Cathal Dowd
Waterford Camogie midfielder Orla Hickey was relieved her side were able to win once again in Croke Park, where they beat Clare in the All- Ireland quarter final, ending a poor run of form at the GAA HQ, describing it as a “Monkey off our back”.
The Deise were able to overcome Clare 2-20 to 2-10 to make it to the All Ireland semi-final. Despite the result Waterford manager Mick Boland was disappointed with his team’s performance and Hickey shared in his frustration, “We certainly made it hard for ourselves” she said, “We knew we didn’t start off great, we didn’t get going essentially and we didn’t play to our game or our advantage”.
It was Waterford’s first win at Croke Park since 2015 when they came out victorious against Kildare in the All-Ireland Intermediate final. Hickey said it was important to get this victory going into the semi finals, “I think it was a monkey on our back for a while, we were playing in Croke Park a few times and we lost, so it’s great that’s off our back, but we will head back to the training ground and focus on what we need to do over the next couple of weeks for the semi final”.
The ticketing issues that surrounded this game left some of the players families unable to attend as few people were able to get into the ground for the match as it acted as the opening of a double header with the All-Ireland hurling semi final between Tipperary and Kilkenny. “Some of my friends got tickets, but some of my siblings didn’t and were really disappointed”, said Hickey, “Any time you come to Croke Park it’s a big day and especially now that we have won it’s a great feeling, but it’s a little disappointing in that way”.
Speaking on Niamh Rockett, who lead Waterford’s scoring with an impressive 1-11, Hickey said “Rockett is top class, she works hard and she is a phenomenal player. Hickey also had some kind words for teammate Vikki Falconer on her return to Croke Park , where she injured her cruciate ligament two years ago early in the All Ireland final, calling the former All-Star back a “superstar” and an “inspiration” to the side.
Waterford have drawn Cork in the semi final, in another Munster clash, and Hickey laid out how they hoped to approach the next few weeks, “Do the things that we can do right, keep playing and work hard, work rate is going to get us through it”.
