*Jennifer Daly battles with Orla Hickey. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
CLARE’s senior camogie side produced their best display of the year but it wasn’t enough to overcome Waterford with the Déise advancing to the All-Ireland semi-finals with a ten point win.
Waterford 2-20
Clare 2-10
Venue: Croke Park
It was the end of the road for their All-Ireland Senior hopes but seemed only the beginning of a new chapter for Clare camogie who pushed red hot favourites Waterford to their optimum in Croke Park for the Glen Dimplex All-Ireland senior camogie quarter-final.
Despite the vast experience of contesting the business for the last eight seasons including the 2023 All-Ireland Final, Waterford were certainly rattled by a battling Banner that unearthed undoubtedly their best performance of 2025.
Not content to contain the Deise, John Carmody’s side went for the jugular from the outset and would be rewarded with crucial scores that saw Clare lead on three different occasions in the first third of the contest.
Captain Aine O’Loughlin led by example with an emphatic brace of goals in the space of eight minutes while down the other end, a combative rearguard hunted in packs to frustrate Waterford including an early penalty save by goalkeeper Rachael Daly from a Beth Carton eighth minute attempt.
Abby Walsh was also excellent in her curbing of 2023 National Player of the Year Beth Carton, epitomising a never-say-die spirit throughout.
Susan Daly and Clare Hehir combined to block an Abby Flynn shot while Andrea O’Keeffe also got back to smother a subsequent Flynn goal sighting after Mairead O’Brien was denied by Rachael Daly.
A brace of Niamh Rockett points edged Waterford 0-6 to 0-4 in front, only to be sank by an O’Loughlin tsunami when her Truagh Clonlara club-mate Roisin Begley’s shot for a point dropped short perfectly for the captain to catch and unleash an unstoppable bullet on the turn to power her side back in front.
Again a shellshocked Deise picked themselves off the canvas through Rockett and Flynn before being floored once more in the 22nd minute when this time Begley crossed from the right corner for O’Loughlin to dummy her marker Rachael Walsh and kick to the left corner of the net at 2-4 to 0-8.
A trio of Niamh Rockett frees did repair the damage by injury-time while an Andrea O’Keeffe point looked to ensure a half-time deadline before it was Waterford’s turn to sucker-punch their opponents. From the puck-out, Abby Flynn cut in from the left wing to bear down on goal, attacking Clare’s last line before popping a pass inside to Annie Fitzgerald to finish to the net at 1-11 to 2-05.
It was an untimely set-back for the Banner but far from detrimental as they matched the Deise twice in the opening six minutes of the new half through O’Keeffe and former captain Clare Hehir at 1-13 to 2-07.
There would still be only a puck of the ball between the sides entering the final quarter after Jennifer Daly and Clare Hehir cancelled out scores from Waterford threats Beth Carton and Niamh Rockett at 1-15 to 2-09.
It was at this point that Clare’s luck turned though as first Aine O’Loughlin was rugby-tackled to the ground by new marker Keeley Corbett Barry on her way to goal, with goalkeeper Brianna O’Regan equal to the powerful 20 metre free from substitute Ellen Casey.
Clare were not willing to take any back step as Casey and O’Loughlin combined to tee up Andrea O’Keeffe whose shot would be smothered by a desperate Waterford last line.
A goal at that stage would have completely flipped the script but while only a goal still separated the sides entering the final ten minutes, Clare’s momentum did wane.
Despite emptying the bench, an incrementally war-weary Banner were punished by the irrepressible Rockett who fired 1-3 without reply to finally seal Waterford’s place in the last four for the third time in four years.
Scorers for Waterford: Niamh Rockett 1-11 (6f, 1’45); Abby Flynn 0-4; Annie Fitzgerald 1-1; Beth Carton, Lorraine Bray 0-2 each
Scorers for Clare: Aine O’Loughlin 2-0; Clare Hehir 0-3 (3f); Ziyan Spillane, Andrea O’Keeffe, Jennifer Daly 0-2 each; Caoimhe Cahill 0-1
Waterford
1: Brianna O’Regan (De La Salle)
21: Vikki Falconer (Tramore)
2: Rachael Walsh (Butlerstown)
3: Kate Lynch (Gailltir)
5: Bevin Bowdren (St. Anne’s)
6: Keeley Corbett Barry (De La Salle)
7: Orla Hickey (Cappoquin)
4: Alannah McNulty (De La Salle)
9: Lorraine Bray (Cappoquin)
13: Mairead O’Brien (Modeligo)
11: Beth Carton (De La Salle)
8: Eimear O’Neill (Brickey Rangers)
12: Abby Flynn (De La Salle)
15: Annie Fitzgerald (Gailltir)
10: Niamh Rockett (St. Anne’s)
Subs
14: Maggie Gostl (De La Salle) for O’Neill (44)
20: Tara Power (Tramore) for Hickey (56)
24: Molly Comerford (Gailltir) for Flynn (58)
17: Iona Heffernan (Ferrybank) for Corbett Barry (60)
19: Alannah O’Sullivan (Gailltir) for O’Brien (62)
Clare
1: Rachael Daly (Scariff-Ogonnelloe)
2: Susan Daly (Scariff-Ogonnelloe)
4: Sinead O’Keeffe (Kilmaley)
7: Danielle Griffin (Inagh-Kilnamona)
5: Lynda Daly (Scariff-Ogonnelloe)
6: Abby Walsh (Scariff-Ogonnelloe)
3: Clare Hehir (Inagh-Kilnamona)
8: Niamh Mulqueen (Broadford)
9: Aoife Anderson (Ruan)
12: Jennifer Daly (Scariff-Ogonnelloe)
11: Caoimhe Cahill (Kilmaley)
10: Andrea O’Keeffe (Inagh-Kilnamona)
15: Ziyan Spillane (Feakle-Killanena)
14: Aine O’Loughlin (Truagh Clonlara) (Captain)
13: Roisin Begley (Truagh Clonlara)
Subs
17: Caoimhe Carmody (Kilmaley) for Spillane (38)
18: Ellen Casey (Newmarket-on-Fergus) for Anderson (42)
20: Grace Carmody (Kilmaley) for O’Keeffe (50)
19: Ciara Grogan (Clooney-Quin) for S. Daly (58)
21: Aisling Cooney (Parteen-Meelick) for J. Daly (58)
23: Muireann Scanlon (Cratloe) for Hehir (60, BS)
Referee: Liz Dempsey (Kilkenny)
