PREVIEW: Liberty Insurance All-Ireland Intermediate Championship Final, Galway v Westmeath

by Daragh Ó Conchúir

 

Liberty Insurance All-Ireland Intermediate Camogie Championship Final
Galway v Westmeath
Croke Park, 2pm
Referee: Andrew Larkin (Cork)

 

It is Galway’s first appearance in the Intermediate Final since 2013 and they will be hoping that the fact they appeared in the Senior as well on that occasion will be a good omen, as they left headquarters with both the Jack McGrath and O’Duffy (Senior) Cups.

 

They were involved in a very competitive group, as evidenced by the fact that runners-up Westmeath have also emerged. It was so tight however that the table-toppers had to get a draw in their last tie against a Kilkenny team that had beaten them in the Division 2 League Semi-Final, to be assured of qualification.

 

As it transpired, had Kilkenny prevailed, three teams would have finished on 15 points on the top of the table and Westmeath would have missed out on score difference. Talk about tiny margins.

 

The teams met at the Coralstown/Kinnegad grounds in June and Galway needed three goals to edge the verdict by a point. They accounted for Division 2 League champions Tipperary by four points in the Semi-Final and will go into the decider as marginal favourites.

 

It will only be marginal however, as Westmeath have been making giant strides in recent years. Crucially, they have carried on the momentum from garnering Premier Junior honours in 2017, reaching the Division 2 League Final last year and making the last four again this term.

 

That experience has been crucial in building as a Championship outfit in the second tier and their form in the group stages, where taking Kilkenny’s scalp in July proved the key result. The manner of that victory was impressive too as Johnny Greville’s troops emerged from enemy territory in the John Lockes’ facility in Callan with seven points in hand at the final whistle.

 

They were involved in a humdinger against last year’s Finalists Down in the Semi-Final. They held the upper hand throughout but had to defend resolutely to hold off the Mournewomen by a point.

 

Experience of Croke Park will stand to Westmeath and in long-serving Pamela Greville – sister of the manager – Megan Dowdall, captain Mairéad McCormack, Sheila McGrath and Laura Doherty, they have a number of driving forces.

 

Galway are not short on experience or quality either, Tara Rutledge having played Senior at the beginning of the decade and maintaining her commitment to the second string over the years despite being a Dublin-based teacher. Ava Lynskey, Molly Mannion, Méabh Scally, Ward and former soccer international Lisa Casserley are others who have shone through the summer.

 

The form book suggests that this will be very close.