Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship
Group 1 (tomorrow)
Down v Clare (Liatroim, 3pm)
Galway v Cork (Athenry, 5pm)
THIS is a huge game for Down. Two of their three opponents in this group were seeded in the draw because they reached the All-Ireland semi-finals last year.
Clare is the other team, by no means an easy game, but one less intimidating than the other two. Having them travel to Liatroim Fontenoys is a bonus.
The Banner ladies began the league for the past two years with big results. This year they beat All-Ireland champions Kilkenny in the opening game. After that they lost games narrowly and only avoided a relegation play-off by drawing with Dublin.
Last year was the same and in the championship they finished bottom of the group with draws against Dublin and Tipperary.
Although they reached the Munster final last month with a win over Limerick, they then suffered a heavy defeat to Tipperary on the same day as Down were proving everyone wrong up north by winning back the Ulster senior title with a six-point win over Antrim in Rossa Park.
In their third year now in the senior championship, Down’s best performance during that time was probably the very first outing away to Waterford, when they lost Sara Louise Graffin near the end and went down by a point.
Graffin is still central to their attacking plan; a player who can take possession from a high dropping ball and create, or take, scores.
The other main scoring ace in Down’s pack is skilful captain Niamh Mallon who provides a different challenge to any defence with her low centre of gravity and accuracy even when off balance.
As with the Ulster final, however, Down’s chances of victory will probably rest with their defence and whether or not they repeat their Ulster championship feat of not conceding a goal.
They gave up a few unnecessary frees, however, but Antrim were having an off-day from the placed ball and they escaped punishment.
If Down play as they did against Antrim, get the home crowd behind them and keep out goals, they will have a real chance of a shock result. However everyone is predicting that they will finish bottom of the group and have to take their chances in the relegation play-offs.
Home venue could count a lot in the other game. It is a re-match of the recent League final when Cork led for a long period, but were caught close to the end and went down by four points. Galway also beat them in the final group game – by a single point.
Those were Galway’s last two competitive outings as there is no Connacht championship.
In Munster, Cork were surprisingly beaten by Waterford.
VERDICT Everything points to wins for Galway and Clare, but there could be a sting in the tail for both teams.
