'Do or die' will be the order of the day on Saturday when Waterford welcome Derry to Walsh Park for the final group game in their All-Ireland Camogie Championship.
The Déise sit fourth in Group 1 on seven points with Derry behind by the minimum on six. The Déise's draw with Kilkenny has kept their chances alive with Derry winning two and losing two, to Waterford's two wins, one draw and one loss.
On the last day out, Jerry Wallace's Waterford side smashed Antrim by 16 points to get back in the winning column, giving themselves a welcome chance at making the knockout stages again.
The table could look very different by Saturday night, with Tipperary currently top and Kilkenny lying in second. They face off at the Ragg for their final group outing giving
Kilkenny the chance to leapfrog the Premier into the top spot, while Waterford could end in second if Tipp were to win at home and the Déise put a cricket score on Derry at Walsh Park.
"A lot of teams would find themselves in a situation where they might only have one win and they might be gone out of it without anything to hunt for and their season coming to an end on Saturday. But we have a great opportunity now, like, the team is coming at the right time, the players at the right time, the Vikki Faulkners and Abby Flynns are back at the right time for us," said Manager Jerry Wallace, speaking to WLR Sport this week.
Faulkner made her return to the set up away to Antrim last weekend, having not lined out on a camogie pitch since her horror knee injury in last year's All-Ireland final while Abby Flynn also announced her return from a knee injury to raise a green flag in Antrim.
"When they were in their own turf they just attacked us straight away," says Roisin Kirwan of Antrim.
"They set up and we had matched their set up, so it took us a while to set in. At half-time we were only winning by two goals, so that's only two pucks of the ball. We weren't going in at halftime saying we had the game won or anything. We came back out knowing we had a massive battle to get through Antrim and get over the line. They put up a massive fight and didn't make it easy."
When speaking to WLR after the Antrim game, Wallace made reference to a meeting with his squad following the league.
The Cork native was direct in his assessment of his players between the white lines, telling the group that he "made it clear to the players that as a coach I was no longer willing to let Beth Carton carry Waterford. I needed more players to step up to the mark, I needed more players to come in and assist on the scoring charts and all I can say is that we're getting that return."
Carton won player of the year in 2023 and has been ever present for the Déise over several seasons of senior intercounty camogie. Lasy year she averaged 10.5 points per game, but a shift has definitely happened in the Championship.
In four championship games Maggie Gostl, Lorraine Bray and Orla Hickey have all found the back of the net once, while Annie Fitz and Sarah Lacey have bagged two goals each and Mairead O Brien has nailed three.
Wallace's call for more from his players has landed in the right ears and the common sight of Carton being double or treble-marked has had to be reduced with more threats coming from around the De La Salle ace.
"I suppose Jerry was right," says Kirwan. "In the first few games, she was putting up such big scores and I suppose not many of us were stepping up to take those scores with her. Jerry says it as it is and that's how you need to take it. We all just took it on the chin and said 'Yeah, look we do need to step up and help Beth."
