Plenty at stake for Ulster camogs

By Niall Gartland

THERE’S plenty at stake for teams across the province in the final round of fixtures in the camogie leagues.

Antrim sit bottom in Division 1A ahead of Saturday’s trip to Nowlan Park to face Kilkenny, though they have done very well on the performance front and can still feasibly stay up.

Presently they have two points to their name and they’ll need to defeat Kilkenny to stand a chance of staying up.

They can feasibly overtake Cork and Tipperary (both of whom are on three points) but will need favours elsewhere from either first-placed Waterford or Galway, who are second in the table. The team that finishes dead last when all is said and done will drop down to Division 1B.

Then in Division 1B, there’s a three-way tie between Down, Offaly and Wexford at the bottom of the table heading into the final round. Down are bottom on score difference ahead of their home tie against Wexford on Saturday afternoon. Whoever wins this game will definitely be safe, whatever happens in Offaly’s match against Clare. Indeed if Offaly lose to Clare, a draw would be enough for Domhnall Nugent’s Down.

In Division 2A, Derry take on top-placed Kerry in their final round of the league this Saturday. Derry are fourth and can theoretically qualify for the league final, but it looks unlikely as second-placed Meath are odds on favourites to get the better of bottom-placed Carlow.

Armagh have already sealed their place in the Division 3A final ahead of Saturday’s home tie against Wicklow, while a point against Kildare would be enough for Tyrone to set up an all-Ulster league showdown.

Then in Division 3B it’s a big occasion for Monaghan who face Mayo in Mostrim on Saturday. The Farney have done very well in their first time fielding at this level in many years with Marie Greenan in super form in front of the posts.