Longford Slashers have the experience to land the Leinster title

The four-in-a-row Longford senior champions head for Kinnegad on Sunday to take on Meath opponents Skryne in the Leinster Club Intermediate Championship Final (throw-in 1pm) and hopes are high that the provincial title can be landed.

The experience gained in Leinster in recent years will surely stand to Slashers in their fierce desire to make amends for the disappointment of losing to St Sylvester’s (Dublin) in the final of this same competition last year. 

The management team of Conor Clarke, Bryan Farrell and Shaun Cunningham deserve a lot of credit for guiding Slashers through to the Leinster decider for the second year in succession.

County players Clare Farrell, Aisling Cosgrove, Eimear O’Brien and Grace Shannon are leading the charge for glory and there was a lot to admire about the impressive manner in which Slashers overcame the challenge of Old Leighlin (Carlow), 1-16 to 0-6, and Shelmalier (Wexford), 3-5 to 1-5, on the path to the 2022 provincial final. 

Orla Nevin is another key figure on this talented team who keep on finding more in winning matches and the potentially lethal full-forward-line of Jessica Barry and sisters Kate and Kara Shannon can make a big impact on Sunday. 

While Slashers will be hard beaten in their quest to be crowned Leinster champions, the Meath intermediate title winners Skryne have risen rapidly during the past couple of years in building on the county junior triumph last year. 

Managed by the former Meath mens senior football manager Mick O’Dowd, the exciting Skryne team are clocking up big scores in the current Leinster campaign team and were particularly impressive in beating the Louth senior champions Cooley Kickhams 3-16 to 3-8 in the semi-final.

The star of the show was full-forward Ciara Smyth who registered 2-8 in the destruction of Cooley and there is obviously plenty of scoring power in the sharp Skryne attack which includes the former Meath star Fiona O’Rourke (nee Mahon). 

The vast experience of O’Rourke, who was nominated for an All-Star Award in 2011, is a vital cog in the slick Skryne machine who conquered Kilcullen (Kildare) in the quarter-final of the 2022 Leinster Club Championship on a 4-14 to 3-10 scoreline.

When you take into account that Cooley Kickhams sprang a surprise to beat the Dublin Intermediate champions Castleknock 2-9 to 1-7 in the quarter-final but who subsequently crashed against Skryne, the task facing Slashers is seemingly going to be tough. 

In another word of warning for the Longford champions, it is interesting to note that Skryne ran the eventual All-Ireland champions St Jude’s (Dublin) close in the quarter-final of last year’s Leinster Junior Club competition on a 3-7 to 1-10 scoreline.

Slashers are familiar with Meath opposition and it took a late, late goal from Jessica Barry (58th minute) to beat Navan O’Mahonys by a single point (3-12 to 3-11) in a thrilling Leinster Intermediate quarter-final clash at Michael Fay Park last year.

Meath ladies football is on a real high, after winning back-to-back All-Ireland senior titles, and while no Skryne players featured in those terrific triumphs during the past couple of years they will be going into the Leinster club final in a fairly confident frame of mind.

Now established as a force to be reckoned with at provincial level, Slashers will be going all out to cross the final hurdle at the second attempt and the well-balanced team are clearly capable of emerging victorious.