Limerick begin camogie championship campaign with Kilkenny test

JOE QUAID'S Limerick senior camogie side face a difficult opening assignment in the All-Ireland Championship as 2022 champions Kilkenny visit Mick Neville Park in Rathkeale this Saturday.

As well as Kilkenny, Limerick will also face Waterford, Derry, Antrim and Tipperary in the group stages of the championship.
This Saturday's game in Mick Neville Park has a 4pm throw-in and will be the Limerick senior side's first outing since April 28, when they were defeated by Waterford in the first round of the Munster senior championship.

Quaid and his management have come in this season and totally turned the team around. Speaking about their league campaign where they finished third in Division 1B, retaining this status for next season, Joe Quaid said: “We were happy with our league in general and bar the Offaly game, I don't think the girls had won a game since 2021 against any other team.

“The last League win against Wexford, who were at the top of the table, really showed that there were green shoots and belief within the squad. We were giving opportunities to girls in different positions and some playing for the first time with us.

“We moved on to the Munster Championship then and we felt we held Waterford to six points from play. The problem was we weren't converting our chances when they were given to us and we have worked on that problem since then.”

The team have had almost three weeks to regroup and concentrate on the All-Ireland championship series, with the senior camogie squad playing five games in six weekends one after the other.

The time off has given the side a much-needed rest and has allowed Quaid and his coaching staff time to tune up the finer details of their defence and attack before facing into an extremely demanding All-Ireland series.

Manager Quaid went on to speak about the three weeks off and how it has benefited the squad immensely. “The time let a good few injuries and knocks heal up while also allowing us to actually do some coaching with the girls. The thing is we are only really together as a group a few months so for us to get our coaching style and the way we want to play the game across we needed those few weeks.

“We have been playing girls in positions they might not be used to, so the few weeks has allowed us to better understand where everyone needs to be and we really enjoyed the few weeks with the girls. They are more than ready to get out on the pitch now this Saturday and really give Kilkenny a game.”

Limerick will be facing familiar opposition in Antrim and Waterford, who were in their All-Ireland championship group last year, but as the games come so quickly in this competition manager Quaid says that the team are only looking at what is ahead of them and taking every game as it comes.

“We haven't even looked past the Kilkenny game if I am being honest, there's no point really,” Joe Quaid said.

“That game has to take all our focus. We have five games to play in six weeks and we will just take them as they come along. To qualify, you'll have to beat the Derry's and Antrim's in the group and take a scalp off one of the other three to have any chance really.”