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Waterford Legend Still Feels The Hurt Of Contentious 1997 All-Ireland Defeat

Waterford Legend Still Feels The Hurt Of Contentious 1997 All-Ireland Defeat
PJ Browne
By PJ Browne
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Áine Wall still feels the pain of Waterford's 1997 All-Ireland Ladies Football Championship final defeat to Monaghan.

Waterford led late in the game but during an extraordinary 11 minutes of injury time, Monaghan reeled the Déise back in to win by two points and retain their title.

"You were anticipating that whistle being blown," says five-time All-Ireland winner Wall in her episode of TG4 series Laochra Gael which airs at 9:30pm on February 23rd.

"You had all the amateur whistlers in the stand blowing it up. Monaghan played to the whistle. They didn't know the game was almost up, they kept playing."

Waterford manager Michael Ryan, who had led the county to four All-Irelands in five years between 1991 and 1995, remembers thinking that referee Finbarr O'Driscoll was "never going to blow that whistle".

"The referee in his wisdom decided to add on 11 minutes and 53 seconds. Where he found that, I don't know," says Ryan.

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"That was probably one of my low points in life in management, and I'd say for a lot of the players as well. There was a sense of possible injustice as far as we were concerned."

Wall adds: "It was devastating. We just felt like we had been completely robbed.

aine wall waterford ladies football final laochra gael

12/10/1997, All Ireland Ladies Football Final, Monaghan v Waterford, Monaghan Captain Angela Larkin and top scorer Edel Byrne celebrate Monaghan victory while Sarah Hickey of Waterford shows the disappointment of loseing. Photograph: Matt Browne/SPORTSFILE

"Pat Spillane justified it on the Sunday Game that night. He added up all the minutes as Pat would.

"Cross, angry - all the emotions. People dealt with it so differently. I remember the homecoming, and people were all out. Michael was on the radio the following night, and we were getting letters from different people saying that we were robbed. It changes nothing, the outcome is still the outcome.

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"But I'm still cross, it still actually hurts. It was very hard to keep coming back every year. There were injuries starting to come in, and the body was tired. It's hard keep coming back when the battles are getting harder, but you must adjust, pull up your socks and go again."

For the following year's final, which again saw Waterford face off against Monaghan, the LGFA introduced a visible clock at Croke Park. The 1998 decider was also the first women's final broadcast live on television.

A replay was required to separate the teams after they played out a 1-16 to 4-7 draw.

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"By God, we were not going to get beaten in 1998," says Wall.

"We got bullied in the first match. We were lucky to get the draw. But we didn't get bullied in the second game. We were ready for a battle.

"The whole country thought Monaghan were going to win, which played into our hands, really.

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"We were going to die with our boots on that day, three-in-a-row, no way.

"Initially it's just such a relief that you've won."

aine wall waterford ladies football final laochra gael

25 October 1998; Waterford captain Siobhan O'Ryan lifts the cup after the All-Ireland Senior Ladies' Football Championship Final Replay match between Waterford and Monaghan at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

The LGFA president at the time was Waterford man Noel Murray.

"His next-door neighbour (Siobhan O'Ryan) was the captain of Waterford," says Ryan.

"He was above, ready to present the cup, and she never gave him a chance, she grabbed the cup. That was the desperation that was in us to win that match.

"I remember walking across Croke Park after the match. They were developing Croke Park at the time. There was a huge crane up on one side of the pitch, and up on the side was scoreboard still lit up. I remember looking at the score - Waterford 2-14 Monaghan 3-8 - and thinking, 'This is as good as it gets'."

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