At 3.15pm this Saturday, Derek Lyons’ Waterford camogie side will take to the hallowed turf of Croke Park, for an All-Ireland semi-final clash with a familiar foe.
The psychological hurdle has finally been cleared, last weekend’s 10-point lashing of Limerick making it last four time at last, at the fifth time of asking.
Cork stand in the way of Waterford and a place in the decider. There was six points separating the pair in the group phase, but that won’t scare the Déise, if anything it drives them on.
With Lorraine Bray, Niamh Rockett, Beth Carton and co. at their brilliant best - anything can happen on Saturday.
One person with an unwavering belief in her colleagues is the former Waterford captain Claire Whyte.
Claire was thoroughly impressed with the showing against Limerick, where Waterford plundered 2-15 in the first half.
The moment that has stayed in the minds of most was a fantastic piece of skill from the charismatic Clara Griffin, flicking the ball into her hand despite her hurley being a bare splint of ash having made a brave block moments beforehand.
Claire Whyte says it’s a moment which signifies the attitude of the current crop of players.
“We saw it right underneath us on Saturday. It was just a phenomenal piece of skill. I see it’s doing the rounds on social media. Rightly so! She made a fantastic block, broke the hurley. It’s just a never say die attitude. She said I’m going to pick this ball up one way or another. A great piece of skill and there’s no doubt it’ll be played for many years to come.”
The form of Lorraine Bray has catapulted her into the early conversations regarding The Player of the Year award. Having played in the backline for the majority of her career, Whyte feels that in midfield is where Bray belongs - and that we’re reaping rewards of that evidence.
“Lorraine started out as a midfield player and would play there at club level. She would have also done at inter county but new managers and coaches come in and try different things out. She kind of ended up at wing back but I’ve always felt that midfield is her place. She has the freedom to go forward but she’s also a great defender. Not one person on the field wants to be marking her.”
Cork have nine All-Irelands to their name, with their last crown coming in 2018. The Rebelettes have tended to get the better of their neighbours in recent meetings, but Whyte believes that many of the games were closer battles than the scoreline reflects - and is anticipating a pulsating battle come throw-in.
“Waterford are definitely going to be going in as underdogs this weekend. Cork did get the better of us to date in this championship - six point defeat. There’s never been a whole lot in any of the games in the past few years. A handful of points, a couple of strikes of the ball. They are missing Aisling Thompson - I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw another appeal go through though. We’ll have to see what happens there.”
WLR will have live coverage of the Big Match after the 3pm news this Saturday, with coverage coming thanks to George Corbett Skoda. Tomas McCarthy and Shona Curran will be at Croke Park, to take you through all the action. On The Ball with Nigel Kelly is also live at Croke Park this Saturday, from 12-1.
