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Irish Examiner
4 days ago
- 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.'
RTÉ News
4 days ago
- Climate
- RTÉ News
Camogie Championship Round 2: All you need to know
SATURDAY All-Ireland Championship Group 1 Limerick v Wexford, Mick Neville Park Rathkeale, 4pm Tipperary v Cork, The Ragg, 4pm All-Ireland Championship Group 2 Kilkenny v Waterford, UPMC Nowlan Park, 12.30pm Derry v Galway, Owenbeg, 2pm TV Tipperary v Cork will be streamed live on the Spórt TG4 YouTube channel ONLINE You'll find score updates and match reports on RTÉ Sport Online and RTÉ News app. RADIO Score updates on RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport. WEATHER Saturday: A band of showery rain will spread from the west through the morning and afternoon. The rain will clear into the Irish Sea, with sunshine and a scattering of showers following, some heavy in the northwest, with the chance of thunder. Highest temperatures of 15 to 20 degrees in moderate to fresh southwest winds, veering westerly. For more go to Group 1 Limerick v Wexford This is a must-win affair for both counties, who were defeated in their opening outings. Limerick were never in it against Cork and had a day to forget while Wexford were edged out by Clare in a game that was considered critical in terms of making the quarter-finals. Both these teams will still harbour ambitions in that regard but a second reverse here would have them focusing on the other end of the table and avoiding the trapdoor to intermediate in 2026. Tipperary v Cork Cork sauntered to a 38-point victory over Limerick but The Ragg is a different venue to Páirc Uí Rinn and with all due respect to the Shannonsiders, Tipperary are a different calibre of opposition. Last year's league champions get their campaign under way after sitting out the first round with a vociferous home crowd certain to be in their corner, and should provide the three-in-a-row chasing Rebels with exactly the type of examination Ger Manley would want before we reach the knockout stages. Group 2 Kilkenny v Waterford Kilkenny posted a 26-point win away to Derry last weekend and have been making incremental improvements since the beginning of the season under new manager Tommy Shefflin and skipper Katie Power in her 18th season in black and amber. Waterford have yet to overcome their neighbours at championship level since returning to the top tier and they too have a new manager, with coach Mick Boland stepping into the fray after Jerry Wallace departed following the league. The Déise are desperate to return to the All-Ireland final after reaching the 2023 decider and victory on enemy territory in their first outing of the 2025 championship would represent a huge boost. Derry v Galway, Owenbeg Traditionally slow starters, Galway will be pleased to have opened their campaign with victory over Dublin. Without any provincial action, it was a first outing since the disappointing defeat in the Division 1A league final. Retaining their senior status with a degree of comfort was a fine achievement for Derry in 2024, but they have lost nearly two-thirds of the starting team since and suffered a heavy loss in Owenbeg to Kilkenny last Saturday. Their crunch games are probably yet to come but last year's All-Ireland finalists cannot afford to treat the Oak Leafers lightly.
The Irish Sun
26-05-2025
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Major ticket update for Munster senior hurling final as Limerick set to host Cork in mouth-watering clash
TICKETS for the Munster senior hurling final between Limerick and Cork will NOT be available to the general pubic. Munster GAA provided an update on the ticketing situation for the game scheduled for Saturday, June 7 at the TUS Gaelic Grounds. Advertisement 2 Limerick face Cork in the Munster hurling final Credit: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile 2 Tickets will not be put on general sale Credit: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile And amid surging interest, the provincial council confirmed that tickets will not be available via general sale but will instead only be available through the respective county boards. A statement read: 'Due to the high demand, tickets for the Munster Senior Hurling Final on Saturday June 7 at 6pm in the TUS Gaelic Grounds Limerick will be distributed through the participating County Boards only. 'Season ticket holders from Limerick and Cork will receive their tickets through the normal channels. "There will be no public sale of tickets via Ticketmaster, Centra or Supervalu outlets.' Advertisement Read More on GAA The Munster final will be the third occasion on which Cork and Limerick go head-to-head. In the opening round of the league, they drew 1-16 apiece as the Rebels went on to win Division 1A. They rematched in the championship round robin, with John Kiely's men Pat Ryan's men bounced back by doing the Advertisement Most read in GAA Hurling The Rebels will compete in a Munster final for the first time since 2018, and Pat Ryan admitted the nerves got to them against the Deise. He said: 'We left an awful lot of chances behind us. But it's knockout Championship, there's going to be a bit more trepidation in it, a bit more nervousness in it. 'Like something out of the French Revolution' - RTE GAA pundit Donal Og Cusack slams Dublin star's reckless swipe 'Both ourselves and Waterford knew that if we didn't win, we'd be out of the Championship. We played a small bit like that, with a bit of nerves.' Ryan's side finished the game with their wides tally at 17. Advertisement And he added: 'That's something we'll work on, the efficiency side of it, but I thought our work-rate, our hitting the breaks, our hunger to get on the ball was an awful lot better than it was last week and that's the way it should be. That's the standard. 'You're not always going to play as well or have great hurling at times and things might not come off in your game-plan. "But your work-rate, your attitude and your character has to be the standard. 'From our point of view, the attitude last week wasn't good enough. The effort wasn't good enough. I don't think we played brilliant hurling today but today was about attitude and character.' Advertisement While Cork are back in the decider after seven years away, Limerick are into their seventh consecutive provincial final. John Kiely opted for eight changes against Clare. Declan Hannon made his first appearance of the season, and Shane Dowling lined out for his first championship game since the 2019 All-Ireland semi-final against Kilkenny. The manager was left agitated on the sideline by his team's mistakes. Advertisement He said: 'We just didn't come out of the blocks in the second half. 'It was one of our weakest quarters of the game. We lacked intensity, a bit of energy, and accuracy in what we were doing. 'We made too many mistakes and ultimately, across the 70 minutes, on analysis it will be shown that we made quite an inordinate number of errors. "Just missed pick-ups, dropped balls, misplaced passes, unforced errors, if you like." Advertisement
The Irish Sun
23-05-2025
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Resolution of skorts saga allows camogie action on the pitch to take centre stage as Clare vs Wexford among best games
THURSDAY'S resounding Special Congress vote has thankfully put an end to the skorts controversy that had rumbled on for weeks. With that 2 Saoirse McCarthy of Cork is tackled by Clare Hehir of Clare during last month's Munster Championship semi-final 2 Dublin captain Aisling Maher has been one of the most prominent voices in the movement that yesterday culminated in players being given the freedom to wear either shorts or skorts GLEN DIMPLEX ALL-IRELAND SENIOR CHAMPIONSIP GROUP 1 Clare v Wexford, Zimmer Biomet Páirc Chíosog, 2pm Referee: Andy Larkin (Cork) (Live on Camogie Association YouTube) There is no time for these teams to feel their way into the championship as in a group that includes Cork, Tipperary and Limerick, this looks like being a crucial fixture with regard to determining one of the three qualification berths to the knockout stages. Read More On GAA There has rarely been much between the teams and in the league, a couple of goals gave the Banner a one-point victory in Enniscorthy. That got them to the Division 1B final which they lost to Antrim, after a very competitive hour. Wexford actually scored more and conceded less than Clare through the group stages of the league. They also reached the Leinster final last weekend, where Kilkenny were too strong, and must put that to bed quickly. This is an impossible game to call. Most read in GAA Hurling Cork v Limerick, Páirc Uí Rinn, 4pm Referee: Joe Mullins (Clare) Limerick GAA fans troll RTE pundit Donal Og Cusack after win over Cork Limerick have shown improved form this year, achieving mid-table status in the second tier of the league with wins over Westmeath and Down. They were unable to overcome Wexford and Clare, who they will renew rivalries with in the coming weeks. Cork, as Division 1A champions and the team now attempting to secure a championship three-in-a-row, are camogie's standard bearers. Anything other than a home victory would be a huge surprise. GLEN DIMPLEX ALL-IRELAND SENIOR CHAMPIONSIP GROUP 2 Derry v Kilkenny, Owenbeg, 2pm Referee: Brian Kearney (Kildare) Derry secured their senior status quite comfortably 12 months ago and that will be their target once again in 2025. They will need to defend better than in the Division 2 league final, when they conceded four goals and could have shipped more. They were missing half last year's team, however, and some of those will return against the Cats. Starting at home is a boost against a Kilkenny side making gradual improvements under new manager Tommy Shefflin. The Stripeywomen were easy winners of the Leinster final last weekend against Wexford and will be hotly fancied to make the long trek back home with the three points tucked under their belts. Galway v Dublin, Kenny Park, 4pm Referee: Liz Dempsey (Kilkenny) This is an intriguing affair as Dublin have consistently pushed Galway to the wire in recent seasons. There was six points between them in Kilbeacanty last March but after starting with a draw against Tipperary, the Dubs failed to secure another positive result and were relegated from Division 1A of the League. Galway beat Cork in the final group game to book their place in the decider but never showed up, with the Rebels exacting swift and severe retribution with the silverware on the line. The lack of provincial games for the westerners has often led to a slow championship start for the Tribeswomen so Dublin will look to rattle them early but last year's All-Ireland finalists will be favoured to prevail.
RTÉ News
23-05-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
All-Ireland Camogie Championship Round 1: All you need to know
SATURDAY All-Ireland Championship Group 1 Clare v Wexford, Zimmer Biomet Páirc Chíosog, 2pm Cork v Limerick, Páirc Uí Rinn, 4pm All-Ireland Championship Group 2 Derry v Kilkenny, Owenbeg, 2pm Galway v Dublin, Kenny Park, 4pm TV Clare v Wexford will be streamed live on the Spórt TG4 YouTube channel ONLINE You'll find score updates and match reports on RTÉ Sport Online and RTÉ News app. RADIO Score updates on RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport. WEATHER Saturday: A rather wet and breezy day with outbreaks of rain spreading from the west, turning heavy at times later. Feeling humid with highest temperatures of 16 to 20 degrees in fresh southwest winds. For more go to Clare v Wexford There is no time for these teams to feel their way into the championship as in a group that includes Cork, Tipperary and Limerick, this looks like being a crucial fixture with regard to determining one of the three qualification berths to the knockout stages. There has rarely been much between the teams and in the league, a couple of goals gave the Banner a one-point victory in Enniscorthy. That got them to the Division 1B final which they lost to Antrim after a very competitive hour where the Yellowbellies scored more and conceded less than Clare through the group stages of the league. They also reached the Leinster final last weekend, where Kilkenny were too strong, and must put that to bed quickly. This is an impossible game to call. Cork v Limerick Limerick have shown improved form this year, achieving mid-table status in the second tier of the league with wins over Westmeath and Down. They were unable to overcome Wexford and Clare, who they will renew rivalries within the coming weeks. Cork, as Division 1A champions and the team now attempting to secure a championship three-in-a-row, are camogie's standard bearers. Anything other than a home victory would be a huge surprise. Derry v Kilkenny Derry secured their senior status quite comfortably 12 months ago and that will be their target once again in 2025. They will need to defend better than in the Division 2 league final, when they conceded four goals and could have shipped more. They were missing half last year's team, however, and some of those will return against the Cats. Starting at home is a boost against a Kilkenny side making gradual improvements under new manager Tommy Shefflin. The Stripeywomen were easy winners of the Leinster final last weekend against Wexford and will be hotly fancied to make the long trek back home with the three points tucked under their belts. Galway v Dublin This is an intriguing affair as Dublin have consistently pushed Galway to the wire in recent seasons. There was six points between them in Kilbeacanty last March but after starting with a draw against Tipperary, the Dubs failed to secure another positive result and were relegated from Division 1A of the League. Galway beat Cork in the final group game to book their place in the decider but never showed up, with the Rebels exacting swift and severe retribution with the silverware on the line. The lack of provincial games for the westerners has often led to a slow championship start for the Tribeswomen so Dublin will look to rattle them early but last year's All-Ireland finalists will be favoured to prevail.
