Shauna Treacy and Kilkenny Intermediates eye All-Ireland Final spot

After the Kilkenny Senior Hurling and Camogie sides both saw their champinship campaigns come to an end in recent weeks, all eyes will be on the Camogie Intermediates when they face Kerry in the Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Semi-Final in FBD Semple Stadium on Saturday afternoon (4pm).

The Cats have enjoyed a hugely successful championship to date as they secured wins over Antrim, Kildare, Carlow, Meath and Kerry to assure themselves of top spot in the group.

A draw with Dublin in Freshford was the only result that denied them going into this weekend with a 100% championship record.

The Cats will face the Kingdom in a repeat of their earlier clash in Lixnaw where Seamus Kelly’s outfit claimed a 2-14 to 0-12 victory.

Centre back Shauna Treacy knows a stiff tests awaits Kilkenny when they take to the field.

“We’ve had a good break since our last victory over Kildare and we feel refreshed and ready to go but we know that Kerry will bring a much different challenge”.

“The league and the Leinster championship didn’t go as well as we’d have liked but we’ve learned the lessons and we feel we’ve become a better side over the last few months.”

Treacy and her Kilkenny teammates are now one win away from appearing in Croke Park for an All-Ireland Final.

The Noresiders last appeared on final day back in 2021 when losing to an Antrim side that have equipped themselves relatively well in the top tier ever since.

The Barrow Rangers star was part of that extended panel and she hopes that experience will help them on Saturday as they try to bridge the gap to their last title in 2016.

“ There was a few of us that were on the squad three years ago and we hope we can kick on again.

“We beat Meath in the semi-final at Nowlan Park that year which was a big win for us and they were in last year’s final so we went in with a lot of confidence,” she said.

“We faced an excellent Antrim side on the day who proved to be too strong but with the likes of Hannah Scott still with us, we’ll be hoping we can get back to that spot but for now all eyes are on Kerry.”

“We’ve taken it game by game all year and we’ll continue to do that this week and hopefully if we play to our potential, we’ll be right there come the final whistle.”

Saturday’s game in Thurles is the first part of a big double-header with Cork and Offaly colliding afterwards at 6pm, while earlier in the day, the Marble City plays host to the seior semi-finals for a second successive season.

To avoid a clash of two teams from the same county, it’s an early start in Nowlan Park with reigning champions Cork facing Dublin at 1.15pm before the much anticipated clash between Tipperary and Galway at 3.45pm.

The Senior, Intermediate and Junior Finals will all take place in Croke Park as a triple header on Sunday, August 11.