Fiona finds Waterford net
Wednesday February 17 2010
KAREN BARNES' reign as Intermediate camogie manager got off to the perfect start as Fiona Kavanagh grabbed a hat-trick to ease her Wexford side past a disappointing Waterford in Division 2 of the National League in Fenor on Sunday last.
The performance was even more convincing than the scoreline suggests as only good goalkeeping by Waterford stopper Fiona Kelly kept the goal tally in single figures.
Kavanagh was totally unmarkable at full-forward and on this display must be in serious consideration for a place in the Senior side which lost the services of fellow forwards Michelle Hearne and Rose-Marie Breen over the winter.
Her first goal was as perfect as it gets; Ciara O'Connor launched a booming clearance into the wind which Kavanagh plucked cleanly out of the sky, turned Jenny Simpson with ease, raced away at goal and tucked home past Kelly.
While the second and third followed after the break, further chances for a massive personal tally came and went, yet it mattered little as the defending champions were in complete control. Part of that control was exacted by some quality play in defence.
The full-back line was almost totally impregnable. The Atkinson sisters were their usual solid selves, but Louise O'Leary was superb, sweeping up any scraps that broke in behind the defence. It was really only a succession of soft frees that kept the home side in the contest, with all but 1-1 of their tally coming from placed balls.
Stacey Kehoe's early effort on goal came to rest in the side-netting before the rival free-takers - Ciara O'Connor and Áine Lyng - traded overs. The visitors grabbed the early initiative in the seventh minute when the dangerous Eimear O'Connor gathered a loose ball and fired it into the Waterford net.
Ciara O'Connor added another free in the 13th minute as Wexford maintained a narrow lead. Kavanagh's superb goal gave her side their largest advantage of the half with seven minutes remaining, but Nicola Morrissey replied with the only Waterford score that didn't come from the stick of the accurate Lyng to leave the deficit at two (2-2 to 0-6).
A sixth Lyng free cut the gap to the minimum four minutes after the resumption, only for Wexford to go on a 2-2 run without reply. Kavanagh grabbed 2-1 of that total, with half-time substitute Síona Nolan tacking on the other point as the visitors eased clear.
An excellent Lyng finish only served to wake her up opponents, who momentarily switched off, as a double from Ciara O'Connor, another over by Nolan and a goal wedged in between, after fantastic perseverance, by debutant Lisa Bolger put the result beyond doubt.
A second Lyng goal, this time from a powerful free, proved little more than a consolation, and Evelyn Quigley put the cap on a fine Wexford showing with a point in injury time to complete a ten-point victory.
The Intermediates are next in action on February 27 against Derry at a halfway venue to be announced, while the Senior side start their defence of the Division 1 title the following day at home to Dublin.
