PREVIEW: Liberty Insurance All-Ireland Premier Junior Championship Final, Kerry v Limerick

by Daragh Ó Conchúir

 

Liberty Insurance All-Ireland Premier Junior Camogie Championship Final
Kerry v Limerick
Croke Park
Throw-in: 12pm
Referee: Gavin Donegan (Dublin)

 

The All-Ireland Premier Junior Championship Final has seen both of the finalists emerge from the same group.

 

There was little surprise in Kerry’s progression, given that they had cruised through the group stages with a 100 per cent record that included a three-point win over Limerick in Croagh, though with that taking place two and a half months ago, there is potential for improvement in both units since.

 

Limerick would have entered the competition in good spirits as while they lost the National League Division 3 Final by four points, their conquerors Kildare are an Intermediate outfit.

 

After the narrow defeat to Kerry, they were held subsequently to a draw by Waterford but following a facile triumph over Wicklow, they came out on top in a high-scoring winner-takes-all affair with Offaly to bag the runners-up spot.

 

The Shannonsiders reserved their best performance of the campaign to date for the penultimate hurdle, accounting for Roscommon by seven points.

 

Kerry will be fancied to maintain the upward spiral of Camogie in the Causeway region, and while they found Dublin too strong for them in the 2018 decider, the old saying that you have to lose one to win one comes to mind, particularly when it pertains to familiarising yourself with Croke Park and how daunting playing an All-Ireland Final there can be.

 

In Patrice Diggin, they have an inspirational performer, acknowledged during her Ashbourne Cup-dominating days at University of Limerick as one of the nation’s premier players. In the 10-point Semi-Final defeat of Clare, the flame-haired artist was a major influence once more from frees and play.

 

Also on that day Julianne O’Keeffe scored a stunning goal, flicked over her right shoulder in the air from a Diggin free, and is always threatening up front, as evidenced by the four points she added to that brilliant major against the Banner. At the other end of the pitch, Niamh Leen is long-established as a stubborn full-back, who relishes the battle of neutralising an opposition danger.

 

Rebecca Noonan is Limerick’s primary scorer but Michelle Curtin and Geri-Mai O’Kelly offer valuable support to the free-taker. In defence, Aoife Tangney is a key operator while captain Grace Lee is a constant influence.

 

Neutral patrons, or supporters of the teams competing in the subsequent Finals, would do well to come in early because the day’s extravaganza should get off to a belter.