IT’S round two of the All-Ireland Camogie Championship on Saturday as Antrim host Offaly in Group Three (Portgleone, 3pm).
The teams come into the game with contrasting fortunes as Antrim opened their campaign with an impressive 1-15 to 0-14 win over Limerick a fortnight ago, while Offaly suffered a heavy 2-26 to 1-9 home defeat to Waterford.
Victory for the Saffrons will guarantee a place in the knockout phase and give Elaine Dowds’ team a shot at moving straight into the semi-final, but that is a thought for another day as their only focus will be on taking care of business against the Faithful this weekend.
The sides drew in the League, so Antrim will know this is not a straightforward assignment and they will need to bring the same intensity they did to their opener.
Against Limerick, Antrim withstood a strong second-half comeback from the visitors to win by 1-15 to 0-14 in Dunloy.
The Saffrons had beaten last year’s All-Ireland quarter-finalists when travelling to Rathkeale during the League and repeated that on home territory, but were made to sweat, having led by 1-8 to 0-4 at the interval.
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A Siobhán McKillop goal, allied with some good finishing by Caitrin Dobbin and Katie McKillop put Antrim in a strong position and though Amy Boyle stretched the advantage to eight points soon after the resumption, Limerick showed their bottle with six of the next seven points to
Not for the first time, Róisín McCormick made a big contribution to halt the momentum, converting a free from distance into the wind and with Áine Magill also finding the target, they managed to chisel out a four-point success.