AIB Ulster Ulster Junior A Camogie Championship quarter-final Edendork v Loughgiel (tomorrow, Edendork, 1pm)
THERE is one preliminary-round game in the Ulster junior A championship and it brings together clubs from contrasting backgrounds.
While Loughgiel have represented Antrim in the competition on 13 occasions over the past two decades – and the county’s seven other representatives have reached the provincial decider each time – Tyrone has only been upgraded from junior B this term after Éire Óg, Carrickmore’s All-Ireland success last December.
Edendork is the team that qualifies to test the water after a comfortable enough win over Brocagh in the Tyrone final a few weeks ago. They achieved that with good performances from the Moohan sisters and Lára Devlin.
Loughgiel are a mix of very experienced senior players who have stepped down a grade to feature alongside some very young players. That mix was good enough to beat Cargin in the Antrim semi-final and then Dunloy in the final.
Úna McGovern and Shauna Devlin’s experience in organising the defence for the second half of that final was just as crucial to the outcome as Caela Dobbin’s player-of-the-match performance or the nine frees that 16-year-old Rose McMullan posted.
Loughgiel are favourites to link up with Crosserlough in next weekend’s semi-finals.
Meanwhile, one of the four Bridie McMenamin Shield quarter-finals has been brought forward to Saturday in Kilclief and should see a home victory over Carndonagh, who won back the Donegal title in September after a gap of three years.
The other three games are on Sunday. Since its introduction the competition has generally favoured the Antrim and Derry sides. But Tyrone teams Carrickmore and Brocagh have upset the form-book over the past couple of years.
There should therefore be wins for Belfast’s Naomh Eoin, Ballerin and Omagh, with Drumgoon the team most likely to buck the trend.
Finally, best of luck to the five Ulster players representing Ireland in the Camogie/Shinty international in Super-Valu Páirc Uí Chaoímh on Saturday afternoon (4pm).
The most experienced of the five is Down’s Dearbhla Magee, who was on the team last year, while Antrim’s Shannagh Heggarty and Armagh’s Naoise Hughes collected medals in Croke Park in August.
The other two players from here are Brocagh sisters Aoife and Gráinne McDonald, while joint-manager of the national team is Antrim’s Elaine Dowds.
Alongside the honour of wearing the Ireland jersey the girls will get a lot of experience from recent training sessions with the likes of multi-All-Ireland winning senior players like captain Ashling Thompson, Laura Hayes, Amy Lee and Saoirse McCarthy.
Bridie McMenamin Shield quarter-finals (first-named teams at home)
Saturday
Beann Dearg v Carndonagh (1pm)
Sunday
Clontibret v Naomh Eoin (12.30pm)
Ballerin v Culloville (1pm)
Drumgoon v Omagh (1pm)