Very Ireland Camogie League (all games Saturday; 2pm unless stated)
Division 1B, round four
Antrim v Limerick (Ballycastle)
Wexford v Kerry (Enniscorthy)
Down v Dublin (Liatroim, 3.30pm)
THERE are several issues already sorted in 1B. Wexford will contest the final and, barring a huge upset in the last two rounds Dublin’s win over Limerick means that they should make it an east coast derby.
Down or Kerry will be relegated, while both Antrim and Limerick are sitting in md-table safety.
However, Antrim’s interim manager Carl McCormick will look to bring some stability to the scene after a turbulent few months that reflected their games in the first three rounds; they took a hammering in Wexford, but managed to bring enough survival instinct into the Down and Kerry games to pick up wins.
It would appear that McCormick has managed to get a decent panel pulled together again and he will want to get them organised to put up a decent performance against Limerick. It may not end in victory as the visitors are a fairly settled team and have had much higher scoring wins over Down and Kerry than Antrim achieved.
Neither McCormick’s daughter Róisín nor injury-plagued Lucia McNaughton featured in the last two games and an appearance from either would be a huge boost.
The relative inexperience of the players available to Down manager Paul Donnelly this year has meant that maintaining their position at the top table in both league and championship will be difficult.
While they have shown good application in each of their three games, they haven’t the points to show for it and Dublin won’t be letting up with a final berth within reach.
However, if the Mourne girls perform as well as they did against Wexford last day out, they will travel to Kerry next week with a fair chance of bagging the points to stay up.
Verdict Wins for Wexford, Dublin and Limerick
Division 1A, round four
Cork v Clare (Páirc Uí Rinn)
Galway v Waterford (Loughrea)
Kilkenny v Tipperary (UPMC Nowlan Park)
THE last round of fixtures threw up a win for Tipperary over Cork and that has opened up the group. There are four teams on two victories each and there will be a huge race to get into the league final.
Clare look the only team out of place in the division and they are in Páirc Uí Rinn to face Cork. If things don’t go their way, they could well be relegated late on Saturday evening with another round still to come.
Waterford’s problem in the All-Ireland final seemed to be the ease with which Cork got through for scores. In three games so far they have conceded just 1-24, the lowest concession rate to date.
If they maintain those defensive stats, they stand a good chance of getting something from the Galway game ahead of a home fixture with Kilkenny.
Kilkenny did well on the opening day when they ran Cork to a point, but the loss to Galway in the last game will have halted any momentum they gained from a strong showing against Clare.
They face a Tipp side bouncing after successive wins over Cork and Galway. They would be strongly fancied to make the final if they win this one.
Verdict The current formbook suggests wins for Cork, Waterford and Tipperary – but both Kilkenny and Galway at home are more than capable of ripping up that up.
