Sunday sees the Division 2 and 3 Littlewoods Ireland caomgie League finals take place.

Littlewoods Ireland Camogie Leagues Division 2 final

Cork v Derry, Coralstown Kinnegad GAA, 3.30pm

Having struggled at the top level for four years, Derry are looking to rebuild once more in the second tier of League and Championship. They will certainly be satisfied with how the first portion of the year has gone, particularly in recovering from a first-round loss to Carlow. They were without a number of key players on that occasion and got through the rest of the group phase without a blemish, overturning a large deficit to take Wexford's scalp and beating Kilkenny too. They finished strongly to deny Kildare in the semi-final and appear to have a real steeliness about them. Meanwhile, Karen Kielt is firing on all cylinders having returned after missing the Championship last year and with the Ní Chaiside sisters back after their heroics with Slaughtneil, they will be hard to beat.

It is quite an achievement to reach the Division 2 final, with Paudie Murray giving opportunities to a number of last year's Intermediate panel to break through to the Senior squad during the Division 1 campaign. That ended in disappointment with defeat in the final to Kilkenny last Sunday and in those circumstances, it would be a considerable boost if the Division 2 success of 2014 could be repeated. Certainly, this squad has been hugely impressive in getting this far. In the course of recording a 100% return in the group, they averaged more than a 10-point winning margin (18.6 points for and eight against), while it was 0-18 to 1-7 in their semi-final win over Carlow. Rachel O'Shea, Katelyn Hickey and Finola Neville have been doing much of the damage and will need to be shackled if the Leesiders are to be denied.

Littlewoods Ireland Camogie Leagues Division 3 final

Dublin v Roscommon, Coralstown Kinnegad GAA, 1.30pm

DUBLIN have had a largely trouble-free route to this juncture. They finished the group at the summit with four wins from four, including a seven-point defeat of Roscommon. That was in the opening tie of the competition however and given the likely improvement of both sides, changes in personnel and indeed different weather conditions, it is difficult to measure the relevance of that game when analysing this one.

Shane Plowman's side had little difficulty in seeing off Clare in the semi-final by nine points and again, they produced a consummate team performance at The Ragg. The defence excelled, as they had done throughout the campaign, while each of the attacking sextet got on the scoresheet with Caragh Dawson, Laoise Quinn and Sinead Nolan capable of picking off points from anywhere. Meanwhile, skipper Emer Keenan provides the midfield drive.

They go into the Division 3 Final as favourites but will know better than to take Roscommon for granted, not least because they have fallen at the last hurdle in 2013, 2014 and 2015 since winning Division 4 in 2012. Roscommon also fell short last year but showed real grit in accounting for Kerry in their semi-final, particularly as they were without the considerable services of two-time Soaring Star, Kelley Hopkins. Kerry had pushed Dublin all the way earlier in the campaign and been expected to renew rivalries with the Metropolitans in the decider but Roscommon's defensive game plan kept them to three points. Minor star Shauna Fallon scored three points and in the context of a game that finished 0-6 to 0-3, that was a significant contribution. Dual star Rachel Fitzmaurice and Susan Spillane are others that will need to perform if the Connacht crew are to secure a long-awaited first League title.

Sunday April 23^rd  

Littlewoods Ireland Camogie Leagues Division 2 Final

Cork v Derry, 3.30pm Coralstown/Kinnegad GAA, John Dermody (Westmeath)

Littlewoods Ireland Camogie Leagues Division 3 Final

Dublin v Roscommon, 1.30pm, Coralstown/Kinnegad GAA, Aiden O'Brien (Wexford)

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