Trim test crucial for camógs

by Kevin Egan

Losing out in Antrim in the first round of the intermediate championship wasn’t fatal for the Offaly camógs, but in a fiercely competitive group – one could argue that the four teams in Group 1 are stronger than any of the sides in Group 2 – the pressure is now on in advance of Saturday's fixture against Meath in Trim (4pm).

After winning a Division 1B National League title, Antrim marked themselves out as the side to beat in this championship, but there is very little separating the other three teams. Meath picked up a first round win over Westmeath which puts them in a very strong position, and the league game between Offaly and Meath in Glenisk O’Connor Park last March was a fiercely competitive fixture between two capable sides.

A talented half-forward line of Isabel O’Connor and Aedín Slattery either side of top scorer Aoife Carey is Meath’s trump card and they look to have improved considerably from last year, when Offaly were comfortable winners in a quarter-final at Semple Stadium. A two-point loss in a Belfast is a very solid building block, but the only benchmark for success tomorrow should be a win.