ALL IRELAND INTERMEDIATE
CAMOGIE CHAMPIONSHIP

Derry v Kilkenny

Saturday, Freshford 3pm

By Niall Gartland

THE serious stuff starts now. Derry camogs have won their opening two group stage matches – against Meath and Kildare – but their final three games will make-or-break their Championship ambitions.

It’s a good position to be in nonetheless, and Maria Mooney says she’s enjoying being back in the Derry jersey after an extended hiatus.

Mooney, who won an All-Ireland Junior title in the spring with her club Eoghan Rua, last played intercounty camogie in 2016 and has spent much of the last six years in Madrid. Who knows what the future has in store but for now she’s enjoying being part of things with Derry.

The talented full-back, who won a Gaelic Life Club All-Star this year, said: “It’s been really nice being back. It’s strange for me coming back as one of the older players as in the past I was one of the younger ones. I used to play with my role models at county level and they’re not there anymore, they’ve retired, so it’s a very different dynamic for me.”

The Oakleafers have slipped under the radar in recent years with fellow Ulster counties Antrim, Down and Armagh winning All-Ireland titles. Mooney would love to join Down and Antrim in the senior ranks.

Mooney commented: “The fact Down and Antrim play at senior level has been so helpful to us in a way. We aren’t playing against them in the Championship but we’ve met them in recent challenge games and that’s helped us immensely.

“We were beaten by Down by a point in the Ulster Championship semi-final, that was a really hard match that helped us up the ante before going in to play Meath in the first round.

“When you’ve got big teams in your province playing senior level that’s going to help everybody.”

The Oakleafers have primed themselves for a shot at a place in the semi-finals but must pick up another couple of positive results in their final three games, starting with Kilkenny this weekend. They’ve taken care of business with wins over Meath and Kildare but it’s only going to get tougher from here on in.

“The Meath game was great, we played at home and I loved it. We’re in good form going to play Kilkenny, it would’ve taken the wind out of our sails if we’d lose either of those two matches.

“It’s hard for me to comment too much on the way we’ve played all season though as the Eoghan Rua and Sleacht Néill players only really integrated into the county panel after the club season was over but our performance against Meath was possibly our best performance yet.”