorts discourse, with Waterford playing a brave and central role in the campaign that included the postponement of their Munster final with Cork and ultimately led to the alteration of the rule. "We were definitely delighted," says O'Brien. "We got the news at training, and we were just about to do our running block. I swear we've never run so fast all year! 'It is a massive step. There was an issue with comfort levels but the players was listened to, and the results were pretty significant. And any step forward for keeping younger girls involved is great. 'It was frustrating to have the Munster final postponed 16 hours before when all the preparations had been made to optimise our performance. We had been training well and had a good win over Tipp to get there. 'There was a change (of manager), but all the rest of the management are still on board. And suppose as a group, we're just driving it forward and just focusing on the championship now. And I think the management team we have currently is phenomenal. "The commitment they've shown is as much as the girls'. We're all just kind of working together and pushing forward as a group and trying to get the best out of each other.' A former dual operator, O'Brien stepped away from Waterford's ladies football squad this year as she was completing her final year at UL in physio. She is looking forward to getting the professional phase of her life under way, perhaps in the autumn. Everything right now is zoned in on Waterford camogie and this date with the Stripeywomen. 'They beat us in the League but we would be looking to improve our performance from then. We got off to a good start but in the second half we didn't maintain it. I don't think we've ever actually beaten them in championship so hopefully we will put that right this time. 'We've got quite a competitive group (completed by Galway, Dublin and so it's definitely going to be a challenge to get out of it, but at the end of the day, it's a challenge we're looking forward to as well.'
