Tipperary camogie minors travel in search of a Munster A title this weekend

This Sunday Tipperary travel to Waterford to take on the hosts in the Munster Minor A final at 2pm in Walsh Park. Having defeated Cork in the semi-final on the 20th January it’s been a long build up to Sunday’s final. However the players have been far from idle with many involved on the Ursuline team which have reached the All-Ireland final as well as a number of dual players who have been out in action with the Tipperary minor ladies football team.

While the main focus for Upperchurch-Drombane native John Ryan and the Tipperary minors this year will be the All-Ireland championship which begins on the 3rd March, Sunday offers a great chance of picking up some coveted silverware for both counties in a competition which Cork have dominated in, in recent years. In a change to the format of previous years the Munster championship precedes the All-Ireland championship this year.

Last year having failed to make the All-Ireland knockout stages Tipperary regrouped for the Munster campaign beating Clare in a semi-final before losing to Cork in a cracking final. In this years’s semi-final a spirited team display secured the win against Cork at home on a final scoreline of 9 points to 6. Caoimhe Stakelum finished with 4 frees while Danielle Ryan and Lucy Purcell also registered points.

Sarah Corcoran captains the team from centre back while Paula Quirke is another key plater at corner back. Tipperary will be well aware of the huge challenge Waterford possess on Sunday having lost to them in the group stages of the All-Ireland championship last summer. Waterford went on to contest the final but came up short against Cork. They defeated Limerick in this year’s Munster semi final 1-07 to 1-04 in a game played in terrible weather conditions.

Waterford had the wind in the first half and led 1-06 to 1.00 at the break. De La Salle’s Maggie Gostl got 4 points while Ava Fitzpatrick finished with 1-01 for the Deise. The second half saw Limerick outscore Waterford four points to one, but Mark English's team were able to hold on for the win, partly in thanks to goalkeeper Katelyn Gardner who pulled off a superb diving save in injury time.

A large crowd of supporters is expected from both counties and a mouth-watering battle is predicted this Sunday from two evenly matched sides.