Waterford will look to Maria Delahunty for another top class performance this Sunday.

Waterford will look to Maria Delahunty for another top class performance this Sunday.


The Déise ladies travel to GAA Headquarters this Sunday and will be subconsciously be delighted that they are not playing Ulster opposition for the third time in such a Final this decade.
But Waterford know that they will have to be at their very best to beat Kildare in a match that throws in at 1.45pm.
Like Armagh in 2012, Kildare are recent ‘returnees’ from the senior grade and will want to get back to playing in the top tier of competition as quickly as possible.
Kildare come into this game having played just two different counties. In the Leinster semi final they had a 4-11 to 0-6 win over Wexford and in the provincial decider they beat Offaly 2-22 to 5-7.
As provincial winners, Kildare entered the All-Ireland series at the quarter finals where they were again pitted with Wexford who they beat 2-18 to 2-7 and last time out in the semi-finals they had a 5-5 to 0-6 win over Offaly.
Kildare played in a League division above Waterford and finished in mid-table, beating Meath in the opening round of games and closing it with wins over Down and Clare but lost to Cavan, Armagh, Donegal and Westmeath in between.
Rebecca McGuirk would be expected to start between the posts for Kildare. Tara Hallinan could well start at right corner back but the make up of the rest of the defence is hard to tell. However, it’s expected that Aisling Savage, Aisling Curley and Rachel Reidy would all feature somewhere between numbers three and seven, with Paula Keatley, Lydia Furey, Rachel Cribbin and Naoise Berry expected to fight it out for the remaining two places.
Joanna Timmins and captain Aisling Holton will form a formidable centrefield pairing, but it’s in attack where Kildare are at their strongest.
Ellen Dowling, Trina Duggan, Mikaela McKenna and Róisín Byrne would all be expected to start for Kildare this Sunday but in what line remains to be seen.
The remaining two places could be filled by Eadaoin Connolly who hit a hat-trick for her side in their semi-final win over Offaly and Maria Moolick would be expected to fill the last two places in the forwards.
But if Niamh Mulhall or Grace Clifford were also given the nod to start it would not be a surprise as they have featured for the side in their most recent outings and will hope to have done enough to earn a place in the team from the start for this weekends game.
And what of Waterford? Pat Sullivan has taken over the team this year and has done tremendous work.
He has reshaped the team, bringing in a number of young players that he worked with on the underage scene in recent years.
Not only that, but he’s re-introduced players who have played for the county in the past and also moved established players into new positions to outstanding success.
Waterford have a very settled look to the team and barring any injuries not known publically, few if any changes will be made to the line-up for this weekend.
That will mean that Katie Hannon will again be between the posts with Michelle McGrath at full back flanked by the two elder of the Wall sisters Mairead and Linda in an all Ballymacarbry full-back line.
The half-back line should see Elaine Power, Megan Dunford and Louise Ryan form a formidable trio, with Emma Murray and Karen McGrath in the middle of the field.
Maria Delahunty will start at centre forward for with Aileen Wall on the left wing with one from the Ballyduff pair of Hannah Landers and Grainne Kenneally on the other wing. Sinead Ryan will again be at full forward and Mary Foley will complete the line-up.
All in all, 2015 has been an excellent year for the team. The side reached the Division Three league final for the second year running at Parnell Park only to lose unexpectedly to Sligo Sligo.
To reach the final, Waterford played some excellent football and had the perfect record going into the game beating Wexford, Fermanagh, Sligo, Tipperary, Leitrim and Roscommon. They also got a walk over from Longford.
In the semi-final, Roscommon were defeated for the second time before the surprise final defeat to Sligo.
However, come the Munster Championship, that defeat was well and truly out of the system as wins over Limerick, Tipperary and Clare were recorded in the group stages of the Championship before Clare, who like Kildare, played senior up to last year were defeated in the final.
Waterford then gained revenge for their league final defeat when they easily accounted for Sligo in the All-Ireland quarter-final at Birr and in the semi-final, they produced another excellent display to get the better of a good Leitrim side at Limerick.
Both sides know how to score goals, so both defences will have to be strong and disciplined and the defence that does so best will come out on top.
Picking a winner isn’t easy. Kildare will know that if they raise just five white flags that they raised in their semi final win over Offaly is not going to be good enough this time.
However that notion could go out the window if they raised the five green flags they had waved that same day.
Playing in the senior grade more recently than the Deise ought to help Kildare, but they will know that against this Waterford side could be their sternest opponent of the entire season.
Expect both sides to fight out a terrific battle on Sunday afternoon. The hungrier side will come out on top.
But which side is hungrier? Many of the Waterford side have five, six or seven Munster final medals but none have an adult inter county All-Ireland medal. The side is bound to be hungry to put this right on Sunday afternoon and I believe they will. Deise abú!