PREVIEWS: Big weekend of intermediate semi-finals in Tipperary club camogie

Intermediate Camogie Championships - Saturday 15th October - County Camogie Grounds, The Ragg

Newport Ballinahinch VS Shannon Rovers @1pm

Borris-Ileigh VS Kilruane MacDonaghs @ 3.30pm

By Saturday afternoon we will know the pairing for this year’s FBD Insurance Intermediate final after a rollercoaster of a championship.

The Intermediate championship this year consisted of a group of seven teams with each team playing each other to see who will take the top four spots and a semi-final place.

After a highly competitive group campaign no team has remained undefeated with Borris-Ileigh topping the table on nine points while second, third and fourth all finished with eight points and score difference determining the standing.

So Saturday’s double header is expected to produce two very close games. First up is the meeting of Newport Ballinahinch and Shannon Rovers.

Having lost last year’s final to Knockavilla Donaskeigh Kickhams Shannon Rovers will be eager to reach this year’s final and go one step further.

They have a good mix of youth and experience with Aoife McLoughney lining out in attack with county minor players Celine Guinan and Emma Darcy.

Elsewhere big performances will be needed from Gillian McKenna and Laura Leenane if they are to get past a Newport Ballinahinch team that have delivered some very good displays this year on the way to Saturday’s semi-final. In the first game of this year’s championship they defeated Shannon rovers by three points 1-17 to 1-11.

In captain Saoirse McGrath, they have an excellent leader and free taker. Up front Grace O’Toole and Keeley Lenihan have been doing a lot of the scoring while Caroline Mullaney has impressed at centre back. Borris-Ileigh have only lost one game so far this year and that was against Kilruane MacDonaghs by the narrowest margins 1-11 to 3-6.

They also drew with Cahir a team that beat Kilruane in their opening game. So again a close fought game is expected. Key players for Borris will be Julianne Bourke and Teresa Ryan who will likely be centre back and midfield respectively.
Emma Maher, Katie Fitzgerald and Aoife Fitzgerald have been others to impress this year while captain Aedin Hogan has been excellent from frees and play.

Kilruane’s key player has no doubt been Tipperary senior player Laura Shinners. She has scored key goals in almost every game for them this year and will definitely need to be watched closely.

Amy Quinlisk and Lianne O’Kelly have also been getting their name on the scoreboard throughout the year and were particularly impressive in their final group game where they recorded a 2-11 to 0-8 point win over Newport Ballinahinch.

Kilruane are coming into the semi-final with real momentum against a Borris-Ileigh team that for many have been the in-form side of the championship.

Both sides were impressive in last year's semi-finals despite the result not going their way. Two cracking semi-finals not to be missed will take place on Saturday at 1pm and 3.30pm in the County Camogie Grounds, The Ragg.