Littlewoods Ireland Camogie Leagues

The Littlewoods Ireland Camogie Leagues commence this weekend. On Saturday, the first division gets underway with a home game for Kilkenny. Our neighbours, Tipperary provide the first opposition for the title holders when they meet in the MW Hire Training Centre, Dunmore at 2pm. Kilkenny beat Galway in the League final in 2016 but we have avoided them in the group stages this year. The following are the remaining fixtures in the Division 1 Littlewoods Ireland Camogie League;

26^th February, Wexford away,

12^th March, Dublin at home,

19^th March, Waterford away,

1^st April, Cork at home,

Clare, Galway, Limerick, Meath, Offaly are all in the second group and the top two in each group contest the semi-finals to be played on the 9^th April with the final set for the 23^rd April.

There are many familiar names on the 2017 panel with the majority of the All-Ireland winning team returning for another season but there are a few new faces also. Ann Downey, of course, remains on as manager. With a very experienced management team around her, she will be hoping for a good league to set the pace for the Liberty Insurance Championship later in the year. The 2017 Division 1 panel are as follows;

The Division 2 League also starts this weekend. After a poor league campaign last year, fortunes turned around for this team for the championship and, of course, they claimed the Jack McGrath Cup in September. With the entire All-Ireland winning team now ineligible for 2017, it is back to the drawing board for management, Mike Wall and Ger Walsh. They begin their league on Sunday with a home game to Down. With many pitches currently closed, no venue has yet been secured. They will also face Carlow away on the 26^th February, Wexford at home on the 12^th March, Derry away on the 19^th March with their final game at home to Laois on the 2^nd April.

Group 2 consists of teams from Antrim, Armagh, Cork, Galway, Kildare, Westmeath and again, the top two teams in each group progress to the semi-finals on the 16^th April and the final will be played on the 30^th April. The 2017 Division 2 panel has a host of county debutantes with a few returning players from previous years.