23 years on from Waterford’s last triumph, the Déise Ladies Footballers sought to bring an end to their trophyless spell in the province. The opponents, reigning All-Ireland champions Kerry.
Since Waterford’s 2002 Munster Ladies Football win, the Déise had suffered five provincial final defeats. Two of which, were to the Kingdom, in 2003 and 2017 respectively.
Most recently Waterford found themselves runners up in 2019. Cork the victors on that occasion at Fraher Field.
However, with a strong league campaign under their belt where the Déise ladies claimed a third place finish in Division 1 on top of wins over Tipperary and Cork to setup the decider with Kerry. There was cautious optimism that the 23 year wait could be ended at the Mallow GAA complex on Sunday, the 25th of May, 2025.
And it was a lively start in North Cork as both sides swapped scores in the initial stages. Waterford’s key players stepping up to the task at hand with early points provided by Bríd McMaugh, Lauren McGregor and Clare Walsh.
And perhaps the score of the game came on the fourteen minute mark as Lauren McGregor bounced off and fought off two Kerry players at halfway before driving towards the Kerry goal where he kicked over a fantastic score.
The first half saw both teams battling with Waterford forcing the Kingdom into an unusual amount of turnovers by their high standards. And the frustration started to show before the referee’s half time whistle with Mary O’Connell given a stern talking to from man in the middle Conor McCarthy after a robust tackle on Lauren McGregor at the midway touchline in front of the electric crowd.
The Déise were rewarded for their first half efforts with a three point lead at the break. Waterford just had to navigate the remaining thirty minutes to etch their names in Waterford Ladies history.
Karen McGrath notched over Waterford’s first score of the second half where a goal may have been on offer for the Déise. Lauren McGregor added a further point from an almost identical position minutes later.
However, the Kingdom finished strong with two second half sucker punches swinging the tide in favour of Kerry.
The kingdom’s first green flag coming in the 51st minute as Danielle O’Leary struck the ball past Katelyn Gardiner in the Waterford goal to make for a nervy finish which the Deise responded well to as they kept their scoreboard ticking over.
However, a second goal proved too much on the day and it came with just 90 seconds of normal time remaining as Kerry seized upon a short kick out from Katelyn Gardiner and bore down on goal and Mary O’Connell made no mistake.
Waterford pushed for a goal of their own but time ran out and it was to be Kerry’s day as they retained their provincial crown.
Waterford: Katelyn Gardiner, Karen McGrath (0-01), Rebecca Casey, Cora Murray, Emma Murray (Captain), Eve Power, Aoife Murray, Hannah Power, KellyAnn Hogan (0-04), Áine O’Neill, Katie Murray, Bríd McMaugh (0-01), Chloe Fennell, Clare Walsh (0-01), Lauren McGregor (0-03)
Subs: Gemma Corcoran, Aoife Brazil, Áine Power, Megan Dunford, Niamh Power, Ellen Bolger, Lia Ní Harta, Lucie O’Shea, Orlaith Kennedy, Maeve Ryan, Caragh McCarthy, Caoimhe Reynolds, Dearbhla Beresford, Abby Murphy, Aoibhe O’Brien
Kerry: Mary Ellen Bolger, Eilís Lynch, Deirdre Kearney, Fay O’Donoghue, Aishling O’Connell, Emma Costello, Aoife Dillane, Mary O’Connell (1-00), Anna Galvin (0-01), Niamh Carmody (0-01), Niamh Ní Chonchúir, Caoimhe Evans (0-01), Danielle O’Leary (1-01), Rachel Dwyer, Síofra O’Shea (0-02)
Subs: Katie Hannan, Cáit Lynch (Captain), Jadyn Lucey, Róisín Rahilly, Niamh Broderick, Leah Boyle, Katie Brosnan, Kayla O’Connor, Ciara McCarthy, Niamh Quinn, Katie Sugrue, Julia Curtin, Jess Gill, Éabha O’Connor, Kelly Enright
Referee: Conor McCarthy
Waterford 0-10
Kerry 2-06
