ALL-IRELAND MINOR A FINAL: Waterford v Cork - preview and where to watch

SUNDAY, MAY 7

ELECTRIC IRELAND ALL-IRELAND MINOR A FINAL

Cork v Waterford, UPMC Nowlan Park, 4.30pm

Referee: Aaron Hogg (Clare)

Watch live HERE

Waterford camogie is riding the crest of a wave at present, the monumental work being carried out at schools’ and underage level paying rich dividends. In the past couple of weeks alone, the Déise have won the Very League Division 1B title and defeated Cork for the first time in competitive fare at senior level in the Munster Championship. 

St Declan’s Kilmacthomas were crowned Allianz All-Ireland Post-Primary Schools’ Senior D champions earlier this year and now Waterford are an hour from further history reaching the Electric Ireland All-Ireland Minor A final for the first time, having enjoyed B glory in 2014. 

It hasn’t been a straightforward progression but Mark English’s crew are clearly improving as he created the right blend. His charges lost to Galway in Athenry by seven points in their opening tie but got back on track with a seven-point win over Sunday’s rivals. 

After losing to Kilkenny though, they were on their way out of the competition when trailing by eight points mid-way through the first half of the last group game against Tipperary. They were able to turn it around to win by two and advance to the last four where the Cats lay in wait and this time, it was Waterford that came out on top of the derby clash, goals from Maggie Gosti and the outstanding Eimear O’Neill edging them through by four points. 

Cork won the All-Ireland last year and are in pursuit of a fourth title in five renewals since breaking their duck in 2018 (the 2020 championship was lost to Covid). 

Jerry Wallace’s crew recovered from that early setback against Waterford to finish top of the table on score difference from Kilkenny, having shared the spoils with the Stripeywomen. They then had a point to spare over Galway in a humdinger of a semi-final, Emily O’Donoghue, Caoimhe O’Donoghue and Niamh McNabola the major scoring contributors. 

It is clear that there was very little between a number of teams at this grade and so one suspects that the destination of the silverware will come down to which group of players settles best on the big occasion, a bit of fortune or one moment of magnificence. This will certainly be worth the price of admission.