Liberty Insurance All-Ireland Intermediate Camogie Championship final
Antrim v Down
(Saturday, 3.45pm, Kingspan Breffni Park, Live on the BBC iPlayer & RTÉ News)
ANTRIM will bid to finish 2020 as All-Ireland Intermediate Camogie champions at the expense of Ulster rivals Down when the sides clash at Kingspan Breffni Park on Saturday evening.
The Saffrons recorded an impressive 0-14 to 0-3 win over Laois in their semi-final meeting in Inniskeen last month with Down overcoming Meath by six points in their last four clash at Clones.
The sides have enjoyed similar paths to the final as Antrim also defeated Meath in their quarter-final game with Down securing a win over Laois earlier in the campaign. The two counties are unbeaten in this year’s series and Antrim are looking to win their first All-Ireland title at the grade since 2003 while Down last won the Intermediate crown in 1998.
However, the Mourne County were beaten by Cork in the 2018 decider and Antrim joint-manager Paul McKillen feels Down’s greater experience at this level means they are favourites for Saturday’s final.
“I’ve said all along and I’ll say it again, Down have been favourites from day one because they’ve a lot of experience at this level,” said McKillen, who is the joint-manager alongside Sarsfield’s clubman Jim McKernan.
“Themselves and Meath, who came down from Division One, were the most experienced teams in the competition. Down have been knocking on the door over the last number of years.
“Antrim haven’t really been in the reckoning in recent years - we’ve sort of came from nowhere. I’m not running us down, we are a good side. We might just lack that bit of experience on the day.
“The form book would have favoured ourselves and Down as we are the two unbeaten teams and we are the two form teams. The scorelines in the games were also very similar. Down beat Laois 2-13 to 1-8, we beat them 0-14 to 0-3.
“We beat Meath by four points, Down beat them by six. On form, it should be a clinker. Maybe a goal or a bit of luck either way will get a team over the line.”
Saturday’s Intermediate decider will form the second part of a double-header at Kingspan Breffni Park with the Premier Junior Final between hosts Cavan and Armagh taking place at 1.45pm.
Double-headers at this time of year are rare, although McKillen has no concerns over the playing surface.
Yet, the Antrim boss has questioned the logic of playing the Intermediate Final so late in the day when the overwhelming majority of the squad will have to make a near six-hour round trip from North Antrim.
“I don’t know much about Breffni Park to be honest and I don’t know how good the surface is. I’m sure it will hold up and it looks to be a good enough stadium,” added McKillen.
“I just think for Antrim and Down, they could have played it somewhere closer. It will be a dark evening for the players travelling home.
“Our young girls will have to drive because we can’t travel on a bus. I’m a bit annoyed at that. We’ll have to drive three hours to the pitch and three hours back – you’d be in Croke Park quicker.
“If it’s a wintery night, it isn’t fair to be asking young players to be travelling that distance, especially after the game. Usually an All-Ireland final at that level would have been played at Croke Park.”
One Antrim team who will get to play in Croke Park are the senior hurlers who face Kerry in the Joe McDonagh Cup final ahead of next Sunday’s All-Ireland SFC final between Limerick and Waterford.
McKillen believes there is a great sense of anticipation around the county at the minute and hopes his side can deliver the first part of a memorable All-Ireland double for Antrim.
“We are in the final and the hurlers are now in the Joe McDonagh Cup final too so hopefully some trophies will end up in Antrim this year,” stated the Ballycastle native.
“You have to give the county boards credit. Anything we’ve asked of the Camogie board, we’ve got.
“Any support I’ve asked for, they’ve came up with the goods. The buzz is great in our camp. We just have to deliver the cup now.”
However, McKillen warned that Antrim must step it up another gear if they are to overcome Down.
The Saffrons defeated Carlow and Meath before easing to an 11-point win over Laois in the semi-final, but McKillen feels his side can still improve.
“We were in control for most of the game and maybe before the game a lot had been said that we should get through to the final, but Laois were a sticky team,” reflected McKillen.
“If they (Laois) had have taken their scores, we might have been in a bit of bother. They missed quite a few frees.
“I know we could have walked away with the match had we taken our goal chances – their goalkeeper was outstanding. We’d have to put those chances away if we want to win the All-Ireland.”
Antrim will be without the services of Kathryn Donnelly after the Ballycastle ace suffered a hamstring injury in training last week while Down are sweating on the fitness of Fionnuala Carr, one of their key players.
The Clonduff star suffered a calf injury prior to their All-Ireland semi-final win over Meath, but is believed to have aggravated the injury during the six-point win. Down manager Derek Dunne is likely to make a late call, but it would be surprising if Carr didn’t play some part in Saturday’s decider and she could be tasked with tracking Antrim’s in-form forward Maeve Kelly.
Antrim have hit an impressive 6-40 over the course of their three Championship games to date -an average of over 19 points per game.
On Saturday evening, they face their toughest test against a Down side that have coughed up a meagre 1-25 in their three outings, a little over nine point per game.
When an unstoppage force meets an immovable object, something has to give. Antrim will need to be at their very best to edge Down on Saturday, but there is good reason to believe such a result is possible. The Saffrons will be hoping it is the first leg of a brilliant All-Ireland double this December.
