A big weekend in store for Counties Camogie and Lady Footballers.

This coming weekend promises to be another busy one for our Counties Intermediate Ladies Football and Camogie teams as both sides are in action, with both teams also having home advantage.

First up are the Camogie Team who will be looking to follow up their win over Cork last weekend with a victory over another neighbouring side, this time against Kilkenny with the game taking place on Saturday evening at the Saint Molleran’s grounds in Carraigbeg at 5pm.

Kilkenny last weekend lost to a fancied Limerick side.

When the sides met in the semi final of the National League a few weeks back at Walsh Park it was Limerick that ran out winners with twelve points to spare, but at Urlingford on Saturday last things proved to be tighter, with the visitors winning 1-12 to 1-8.

In a tight first half, it was the visitors that ended the half with a two point advantage, a Dymphna O’Brien goal helping Limerick to a 1-5 to 0-6 advantage at the break. Kilkenny however were not helped by the fact that they had their numbers on the field cut shortly before the break after Ciara Lyng was ordered off after collecting a second yellow card.

The second half proved to be as closely fought as the first with Limerick’s numerical advantage playing a part in the final outcome of the game.

The visitors hit seven points in the second thirty minutes while the home side hit 1-2, the goal coming from substitute Lydia Fitzpatrick.

While this will be Kilkenny’s second string team that faces Waterford this coming weekend, the Déise side will not be undermining their opponents.

After Lydia Fitzpatrick hitting a goal last weekend after coming on as a sub, she will be looking to a place in the team from the start this weekend, while others that impressed last weekend including Áine Kinsella, Áine Fahey, Miriam Walsh, Maeve Mansfield and Aisling Butler will be hoping to steer the Cats in the direction of a first win in this years championship.

Waterford last weekend made the trip to the Glen Rovers Grounds in Cork to play the Rebel’s second string team.

This was a game that Waterford was expected to win and they did not disappoint. Never an easy city for any side to visit, Waterford returned home with a 2-10 to 1-11 victory, the Waterford goals coming from Shona Curran and Nicola Morrissey.

Waterford at this level has a very experienced panel to pick from. As pointed out in my last blog dealing with Camogie, goalkeeping duties is a battle between Deirdre Brennan and Aisling O’Brien and which ever gets the nod will not let down the side.

Emma Hannon, Fiona Morrissey, Vicky Falconer, Marie Russell, Charlotte Raher, Claire Whyte and Jenny McCarthy are most likely to be the players mostly in contention for a place in the backs.

Jenny McCarthy, Jennie Simpson and Shona Curran could well be the players fighting it out for the centre field pairings while in attack Trish Jackman, Nicola Morrissey, Mairead Murphy, Lorraine Bray, Karen Kelly, Zoe O’Donoghue and Valerie O’Brien would all be expected to battle it out for the positions between ten and fifteen.

A win for Waterford would mean they would be on four points and should Limerick as expected beat Cork this weekend in Ballincolliog the two sides would be on maximum points heading into the clash with Limerick on the weekend of July 13, but it could also mean that ever before that game both teams could have all but secured a place in the semi finals of this years championship in a few weeks time.

Meanwhile a second Waterford Camogie team are in action this weekend. Waterford is currently top of the pile in Group two of the Under 16 ‘B’ Championship after two games. To date, they have recorded a massive win over Westmeath, and followed it up with a creditable draw against Cork last weekend. This weekend it’s a trip to the Capital for the Waterford side who take on Armagh at the Fingallians ground in Swords with the game having a 1-30pm throw-in.

This weekend is not all about the Camogie team. The Counties Intermediate Ladies Football Side is also in action this weekend.

They will be hoping to follow up their 2-17 to 2-12 win over Tipperary recently with another win over Limerick at Fraher Field on Sunday.

Last time out, Waterford trailed at the break against 1-7 to 0-7 having played against a very strong wind but in the second half with the wind at their backs, they put in a very solid thirty minutes of football and ran out worthy winners with Michelle and Sinead Ryan, Aileen and Linda Wall. Dearbhla Ní hAodha, Shone Curran, Michelle and Ann Dunphy all got their names on the score sheet.

Since then, Tipperary have played again and recorded a first win in this years championship after they proved too strong for Waterford’s opponents this weekend in Fraher Field.

Waterford would be expected to win this game but Limerick will not make things easy for Waterford as they will know that a very big win on the day could give them a place in the Munster Final a week later at the expense of Waterford.

They have some players to watch out for. Full forward Dymphna O’Brien is the Shannon-siders main threat, but they are no means a one person team as the likes of Joanne O’Gorman, Niamh McCarthy, Clodagh Reidy and Claire O’Riordan are all capable of hitting any opposition if given the opportunity.

Waterford has an experienced panel at this level and should be winning a game like this. Throughout the team there are some very experienced players in the team, some of whom are already mentioned.

The majority of the side have played in two All-Ireland finals and will be looking to reach Croke Park again at the end of September. Last year Waterford had to settle for second best against Armagh, but did have chances to win.

This year, you cannot but feel that there is even more experience in the team. While Grainne Kenneally who missed last years All-Ireland Final through injury is not involved this year, Waterford manager Pat O’Brien was able to bring the likes of Sinead and Louise Ryan and Ann Dunphy back into the panel this year and it looks it has strengthened the side both on the field of play and on the bench.

With Waterford and Tipperary both having recorded a win in this years championship, both are in pole position to win a place in this years Munster Final at Castletownroche on July 13. However, should Limerick win it would mean that the three teams would finish on two point’s each. In the event of this happening, the team with the best score difference would qualify for the final with the other two teams having to play-off during the week.

As things stand, Tipperary are on top with a score difference of plus seven, Waterford have a score difference of plus five while Limerick currently are on minus twelve.