A busy weekend saw the Connacht and Leinster Intermediate championships complete their group stages with Semi Finals confirmed for the eastern province as Leitrim and Roscommon will now meet in the Connacht decider.

Fermanagh and Antrim will now meet again for the Ulster Junior crown after the Erne county overcame Derry.

Connacht Intermediate Championship

Leitrim 2-19 Sligo 0-14

Leitrim picked up their second win of the Connacht championship and in doing so booked their place in the final.

The reigning champions defeated Roscommon in their opening game but were beaten by Clare last weekend. They bounced back in superb fashion on Friday night. They were ahead by eight points at the break with two goals scored in the opening half. 

Leitrim added 10 points to their tally in the second half with Sligo firing over seven. Corner-back Siobhan McCartan was sin-binned but it mattered little to Leitrim as they advanced to the final.

Roscommon 1-09 Clare 2-12

Despite losing their second game of the championship, Roscommon still booked their place in the Connacht Final; courtesy of their win against Sligo last weekend.

Clare were dominant for the majority of this game. With nine minutes gone on the clock they were ahead by four points. Roscommon tried to get back in but Clare were able to get scores and were ahead 0-09 to 0-03 at the break.

The lead was seven in the early exchanges of the second half. Roscommon cut the gap to four but Clare got their first goal midway through the half. Three minutes later they added a second goal. Roscommon ended the game scoring 1-03.

Leinster Intermediate Championship

Carlow 1-07 Kildare 4-14

Kildare made it three wins from three in the Leinster Championship as they advanced to the last four of the competition. Rachel Sawyer got the game’s opening score but Kildare replied with a goal from Ellen Dowling. Roisin Forde added a second goal.

Carlow were back in the game minutes later when Sinead Hayden put away a penalty but the Lilywhites tagged on points to go in at the break seven points ahead.

Kildare continued to keep the scoreboard ticking after the break and got two quick fire goals to extend their lead to 15 points. Despite the scoreline Carlow kept battling hard but Kildare’s sharpness proved a huge advantage in this win.

Wexford 4-07 Longford 0-08

Wexford came out on top in this winner takes all contest at Wexford Park. The win sees them book their place in the Leinster semi-final.

Wexford dominated the game from start to finish. They got their first goal inside the opening minute when Tara Doyle found the back of the net. They were seven up at half-time with Longford scoring just one point in that half; Michelle Farrell kicking over a free.

Just like the first half Wexford made the perfect start to the second half with Murphy getting her side’s second goal. Catriona Murray got Wexford’s third goal with 10 minutes gone in the half and she put away a penalty in the 55th minute. Farrell was Longford top scorer with four points (two frees) in what was a disappointing performance from the Midlanders.

Laois 5-19 Wicklow 5-05

Just the 10 goals scored here as Laois made it three wins from three and Wicklow bowed out of the championship on score difference.

Six goals were scored in the opening half; three each. The game had just started when Erone Fitzpatrick scored Laois’ first goal. Alana Havill scored a second for Laois as they held a seven point lead after six minutes. The lead was extended to 11 after 15 minutes but Wicklow got a goal through Niamh Cullen before Meadhbh Deeney tucked away a penalty minutes later. Emma Lawlor (Laois) and Laura Hogan (Wicklow) got goals as Laois were ahead by nine at half-time. 

Neither side let up with the scoring in the second half. Anna Moore and Kelly O’Neill scored goals for Laois while Cullen and Deeney grabbed their second goal. Deeney putting away another penalty.

Louth 5-07 Offaly 2-15

Louth picked up their first win of the championship and despite this loss Offaly are through to the semi-final courtesy of a better score difference over Wicklow.

Offaly were trailing by eight at the break and staged a fantastic comeback in the second half. Louth made the perfect start and had registered 1-01 on the board before Offaly opened the scoring. Louth added on two more goals to lead at the break 3-03 to 0-04.

Maire Byrne scored Offaly’s first goal just after the restart. With the clock ticking down Eve Kelly grabbed a second goal for Offaly before the calculators were taken out to see who joined Laois in the semi-final. 

Ulster Junior Football Championship semi-final

Fermanagh 6-20 Derry 1-03

It was all too easy for Fermanagh as they advanced to an Ulster Final meeting with Antrim. Four goals were scored in the first half as Fermanagh were ahead by 13 points. Eimear Smyth and Sarah Britton with a brace of goals.

Brenda Brennan, Smyth and Britton got the goals for the Erne County in that opening half. Derry just couldn’t compete with them and struggled to contain a potent Fermanagh attack.

Britton and Smyth grabbed their second goals of the game in the second half while Blaithin Bogue scored Fermanagh’s sixth goal. Derry were only able to add one point to their tally in the second half as Fermanagh were clinical and ruthless.

Championship fever hit Connacht and Leinster over the weekend, with the opening round of games in the Intermediate Championships in the respective provinces.

Connacht Intermediate Championship
Leitrim 2-12 Roscommon 1-10
Leitrim started the defence of their Connacht title with a five point away win over Roscommon in their opening game on Friday evening. Leitrim were ahead by five at the break 1-9 to 0-4. 

Twice the Rossies cut the gap to one point in the second half but a second goal opened up a four point lead. Roscommon came to within two but three points in a row gave Leitrim the win. 

Michelle Guckian top-scored for the winners with seven points, while Leah Fox and Laura O'Dowd grabbed a goal each for Leitrim.

Sligo v Clare - postponed
Clare's debut in the Connacht Championship will have to wait until next weekend, after their game with Sligo was postponed. It will take place at a future date too be confirmed.

Leinster Intermediate Championship
Longford 4-10 Carlow 1-9
A strong second half performance saw Longford start their championship campaign with a win but Carlow battled throughout. Longford were ahead by two at half-time 0-8 to 0-6.    

Longford extended the lead to four before they were awarded a penalty which Michelle Farrell put away. Kamille Burke and Clodagh Lohan then added goals. Carlow scored their only goal from the penalty spot; Niamh Kelly on target. They lost Claire McDonagh through a yellow card before Emer Heaney scored Longford’s fourth goal near the end.

Kildare 5-8 Wexford 3-7
Neasa Dooley scored a hat-trick of goals as Kildare defeated Wexford by seven points in their opening championship game. A goal from Aisling Murphy in the 12th minute had given Wexford an early lead but Kildare replied with goals from Dooley (2) and Ciara Wheeler and held a 3-5 to 1-4 lead at the break. 

Caitriona Murray grabbed a goal for Wexford in the 36th minute but that was cancelled out by a Lara Curran goal. Dooley wrapped up her hat-trick from the penalty spot in the 43rd minute.

Laois 2-5 Louth 2-2
A goal from Mo Nerney in the 52nd minute proved the difference as Laois defeated Louth in their first round clash in Dundalk.

Laois had just been reduced to 14; Jane Moore with a yellow card in the 49th minute. Louth finished the game with 14 players as Kate Flood was sin binned in stoppage time. 

The Wee County made a great start to the game with Aoife Russell finding the back of the net in the third minute but that was their only score of the first half. Laois kicked over four points and Eva Galvin grabbed a goal. 1-1 from Rebecca Carr saw Louth draw level in the 47th minute but Nerney’s goal minutes later was the matchwinner for Laois.

Offaly 2-6 Wicklow 0-7

Two goals from Marie Byrne helped Division 4 champions Offaly claim victory over last year’s Junior Champions Wicklow.

Byrne scored her first goal in the 20th minute to give her side a four point lead. Wicklow cut the gap to the minimum in first half stoppage time before Byrne found the back of the net just before the break to give her side a 2-4 to 0-6 lead.

The second half was a low scoring affair. Ciara Walsh and Ellee McEvoy kicked over points for Offaly while Wicklow’s only point of the second half came in the 50th minute through Marie Kealy.