All-Ireland Minor B Camogie Championship final: Saturday 3.30pm in O’Raghallaigh’s Drogheda: Antrim v Westmeath
As results came through in the early rounds of the All-Ireland Minor B Championship, it became fairly clear that the two strongest teams in the competition would be up against each other in the last league game in Group 1 in Ahoghill.
Both Antrim and Westmeath were cantering to facile wins, while the fare in Group 2 didn’t appear to match the standard set by the pair.
So it proved last Saturday with Antrim taking out Carlow on a 5-8 to 1-5 score-line while Westmeath were equally emphatic 1-14 to 0-6 winners over Laois.
But back to that final league encounter between the two a month ago in Ahoghill, when defending champions Antrim were pushed close by the visitors.
Westmeath broke through for three goals in the opening half, two created and finished by Ciara O’Looney, while the pace of Shiela McGrath also caused a bit of anxiety to the Saffron defence.
Antrim moved a couple of players at the break, worked hard to take the lead and in the end were convincing 1-18 to 3-6 winners.
However they picked up two bad injuries in that final league game and both Kathryn Mullan in defence and Maura Downey in attack missed their semi-final with Carlow last week.
Their absence seemed to impact on the semi-final performance with a little uncertainty in the both areas during the first half.
However a second half hat-trick from one of last year’s winning team Charley McCarry saw them through.
But neither Mullan nor Downey are expected to be back in time for the decider and there is also a doubt over the availability of two others, defender Emma Lousie McAreavey and sub Emma Matthews who are also members of the football panel who play a championship tie in Inniskeen at the same time.
That all opens the door for Westmeath’s pace to trouble Antrim, although the central line of Eilish Kearns and Ellen Hynds are strong in the tackle.
Ellen, Amy Boyle, Méabh O’Neill, Charley McCarry, Maeve Kelly and Roisin McCormick all played in last year’s final.
Five of the six forwards that started the semi-final are All-Ireland Féile na nGael with Loughgiel and 10 of the team started the All-Ireland senior A schools’ final with Cross and Passion, Ballycastle.
All that experience counts for a lot and it will be a surprise if Antrim do not retain their title.
Antrim (probable): A Graham, C McCaughan, E Kearns, EL McAreavey, M O’Neill, E Hynds (capt), F Toner, A Boyle, M Kelly, R McCormick, D Magill, A Connolly, C McCarry, C McGarry, C Laverty.
MATCH BOX
All-Ireland Minor B Shield final: Saturday 1.30pm in O’Raghallaigh’s Drogheda: Down v Kildare
DOWN minor manager Declan Napier says he always knew that his team were capable of reaching this All-Ireland Shield final, but he had hoped for a little more.
“At the start of the year I thought that we had a panel of players that could have made the semi-finals at least of the Cup competition.
“But while 26 or 27 were committing to training, we didn’t have those numbers for the first few matches away from home. Some of them work on a Saturday, others picked up injuries and then there were others again who couldn’t afford a full day away to Laois or Carlow with exams looming.”
“We had targeted the two home games and hoped for more. So when we didn’t win on the road, we had to win at home to reach the Shield decider.”
Things took a turn for the better in April with home league wins over Roscommon and Meath and that has lifted the spirits considerably.
“Yes, I would say we are a different team now than we were at the start of April. The wins have given us confidence and we are going into the final in good shape to take on Kildare,” claims the Belfast-based Civil Servant
Saoirse Sands, a daughter of former Down and Ulster hurler Noel, has really stepped up to the mark at full-forward with 5-8 in those latter two games while Blanaid Savage, Clare Cowan, Hannah Toner, Aoife McCann and Katie McGilligan, returning from injury, has made big contributions.
Napier though is wary of Kildare.
“The other group was much stronger than ours based on last weekend’s semi-final results and Kildare contested well in the games against the Cup finalists Antrim and Westmeath. They also gave Antrim a scare in last year’s final and have quite a few of those girls still available.
“So I wouldn’t underestimate their potential. But if we continue to improve as we have been doing in the past few weeks, we can win the title.”
While Down have momentum with wins in April, Kildare have not played since a 4-13 to 3-9 defeat to Westmeath five weeks ago. That is a long time to wait for a final and they may well have lost their edge in the meantime.
Still they performed much better against the top two teams in their group than Down did in theirs although Napier claimed mitigating circumstances for those early heavy defeats.
Saoirse Sands has the talent to break down defences and grab goals, but scoring support for the Portaferry ace has been slow to emerge and, if Kildare can limit her influence, the Ulster team could struggle to keep in touch.
Kildare on paper look to have the stronger team – but Down can make momentum count provided they get a decent start.
Down (probable) : M Rea, C Clarke, H Toner, A Magee, A McCann, B Fitzpatrick, R Cunningham, BSavage, N Burns, C Cowan, A McDowell, O McGoey, N Fitzgerald, A Bretnall, S Sands.
Subs : H Dorrian, B McAneney, C McConnell, R Doherty, A McKee, O O'Rourke, M Brown, K McGilligan, C Blayney, A McCamphill
All-Ireland Minor A final: Saturday 2pm in Neenagh: Cork v Galway
IT WLL come as a surprise to many that Cork have never won the All-Ireland Minor A Camogie title. They have lost three finals in the competition’s 12 year existence, but are expected by many to change those stats when they face defending champions Galway in Neenagh today (Saturday) afternoon.
The Rebels saw off a dogged Clare by 1-11 to 0-9 in one semi-final while Galway put an indifferent league run behind them to beat Tipperary in a 4-9 to 1-10 cracker in Banagher.
That up and down league run was a surprise as the Connacht county has claimed the last three under 16 titles, all achieved with something to spare.
Cork defeated them by 1-11 to 0-12 in the league game, not a huge margin by any means, meaning that Galway only reached the semi-finals on score-difference from Wexford and Dublin.
But a Galway team in a final, going for a fourth successive title has momentum and ambition. I think that they will upset Cork’s league retain their crown
Littlewoods Ireland Camogie Leagues Div 2 final
Sunday 2pm in Freshford: Cork v Westmeath
FIVE of the Westmeath panel in this Division 2 decider – the first ever for the county in 35 years – will have faced Antrim 24 hours earlier in the Minor final in Drogheda.
Not all of them will start but there is a fair chance that Jimmy Greville will use them at some stage as he takes both teams and knows the talent at his disposal.
The Lakesiders are really on an upward curve since losing the Division 4 finals in 2009 and 2010 to Kildare and Tyrone. They accounted for Cavan the following year and in 2014 won Division 3 and last year took the All-Ireland Premier Junior championship.
They are unbeaten this year, although they drew with Antrim in Cargan. Pamela Greville has been their star for some years now and last weekend scored 2-4 in the semi-final win over Dublin, despite having a penalty saved.
Until they met Cork in the last round of league games, the Rebels looked bang on course to retain their league title. But Westmeath rattled them early and held out for a 1-10 to 0-10 win with Greville scoring 1-7.
Cork though are strong and Amy Lee, Lauren Callanan and Jennifer Barry all have Senior experience.
They should hit back and I fancy them to reverse that league result and retain their crown.
