Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship
Group 3 (tomorrow)
Antrim v Limerick (Dunloy, 3pm)
Offaly v Waterford (Banagher, 5pm)
IN contrast to Down’s group, Antrim are along with teams that they will believe they can beat.
They were in the same league group as Waterford, Offaly and Limerick. While they weren’t in with a chance against the Déise in Creggan, they were comfortable winners over Limerick in Rathkeale and drew with Offaly in Banagher.
Having both Limerick and Offaly travelling north is a bonus, although last year they couldn’t take advantage of Corrigan Park to win their last game against Limerick.
Both teams look to have slipped a little from their form of last year, with Limerick winning just one league game – against Offaly – and then falling to Clare in the first round of the Munster championship.
Antrim began the season with hopes of making the league final and were on course until the final two games when they shipped home defeats to Wexford and Waterford.
A single point win over Derry in Portglenone was unconvincing and in context the Ulster final defeat by Down was not really as big a shock that it should have been.
So the Saffrons now play a fifth consecutive game on home soil (Dunloy this time), looking to break a losing sequence.
The main problem in the two recent games has been the absence through injury of captain Lucia McNaughton.
Not only has her driving runs been missing, but so too have been the pin-point passes to release Róisín McCormick and Caitrín Dobbin for scores.
Antrim are not as poor as the final score-line against Down suggests; three or four of the frees missed were of the easy variety and would normally have been converted. Nevertheless, there was a lack of shape in general play.
Down had learned lessons from the league encounter and put in place a defensive plan that worked against three or four players who can regularly hit multiple scores and change the focus of the Saffron attack.
Limerick’s results this year do not indicate that they will be able to repeat last year’s victory. They certainly have two or three players who can cause problems, but if Antrim can get going up front as they did in the Wexford game in Portglenone, there is no reason why they cannot pick up their first group points.
Home venue is unlikely to count for much in the other game as Waterford are clear favourites to beat an Offaly side that was relegated from Division 1B earlier in the season.
They look like the fall guys in this group and, if Antrim get off to a good start in Dunloy, the Saffrons could well qualify for the knock-out stages after two games.
VERDICT Wins for Antrim and Waterford, the latter by a clear margin.
