Waterford 0-11  Dublin 0-7  

The early signs were ominous.    Playing into a very stiff wind, Waterford were attacking every ball with ferocity and Dublin could make no headway.  The underfoot conditions were soft and over the hour the referee would throw in the ball in the region of 10 times as the ball refused to respond to the players’ efforts.  It took Dublin until the second half to match the intensity of the Waterford play.

Dublin would need a lead of 6-8 points such was the strength of the breeze and having opted correctly to play with the aid of the elements, the expectation was that they would establish a platform for the second period.  

Four minutes gone and Dublin are awarded a free on the 20m but only about 5m from the clubhouse side at Parnells GAA Club.   But Ali Maguire’s had the radar on and she split the posts with a great score.  

Waterford were narrowly beaten by Wexford last time out and they have a star forward in Beth Carton.   Two bang on the black spot frees in the 5 ^th and 6 ^th minutes signified their intentions and Dublin knew they were in a game against the Division 1 newcomers.   Two more Carton specials   - one an excellent point from play stretched the Deise lead.

Dublin found the Waterford defence in no mood to concede scores and it took the homeside a further 14 minutes to register their next point – another pointed from Alison Maguire from 45m.     While Aisling Carolan found Beth Carton a handful she was more than a match and Dublin’s full-back line of Áine Woods and Eva Marie Elliott gave superb cover to the very reliable Grainne Quinn in goals.

Dublin enjoyed their best spell in the closing 10 minutes of the half.   Alex Griffin made her senior league debut in the 18 ^th minute and Dublin got a bit of momentum going.   Another Ali Maguire from close to the sideline was followed by two points from play.   The first from Miriam Twomey in the 25 ^th minute from a great feed by Emma Flanagan and the next was out of the top drawer when Siobhan Kehoe drove over from the sideline under massive pressure a score any camogie or hurling player would be proud off.   Shivers never stopped trying and was the one player that constantly took the game to Waterford.  But back came Beth Carton to level the game again with her 5 ^th point to level the sides tied together at the half-way point.

Eimear McCarthy was introduced for the second period and Dublin had an extra pep in their step – something that was marked absent in the first half.   In the 33 ^rd minute Ali Maguire fired over another excellent free but Dublin appeared to concede some needless frees in their own attack.    These indiscretions allowed Waterford the luxury of an uncontested free out.   From one of these long range efforts Gráinne Quinn showed great composure when dealing with the wet ball.   But she could do nothing about Fiona Morrissey’s 70m free effort which sailed over for the levelling score.

Kate McMahon put Waterford back in front with a point from play in the 46 ^th minute.   Soon after Arleen Cushen came on for Dublin – a welcome return after a long battle with injury.    Dublin equalised in the 42 ^nd minute with a fifth pointed free from Alison Maguire but that was it from a scoring point of view for Dublin.

The Beth Carton show took over and four points from the full-forward including a smashing effort from play finished the game in style for the visitors.

Scorers:  

Dublin: Alison Maguire (0-5), Siobhan Kehoe (0-1) and Miriam Twomey (0-1)

Waterford:  Beth Carton (0-9), Fiona Morrissey (0-1) and Kate McMahon (0-1)

Referee:  Eamonn Cassidy (Derry)