Waterford inspired by Kerry but hold no fear - Hogan

Last weekend's Lidl National Football League finals brought back some good memories for Waterford footballer Kellyann Hogan.

Four years before claiming their first Division 1 crown in all of 32 years with an impressive triumph over Galway, Kerry took on the Déise County in a Division 2 decider held at Parnell Park in 2019.

Still a teenager at that point - and in just her second year on the senior panel - Hogan was amongst the goals as Waterford claimed the silverware with a 5-13 to 1-17 victory.

Remarkably, this wasn’t the only success that Waterford enjoyed against the Kingdom in that particular month. Just six days later, Hogan started in attack as Waterford recorded a 1-12 to 2-4 win over Kerry in the first round of the Munster Senior Football Championship at Cusack Park in Ennis.

"We were actually just talking about that the other day. Beating Kerry twice in two weeks is never a bad thing," Hogan said.

"That’s something we have always had in the back of our heads. We don’t have the fear of not being able to beat them in our heads. It’s always a good thing."

While Kerry have progressed significantly since those 2019 meetings (securing Division 1 and Division 2 NFL titles as well as reaching last year’s TG4 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final), clashes between themselves and Waterford remain relatively close-run affairs.

When the two teams met in Piltown on the opening weekend of this season’s Lidl Division 1, the Kingdom needed a late point from Danielle O’Leary to earn a 1-09 to 1-08 success.

They are set to renew acquaintances once again next weekend as Waterford play host to the league champions in the opening phase of the Munster SFC. Despite feeling they are more than capable of tackling the challenge of