All-Ireland final place at stake in Clontibret

Meath camogie manager John Davis will be hoping that his team can maintain a winning habit when they travel to Clontibret for the All-Ireland Premier Junior camogie semi-final against Down on Saturday, 2.0. The other semi-final between Waterford and Laois will be played at Nowlan Park, Kilkenny, also on Saturday, 2.30. A return to Clontibret might evoke some memories of a previous visit in the distant past for Davis when he was in charge of the Meath hurlers. On that occasion, the local officials had to remove grass from the pitch as it had been cut that morning and wasn't really in any state to host a game. Times have changed and something like that would not occur now? The challenge facing Meath in this semi-final is fairly daunting as Down have the experience of playing in a higher grade, Div 2 of the league, and that will be a major plus for the Ulster side. Meath camogie is certainly on an upward curve at the moment and Saturday's assignment will answer some questions - how much has the team improved, can they raise the level of performance, have they the ability to survive in Div 2 next year? Already this year Meath have achieved promotion to the National Camogie League Div 2 following a solid campaign that produced a final victory over Kildare. The Royal County girls recorded victories against Dublin, Roscommon, Armagh and Kildare on the way to that decider against the Lilywhites while in the championship they defeated Laois by 2-12 to 1-9 and Roscommon by 4-14 to 0-5. The only encouraging result from that series of games, ahead of the Down challenge, was the six-point victory over Laois at Trim. Meath enjoyed some good fortune this year as they were drawn in a three-team group in comparison to the other semi-finalists, Down and group winner Waterford, the likely favourites for the title. Kildare and Dublin were also in the other group and neither caused Down or Waterford too much difficulty. Add in the fact that Laois did not fulfil their Div 2 League fixtures, conceding walkovers to all the other teams, including Down, and Meath's task looks a lot more difficult. There is a chink of light at the end of what could yet be a dark tunnel in Clontibret, Down only won once in the league and that was against Wexford by 3-10 to 2-12. They were beaten by Galway, Antrim and Derry, but the key fact there is that they have been playing at a higher level and will be expecting to cope with Meath quite comfortably. Meath played Wexford in a challenge game about a month ago and, according to reports, performed well as the manager used the game to give everyone a chance to impress. That was before the last outing against Roscommon. Meath also have the experience of last year's semi-final defeat by Waterford to build on and they also can point to a great victory against Antrim at Kiltale two years ago. The return to the panel of players like Aileen Donnelly, Elizabeth Lynch and Frances Lynch will be a major boost and will make the job of the selectors more difficult. There are some doubts about the availability of Jane Dolan who played against Roscommon despite the handicap of a broken rib, but if the Blackhall Gaels player is available for selection it will also be a major boost. The Meath defence has shaped up in terms of tackling without conceding frees and another big performance will be expected from minor player Kristina Troy at centre-back. She will also be looking forward to the All-Ireland Minor C decider the following week against Armagh. The pressure will be on Down to deliver a victory. They will be looking to players like Niamh Mallon and Catherine McGourty in the forwards along with Nicola Branniff and Laura Hughes to get the vital scores. At the back Karen Tinnelly, Kelly O'Higgins, Orla Maginn and Paula Gribben will make life tough for the Royal County girls, but not tough enough. Meath can win.