Clare ladies get better of Waterford

Clare 3-12   Waterford 2-7

BOTH Clare and Waterford had already qualified to meet each other in the provincial decider by virtue of wins over Tipperary and Limerick, so this match was really a dead rubber before a ball was kicked.

The sides started nervously in a game played in blustery conditions in Newmarket-on-Fergus. Waterford had the benefit of the elements in the first half. Playing against the wind, Clare had the tonic of an opening score and a goal from Kilmurry Ibrickane’s Chloe Moloney.

The Kilmurry-Ibrickane starlet struck after seven minutes, following a lovely move involving Aoife Keane and Karen Roche. Moloney followed up her goal with a point a minute later. Eva O’Dea then added another point for Clare, before Waterford’s best player, Mairéad Power, opened their account with a point on 14 minutes.

The player of the match, Aoife Keane from Kilnamona, then imposed herself on the game with a stunning goal for the Clare girls. Aoife contributed 1-5 for the Saffron and Blues and was a joy to watch, kicking scores at ease off both feet.

Eimear Hillery, another outstanding prospect for the future, then added a long-range point from play, before Waterford’s Geraldine Power added her side’s second point of the day.

Karen Roche for Clare and Liz Devine for Waterford swapped goals and points from Aoife Keane (2) and Mairéad Power concluded the first-half scoring, leaving Clare with a very satisfactory 3-6 to 1-4 interval lead.
Clare started the second half in good style and Eimear Hillery landed another wonderful long-range point after just two minutes of play. Further points from Aoife Keane (2) and Nollaig Blake followed, while Mairéad Power (2) and Devine had similar scores for Waterford. Eva O’Dea and Keane were again on the scoresheet for Clare, before Waterford scored a late consolation.

While it is hard to give a definitive analysis of this match, Clare can be pleased with the performance of players such as Aoife Keane, Eimear Hillery, Marie Foran, Orlaith Lynch, Chloe Moloney, Karen Roche, Eimear Casey and Eva O’Dea.

There is obviously much room for improvement and judging by some of the absentees from the game (Niki Kaiser, Sinéad O’Keeffe, Sinéad Quinn, Gráinne Nolan, Katie Connole and Orla Devitt) there is real potential in this squad to repeat this result when the teams meet again in the provincial decider.

Clare: Aoife O’Neill; Rachel O’Toole, Amy O’Brien, Gráinne Harvey; Joanne Howley, Marie Foran, Orlaith Lynch; Aisling Corbett, Sinéad Considine; Emer Hillary (0-2), Eva O’Dea (0-2), Nollaig Blake (0-1); Aoife Keane (1-5), Chloe Moloney (1-2), Karen Roche (1-0).
Subs at half-time: Orlagh Kennelly for Aoife O’Neill, Emma McMahon for Gráinne Harvey, Emer Considine for Amy O’Brien and Jenny Ryan for Chloe Moloney.