Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Intermediate Camogie Championship semi-finals (Saturday, FBD Semple Stadium)
Derry v Kilkenny (1pm)
Meath v Westmeath (3pm)
IS this year’s Glen Dimplex All-Ireland intermediate championship as open as it seems? All four teams that remain in the title race look capable of winning it and that means that Derry, just a year after losing narrowly to Cork in a semi-final, could find redemption.
If they overcome 2021 finalists Kilkenny in Semple Stadium today, it will rank as an amazing turnaround because only five of the team that started in last year’s semi-final, plus two of the subs, have played in this year’s group games.
Those five do carry a lot of experience – Aoife Ní Chaiside in defence, Dervla O’Kane in midfield and forwards Áine McAllister, Máiréad McNicholl and Aoife Shaw – while the two subs from last year, Rachel Downey and Sinéad McGill, have come into defence and played well.
Some of the ‘new’ players who have featured would have been around county panels before – Lauren McKenna, Sinéad McGill – while others are just out of minor but look to have a tremendous future ahead of them.
The team has been able to absorb the impact of injuries as well, with Niamh Gribben stepping in between the posts to replace Niamh McQuillan with little fuss.
However, full-back Eimear O’Kane, who was carried off in the last group game, against Antrim, will be difficult to replace. At the very least, it will involve a shuffling of the deck with someone being asked to take on a pivotal role, leaving a position in which they have done well over recent games.
Derry were never really challenged in their group games. They were expected to win them and they put the result to bed in the first half in all three. Therefore, the last serious game they had was against Antrim seniors in the Ulster semi-final.
To progress to the Croke Park showpiece next month, Derry need to perform as they did in that game. They came into it with no expectation and produced a serious team performance that deserved a win instead of a one-point defeat.
Their opening group game was against Wexford in Owenbeg and Derry won by 2-17 to 0-7. Kilkenny only beat Wexford by 0-11 to 0-9 two weeks ago in the quarter-finals. But that was the Leinster side’s worst performance of the season. They looked overall favourites before that quarter-final.
Meath and Westmeath encountered each other in their last group game. Meath, who had lost the league final to Kerry in April, had already overturned that result and were riding high before the derby tie.
However Westmeath had drawn with Kerry, a result that effectively dismissed the league champions ahead of the knock-out stages. The Lake county then produced the goods against their neighbours, winning by 10 points.
Dual star Aoife Minogue did not play in that group game, but hit 1-5 as Meath surprised last year’s finalists Cork in the quarter-finals a fortnight ago.
Since then, Meath have been knocked out of the football. Minogue will therefore feature strongly without any big ball distractions in the semi-finals.
Verdict Both games look intriguing and could turn on small incidents. I believe that Kilkenny will improve on their performance against Wexford and that could mean problems for Derry’s defence. I am plumping for a Kilkenny win and Meath to overturn their group result against their neighbours. But, if Derry prove me wrong, I will be more than pleased.
