It’s the first big weekend of the camogie calendar this year, and the countdown is officially on to the Division 1, 2 3 and 4 Irish Daily Star National Camogie League finals.
In Division 1, All-Ireland champions Cork will go head-to-head with the tribeswomen of Galway in Semple Stadium, Thurles on Sunday (May 3rd).
Ashling Thompson of Cork was feeling confident ahead of the game.
“We’re feeling really good, really confident, we’ve won all of our league games so far so we’re really confident.”
“Our game is on before the lads’ game in Thurles and it’s going to be on TV too so I suppose that’s a small bit of pressure that we’re not used to.
“But we will focus and prepare right and hopefully we’ll be ready to go.”
Niamh Kilkenny of Galway was also ready for the challenge.
“We’re really looking forward to the game, it’s going to be a massive challenge but hopefully we’ll rise to it,” she stated.
“We’re unbeaten to date and we aim to get focused for Sunday and hopefully we’ll have it right against Cork.”
Meanwhile in Division 2, Laois and Waterford will face off in Carlow on Saturday (May 2nd).
Speaking ahead of the game Catriona McGlone of Waterford was ready for the encounter.
“I can’t wait!” she said. “Training is going well, we haven’t met Laois in a while and though they won’t be a pushover we’re going to try and be ready for them.”
“We’ve won all of our matches so far, we’ve been training hard and there’s a lot of talented younger players coming up. We can’t wait.”
On to Division 3, it will be the turn of Dublin and Carlow to battle it out for bragging rights in Cusack Park, Mullingar.
Looking ahead to Sunday, Dublin captain Michelle Kelly chatted to Her.ie about the task ahead and trying to put the past behind them.
“I’m confident because we’ve really developed over the last couple of weeks,” she stated.
“In our first match against Roscommon we had a lot of nerves, but we’ve just built it from there and I feel like we’re really on form at the minute.
“Unfortunately we have lost the last two Division 3 finals so there is that in the back of our minds but we have a lot of new girls on the team and they don’t have that pressure from before so that’s nice, it’s refreshing for us, it’s like a clean slate.
“We’re confident going in now. We’re trying not to look at other matches or how Carlow have been getting on – we’re just going to focus on ourselves.”
“We’re developing well and the team has gelled, you can really see it coming together which is brilliant.
“Personally, the last two years will be in my head, but there is that added pressure especially now as captain, you’d love to step over the line – but it’s a new game, it’s a new year and hopefully we can put the past behind us too.”
Carlow’s Teresa Meaney was also looking forward to the challenge.
“We are really looking forward to it and we’d love to get promoted,” she agreed.
“We’ve had a mixed league to date, we beat limerick and lost to Dublin previously, but hopefully we’ll just perform on the day.”
“There is nerves before every game, and there’s a good buzz now in Carlow, everyone’s getting behind us – especially being on before the lads game is great as now they [the supporters] don’t have to decide which match to go to.
“Five of the girls have brothers playing the same day so it’s a great day out for all the families. We have to try and stay focused, our trainers are good at keeping us focused.
“We have the hunger, we want to win and there’s loads of competition at training so it’s great.”
Finally in Division 4, Meath and Kerry will go head-to-head on Sunday.
Ciara Ashe of Meath was feeling good ahead of the clash.
“We’ve upped our intensity at training, we have some girls after coming back into the squad which is great and we’re feeling very confident,” she said.
“We’ve very strong minors in the squad too and although we only played two games this year, against Kerry and Cavan, the experience will stand to us.”
“Kerry hammered us off the pitch but we will be ready for them this time. That was the first game and we learned a lot.
“In the Cavan game we gelled completely, we were much happier coming off the pitch. Winning against Cavan was like winning an All-Ireland final for us – we’d played so well together and really clicked as a team.
“We’re really excited – first final of the year and hopefully it’s not the last.”
More details on the fixtures this weekend can be found here.
