By Daragh Ó Conchúir
That Antrim manager, Elaine Dowds admitted to having “no idea” about the Laois team they will meet in the Glen Dimplex All-Ireland intermediate camogie final on August 9, tells you all you need to know about the midlanders’ remarkable odyssey in 2026.
Dowds was happy to concede that the victory of last year’s premier junior champions over last year’s intermediate finalists Kerry was a surprise but of course, she has plenty of time to acquaint herself with the crew managed by Pat Collier and Robert Jones.
It will be Antrim’s first appearance in the decider since their 2021 triumph, when Dowds was boss and the former Saffrons star has had an immediate impact returning to the post this year.
It is Laois that are the undoubted story of the championship to this point however, securing a place in the Glen Dimplex All-Ireland triple header at Croke Park for the third straight season, having lost the 2024 premier junior final.
They have posted a perfect record stepping up to the second tier and overcame the concession of a Jackie Horgan goal in the first minute and a Kate Lynch major early in the second half to record a 1-17 to 2-7 win at Glenisk O’Connor Park.
Aimee Collier scored eight points for Laois as last year’s premier junior champions defeated Kerry to reach the intermediate final (Photo: Alan Harris)
Aimee Collier – daughter of the co-manager – shot eight points and Eimear Hassett made it comfortable with a late goal, while Clodagh Tynan was a colossal force.
“It’s surreal,” Tynan admitted, after being named player of the match. “I looked at the clock at one stage, there was six minutes left and you don’t believe it until it’s actually blown up. It’s still surreal. I can’t get over it.
“We didn’t start each half the way we wanted to. We slacked off an awful lot in the first 10 minutes of each half, which is definitely not the way we wanted to start. We said at half-time, ‘We need to go out and get a good start,’ but we conceded a goal early again.
“But it just showed the huge character the girls have to not let that get into the mindset and keep driving on. We knew we were there, we just had to be patient and thank God the girls didn’t drop the heads.
“We’ve said in every training session, we’re not letting the foot off the pedal at all and every game we’ve played has been a step up and thankfully we’ve met the mark.
“We knew Down were going to be physical, Kerry were a huge hurdle to get over having been in the intermediate final last year, so we’re just delighted to be back up in Croke Park again, three years in a row, and hopefully the experience of the last two years will stand to us.”
Collier Snr maintains that there is plenty for him and Jones to address in the coming weeks but was bursting with pride at how their charges overcame both self-inflicted wounds and the considerable Kerry challenge. It was a common theme amongst the weekend’s four winning semi-finalists that qualifying for the decider trumped performance.
“The first 10 minutes, we were very disappointed on the line,” said the joint-manager. “We were a bit all over the shop with our match-ups. It took the girls a while to settle into the pace of the game. The first 10 minutes Kerry had us in big trouble but I thought we knuckled down for the last 15 minutes of the first half and we showed a little bit of what we’re about.
“It’s tough on Kerry, after being (in the final) last year, and it could have went either way, but for me and Rob as managers, for your team to dig it out like that – we did a lot of bad things but we still got through and the main thing is we showed a bit of grit.”
Dowds (above) was similarly unhappy with aspects of her side’s 3-10 to 0-12 triumph at Kingspan Breffni.
“Meath came out us really hard,” said the Antrim boss. “They were very physical. Their work rate was there in the first half. We probably left a few chances behind us in the first half and I can tell you that I wasn’t happy at half-time.
“Meath created 36 shots against Derry so we were never coming into this game complacent but our aim was to try reduce the number of shots they were gonna get. They left some behind, we left some behind but we had a good hard look at ourselves at half-time, because our work ate and our intensity, none of that was good enough. If we wanted to win that game we needed a serious effort in the second half and overall we did pick it up in the second half.
“I have no idea about Laois… I am surprised to an extent. Kerry played us and are a very good side… it’s maybe a wee bit of an upset that they have beat Kerry. I don’t know anything about them but I’ll be doing my homework in the next couple of weeks.”
A couple of brilliant goals by player of the match Éobha McAllister settled Antrim and Clíona Griffin ensured the victory against a very gritty Meath outfit. McAllister is among the newcomers to the squad that was successful five years ago and the thought of playing on Jones’ Road has her giddy with excitement.
“I can’t wait,” McAllister (scoring a point above) gushed. “It’s my first time playing in Croke Park and I’m buzzing. It’s things you dream of and I’m happy it’s coming true.
“We knew Meath would bring it up to us. They kept fighting back and we just had to keep pushing and it turned out well in the end.”
The Glen Dimplex All-Ireland premier junior final will be a repeat of the Covid decider of 2020, when Armagh were too strong for Cavan, after the Breffni crew had own the junior championship.
This time around, Cavan have a round-robin win over Armagh in the bank, though whether that has any bearing on a game for all the marbles is difficult to ascertain.
But of course, like any good manager, Armagh supremo, PJ O’Mullan was quite happy to make Cavan strong favourites against last year’s beaten finalists.
“We played them here in the round-robin and they beat us fair and square, beat us out the gate in fairness to them. They’ll probably go in as favourites and good favourites but we’ll have to try and get a few things right ourselves,” said O’Mullan, after goals from Rachel Trainor and Corina Doyle soon after the resumption kept his crew’s noses in front in a pulsating 4-19 to 2-19 win in Cavan.
“I think that was a great advert for camogie today. I think any time you go to a match and there’s 45 scores, it’s amazing and a credit to both teams.
“We prepared diligently for Roscommon. We knew what they were going to bring today. They are probably sick of the sight of us. We talked very much about complacency because we beat them three times already this year. They played Cavan and were 12 points up at a time so we knew how good they were and we had to dig deep to get the result.
“Our last game against Wicklow, with all due respects to Wicklow, wasn’t a test. We got a test today and if we play as well in the final, we’ll be there going down the stretch.”
Armagh’s Sinéad Quinn is presented with the player of the match award (Photo: INPHO/Nick Elliott )
“I think we’re just delighted to get over the line today,” added player of the match, Sinéad Quinn. “We played Roscommon a couple of times this year and we knew they’d be a very good team and we’re just glad to get back to Croke Park, which was the aim at the beginning of the year.”
Cavan maintained their perfect record to date this year but were made to work harder by Kildare than some might have imagined before eking out a 2-12 to 1-9 triumph in Tullamore thanks to goals by Hannah Fitzsimons and Niamh Keenaghan.
“In January we didn’t think we’d have a team,” said Shanise Fitzsimons, sister and midfield partner of the first-half goalscorer and subsequently named player of the match. “For us to be here right now is absolutely unbelievable. I don’t know what to say, I’m so delighted.
“You always want to play with your county, you wanna play with your county and to play in Croke Park, this what you dream of. This is your dream as a child and I’m just absolutely honoured to get here.
“Hannah deserves this (award) more than me. She was so good in the middle of the park and driving on from there.
“That was a ferocious battle and we knew it was gonna be ferocious… Girls stood up in the last ten minutes when Kildare were throwing everything at us and you just couldn’t be prouder of that.”
Kildare made Cavan work really hard before the Breffni crew prevailed in their premier junior semi-final at Glenisk O’Connor Park (Photo: Austin Crowe)
Selector Matthew Hines hailed the players.
“It’s hard to describe,” Hines admitted. “The last 10 minutes were just incredible there. The girls had the belief in themselves in the latter end of the game. We knew Kildare were coming into this game giving it everything. We knew they were up for it and we knew they weren’t going to give up for the entire game.
“Those last 10 minutes – the same against Roscommon two weeks ago as well – they just dug in and fought and fought and fought and didn’t give an inch. And neither did Kildare, to give them credit.
“For the girls, for camogie in Cavan, it’s unbelievable. For these girls especially, it’s unbelievable.”
