2024's Electric Ireland All-Ireland Minor A Camogie Championship will have a novel pairing in the All-Ireland Final as Waterford and Tipperary were both victorious in their respective All-Ireland Semi Finals this weekend. Tipperary defeated Kilkenny after extra time in Rathdowney by a score of 1-15 to 1-12, while Waterford struck three goals which proved decisive in their 30-9 to 1-10 victory over Munster rivals Cork.
Firstly Tipperary, who needed extra time to get by Kilkenny in a gruelling contest that finished 1-10 a-piece at the end of normal time. The Cats were impressive in the early stages with scores coming from Katie Brennan, Shona Ruane & Niamh Davis, however a first half goal through Caoimhe Stakelum nudged the Premier County narrowly in front at the interval.
In the second half, a goal from Niamh Davis pushed Kilkenny ahead on the 45th minute, before the Cats piled on with further scores from Ruane to lead by two with 4 minutes of normal time remaining. Tipperary fought back from here to force Extra Time, and four first half points in Extra Time proved to be enough as they pushed on for a three point win.
After the match Tipp manager John Ryan praised his team's battling spirit.
After today's epic extra time win Kevin Hanly spoke to manager John Ryan🔵🟡 pic.twitter.com/EFe64DKUtL
— Tipperary Camogie (@camogietipp) April 21, 2024
Waterford upend the champions
On the other side of the draw, Waterford prevailed over Munster rivals Cork thanks in no small part to the Déise's goal hungry attack that hit three majors that turbo boosted them into next weekend's All-Ireland Minor Camogie Championship Final.
In an entertaining first half, Cork led at the break 0-8 0-7, but an Eimear O'Neill goal on the restart gave Waterford a new lease of life. The Déise immediately added a second goal through Rebecca Farrell to widen the gap to five points, before Cork immediately responded with a goal of their own in the 43rd minute to check Waterford's momentum.
The sides traded scores from here to the final few minutes, when in added time Waterford were awarded a penalty, to which Maggie Gostl tucked away into the Cork net and ensure victory for the Déise in the process. Gostl also finished with a personal tally of 1-7 in a colossal display for Waterford.
— Waterford Camogie (@deisecamogie) April 21, 2024
Next week's All-Ireland final promises to be a cracking encounter. With it being a novel pairing, both sides head into this final with belief and an unmatched feeling of hope for this to be their time. Both sides have been outstanding this year, and now only one team remains between them and the ultimate prize.
Tipp and Waterford met only 8 days ago in the round robin portion of the tournament and Waterford won 2-7 to 1-6. We'll see how that result impacts next Sunday's final.
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