Derry Seniors through to All-Ireland Final

. Waterford started brightly, and didn’t seem at all overawed by their opponents, and Derry didn’t get control of the match until their second goal, scored at the beginning of the second half. Derry opened the scoring with a Sinead Cassidy point from play and a Katie McAuley point from a free, but Waterford replied with a fine point from their centre forward, and then struck with a goal from a long-range free that left them leading 1-1 to 0-2. A shock result seemed to be on the cards, as the Decies girls seemed to be winning most of the duels. This score, however, spurred Derry to move up a gear, and after another pointed free by McAuley, Derry equalised with another fine point from play by Cassidy. The same player capped an excellent display with her third point from play, followed by another from Aisling Diamond, then just before half-time Denise McCann capitalised on a period of sustained pressure by driving the ball to the net from the edge of the square. Another McAuley free followed in injury time to send Derry in with a 1-7 to 1-1 lead.

The second half began as the first half had finished, with Derry asserting their dominance in the crucial middle third of the field. An early point from midfielder Grainne McGoldrick set the tone, and was followed in the 5^th minute by a goal from Claire McCloy. This gave Derry a comfortable ten-point lead, and despite the valiant efforts of the Waterford girls, that lead was maintained to the final whistle, with Derry’s subsequent points coming from McGoldrick and McAuley from play and two placed balls by McAuley.

Derry now face holders Dublin in the final on Saturday 19^th August in Tullamore in Offaly. Dublin were impressive in their victory in the second semi-final against Clare, who defeated Derry earlier in the season in the Division Two League Final. Speaking after the match, co-manager Pádraig Ó Mianáin said: “Given the two matches today, I’d expect that we will be the underdogs in the final. Dublin had the stiffer test in their semi-final, they are defending their title from last year and they were playing a division above Derry in the National League, so they will be fancied to retain the title and move up to senior status. We certainly won’t be travelling to Tullamore just for the scenery, though. Finals are all about who plays best on the day, and our girls know that it is in them to produce a sustained display that can give the Dubs as much bother as they could wish for.”

The Derry players and management expressed their appreciation of the large travelling support in Navan, and are hoping that their supporters will come out in large numbers for the final. “This bunch of players have shown tremendous dedication and character to reach their second national final in the one season,” said Susan Uí Mhianáin, the other half of the management team. “They take great pride in representing their county, and we know that our supporters will not be found wanting at the final.”

The Derry team for the game was:

Claire O’Kane; Helena Kelly, Katie Pickering (), Emma McIlvar; Ceara Cushnahan, Claire Doherty (captain), Jane Carey; Grainne McGoldrick (0-2), Briege Convery; Aisling Diamond (0-1), Claire McCloy (1-0), Denise McCann (1-0); Sinead Cassidy (0-3), Katie McAuley (0-6), Jane Kelly.

Substitutions: Kate Laverty for Jane Kelly, Andrena O’Kane for Aisling Diamond.