Hurling & Camogie

Antrim benefiting from revamped minor championship as Saffrons eye All-Ireland title

Electric Ireland All-Ireland Minor Shield final: Antrim v Limerick (Sunday, UPMC Nowlan Park, 2.30pm)

THE re-organisation of the All-Ireland minor championship this season has been very beneficial for Antrim.

Apart from the final game against Meath in Armoy, each of the group games has been competitive and there has been visible progress from week to week.

The Saffrons lost the opening round to Clare by five points, but quickly got back on track with a 1-10 to 0-4 victory over Offaly in Armoy. Wins followed against Wexford, Limerick and Meath and Antrim found themselves as top seed for the semi-finals.

A fortnight ago, they stuttered for a while in the first half of the semi-final against Wexford but still led by 1-6 to 1-5 at the break. The young Saffrons then dominated the second half to reach the decider on a 4-12 to 1-8 score-line with the goals coming from Mary McArthur (two), Eobha McAllister and Orlaith McAlister.

The same afternoon, a goal a couple of minutes from half-time from Lauren Southern opened a gap for Limerick in the other semi-final and they went on to win by 1-8 to 1-6 with the Clare goal coming in injury time.

Antrim played all three counties in Abbottstown in the group stages, before shifting to Kinnegad for the semi-final with Wexford. A final at UPMC Nowlan Park, therefore, seems a little unfair to the Ulster champions, but team manager John McArthur doesn’t want to allow the negatives to impact on the preparations.

“The game is on a good pitch and we will go there to win,” he said earlier this week after a training session in Dunloy.

“We beat Limerick in the group stages and I felt then that they were the best team we had met. I wasn’t surprised that they beat Clare. I felt that they would. We produced a good performance to beat them, but I think we will have to be even better in the final.”

The likely starting line-up will once again come from the north Antrim clubs, with seven of them earning Ulster Schools’ Allstars, including captain Aoibheann Donnelly.

Five of the team have already won All-Ireland schools’ medals with St Louis, Ballymena with one of those, defender Erin Coulter, in search of a third national medal since January after playing a key role when her club Brídíní Óga Glenravel won the All-Ireland Junior club title.

Lucy O’Brien was Limerick’s player of the match in the semi-final against Clare and her tussle with Orlaith McAlister will be key to the outcome – as indeed will the accuracy of the free-takers, Niamh Brennan and Antrim’s Anna McKillop.

With just six teams graded for the minor A Cup final, victory for Antrim in this Shield final would place the county at its highest standing in underage camogie for quite some time. They will travel with confidence and are good enough to win.

The second game at Nowlan Park should be very interesting. Cork topped the qualification group but were beaten by Waterford along the way. Can the Déise repeat the dose or will the Rebelettes gain revenge?

Electric Ireland All-Ireland minor C final: Down v Kerry (Saturday, Clane, 2pm)

A 2-9 to 0-4 defeat to Kerry in their second group game in the All-Ireland minor C grade didn’t bode well for Down. They had already lost heavily in the Ulster minor semi-final.

However the Mourne youngsters have knuckled down and, despite losing to Armagh in their last group game, they overcame their neighbours by a single point in last week’s semi-final in Templeport in Cavan and get a second shot at Kerry in Clane on Saturday.

Kerry are clear favourites to take a first national title at this level with quality players in Roisin Quinn, Emma Conway and Ciara O’Sullivan.

Down’s re-emergence has had much to do with the leadership of Claire Morgan in defence, Ceallagh Byrne the captain in midfield and Niamh McGrath in attack.

If they win, they will have to overcome the set-back of losing Cara McEvoy who a broken bone in her hand in a club match.

Expectation wasn’t high going into the game last week. It has been raised by that result. But Kerry are still favourites.