Offaly camogie team one step away from All-Ireland intermediate glory

AN intercounty season that began with a league game against Kerry will come full circle and end with another game against the same opposition when Offaly and Kerry meet in the Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Intermediate Camogie final at Croke Park on Sunday next with a 3pm throw in.

Offaly won that game back on February 22^nd at St Brendan's Park in Birr when the sides met in the opening round of Division 2A of the National League, but that will count for little when referee Donnacha O'Callaghan throws in the ball on Sunday next with 60 minutes left to decide who will claim the intermediate title and progress to the senior ranks of camogie for 2026.

Offaly will be bidding to win the intermediate title for the second time and first time since 2010 when they defeated Wexford in the final by 2-12 to 2-10. That came just a year after they had claimed the Junior title with victory over Waterford. They appeared on finals day three years in a row in that period as they also lost the junior final to Clare in 2008.

This is Kerry's first time in an intermediate final but they aren't strangers to Croke Park as they won the junior title in 2019 while the Clonmaurice club, which backbones their team, is no stranger to All-Ireland Club final day.

These two teams both lost at the All-Ireland semi-final stage last year with Offaly losing out to Cork while Kerry were defeated by Kilkenny after extra time.

The changes to the championship structure this year meant that the second teams of the big counties like Cork and Kilkenny were no longer allowed to participate in the intermediate and junior championships but while that removed some obstacles, two teams came down from last year's senior championship with Antrim and Down both relegated.

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As it turned out they provided the opposition for Offaly and Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-finals in Newbridge but the two teams who played senior last year couldn't overcome last year's two beaten intermediate semi-finalists and so we have this novel pairing in Sunday's final, which is the middle part of the triple header with the senior and junior finals.

Offaly recovered from the disappointment of last year's All-Ireland semi-final defeat to put together a very good league campaign this year, which culminated with victory in the final in Thurles against a Derry team which competed in this year's senior championship.

That campaign began when, as mentioned earlier, they played Kerry in the opening round of the league when Offaly won by 1-17 to 0-11 in Birr and they followed that with further victories over Derry (2-10 to 0-8), Meath (0-16 to 1-10), Carlow (3-10 to 1-5) and Armagh (2-17 to 0-3) to finish top of the table and they progressed to the Division 2A final where they defeated Derry again by 4-13 to 0-10 in Thurles to achieve promotion to Division 1B for next season.

After that opening round defeat to Offaly, Kerry bounced back with victory over Meath (3-10 to 0-12), Carlow (0-15 to 2-8) and Armagh (2-10 to 0-6) but a one point defeat to Derry in their final group game (2-8 to 1-0) meant they missed out on a place in the league final but they were still in a good place heading into the championship.

Offaly began their championship campaign with a long trip to Portglenone to face Antrim and after a closely fought game were just edged out by two points, 1-16 to 3-8. That meant that they had little room for any further errors in the group but they made sure there would be no slips up with an excellent 3-15 to 1-11 win over Meath in Trim and a 2-14 to 2-6 win over Westmeath in Tullamore to ensure they finished second behind Antrim in the group.

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That gave them a home game in the quarter finals where they came up against Carlow and Offaly won comfortably by 3-18 to 2-9. In the semi-finals they were pitted again against Antrim in St Conleth's Park in Newbridge, and what a game that turned out to be. It went right down to the wire but when the final whistle blew Offaly had a single point to spare, 1-16 to 2-12 to claim their place in the final at Croke Park.

Kerry were in the other championship group and they began their campaign with a huge win over Carlow by 2-18 to 0-3. They had to travel to Down in round two and came away with a hard fought win, 0-13 to 0-11, before clinching top spot in the group with another big win, 2-20 to 0-4 over Kildare. They again renewed rivalry with Down in the semi-final and a brace of goals in quick succession early in the second half ensured they claimed their place at Croke Park with a 3-12 to 0-16 win.

This is Offaly's second year under the management of Lorrha man David Sullivan and they have built on the progress of last year. They freshened up the squad this year and the introduction of some younger players has given them an extra impetus. Four players were brought in from the minor side and the manager said he has always gone with the mantra that if you are good enough you are old enough.

They also saw a couple of experienced players come back into the fray with Mairead Teehan returning after missing last year through injury and she has been a revelation, while Christine Cleary has also returned after taking a year of to travel. They have joined other experienced players like Grace Teehan, a Soaring Star winner last year, Sharon Shanahan and Amy Byrne to aid the younger players.

Among the younger players to make their mark are Kate Pilkington, Fianait Dooley, Niamh Sheehy and Roisin Kinsella among others and they have helped Offaly enjoy a successful season and get back to finals day at Croke Park for the first time in 15 years.

Standing in their way will be a Kerry team who will provide a very stern test. Up to 12 of their starting line up could come from the famed Clanmaurice club, which has regularly featured in the latter stages of All-Ireland club championships. That means they will have good understanding and team work honed from years of playing together. They are renowned for their battling qualities and they won't give up until the final whistle.

They have some great players who would feature on many a county team. Players like joint captains Patrice Diggin and Jackie Horgan, Niamh and Annmarie Leen, Aine O'Connor and Caoime Spillane are just some of the players that Offaly will be watching out for on Sunday, aware of the damage they could cause to their dreams of All-Ireland glory.

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Offaly would dearly love to complete the circle from victory over Kerry at the beginning of the year to victory over them again on Sunday but are well aware that it will be far tougher and closer than that day in February. However Offaly have progressed and improved throughout the year and if they maintain that type of progress and show the type of spirit and determination they showed in their semi-final win over Antrim, they can return home with the Jack McGrath Cup on Sunday evening.