Crucial Kingdom clash for Oak Leaf camogs

THE Derry camogs will travel to Kerry knowing that they only need a draw to book their spot in the Division 2A showdown against Offaly.

It’s a happy position in which they find themselves, particularly as there was a certain level of apprehension at the outset of their campaign as new manager Eamonn Melaugh came to terms with a considerable loss in personnel over the off-season.

But things have gone rather well, having won three of their four outings to date ahead of their final group stage clash away to Kerry, who also have six points on the board at this juncture.

Derry have the superior scoring difference, so a draw will be enough to advance to the final against Offaly, who can’t be caught at the top of the table at this point.

Speaking ahead of the game, the Oak Leaf manager explained that things have gone better than anticipated – whatever transpires this Saturday.

“We’d lost a lot of players but then a few Bellaghy girls (the Lennon twins Leah and Amy and Roisin Cassidy) came back on board, Niamh Quinn’s come back in, and they’ve made a fair difference.

“Their presence at training and everything has helped a lot.

“We actually have a full-back line that’s all Bellaghy, Roisin Cassidy, Leah Lennon and then we’ve Eimear Doherty. They’re not easy got by, they’re very strong.

“Leah’s sister Amy is playing full-forward and has nipped in for a few important goals for us.

“Another girl came in at that time, Rebecca Bradley, she’s from Newbridge, and has made a serious difference as well.”

Looking ahead to Saturday, Kerry’s formline is similar.

Both teams have lost only a single match, that against a very strong Offaly side, so it’s hard to call a winner.

Kerry have home advantage but Derry will head down the night beforehand which will hopefully alleviate any travel stress.

“We’re second at the moment through score difference. Anything other than a defeat will get us through to the league final, which would be great.

“Kerry are a very strong team, they’ve Amy O’Sullivan at full-forward who seems to be doing a lot of scoring for them and they’ve a free-taker Patrice Diggin who doesn’t seem to be missing too much.

“Hopefully we can upset the applecart and go down there and get a win.”

He added: “We’ll be going down on the Friday night – to be fair to the county board, they’ve been very good to us.

“We went down to Carlow knowing it was a must-win game and went down on the Friday, now we’re doing the same again. We’ll be staying in Limerick which is maybe an hour away from the grounds in Kerry so it’s not too bad.”