We’ve made it to the last Sunday of our league! Over 260 games played in 16 short weeks – take a bow all of you who have organised, played in, refereed or travelled to watch one of those matches. You are the lifeblood of GAA Rounders and what keeps our organisation such an amazing community and our sport so exciting and compelling to watch and play.

Sunday will see Senior and Intermediate league games and Junior semi-finals all take place, all in Leinster when Dublin, Offaly and Wexford play host to 12 promising games. Let’s have a look at who’ll be taking to the pitches.

Senior Games – Dublin & Wexford

Wexford’s Glynn Barntown will host Monaghan’s Carrickmacross Emmets who will have an early start to travel the 235km between both clubs. First up at 12.30pm will be the Women from both clubs, followed, at 2pm, by the Mixed teams and the day will close out with the Men at 3.30pm.

In the Women’s competition, Breaffy and Limekiln have already qualified for semi-finals. A win or draw for Carrickmacross will mean they will also go through, leaving Erne Eagles taking the final spot. If the Wexford side win, it will leave a three-way tie between Erne Eagles, Carrickmacross and Glynn Barntown, meaning that Run Rate will decide the final two spots in the semi-finals. We love these “couldn’t be closer” final matches of the league!!

In Mixed, Breaffy, Cúchulainn and Glynn Barntown are all through and a win for Carrickmacross will see them join that list of qualifiers. However, a loss will leave Carrickmacross on the same points as Limekiln and Erne Eagles and dependent on Run Rate…another nail biter that could go down to the wire!

Men isn’t straightforward either! Erne Eagles, Breaffy and Galway City Rapparees have already booked their semi-final slots, but the final place will go to the winner of Sunday’s game so there’s absolutely everything to play for in all three games.

Referee: Cúchulainn’s AnnMarie Brennan

Predictions: Women & Men – Carrickmacross Emmets; Mixed – Glynn Barntown

In Dublin, Limekiln will host Raheen in their final league games and, while the Dublin Women have already qualified for semi-finals, both sides’ Men’s teams are out of contention for this year. Don’t expect that to make it any less exciting to watch though!

Referee: GAA Rounders Vice-President Michael Dowling

Predictions: Limekiln to win both

Tymon Park will host one final game on Sunday when Intermediate Men from Dublin Metropolitans play Cavan’s St. Clare’s in the very last Intermediate league game of the year. St. Clare’s need to win to join Emo, Kilmore and St. Senan’s in the semi-finals next Saturday in Galway. A win for Dublin Mets will leave a three-way tie between St. Clare’s, Kilmeena and Dublin Mets for fourth place and so the qualifier will come down to Run Rate. This make-or-break game starts at 3.30pm.

Referee: GAA Vice President Michael Dowling

Prediction: St. Clare’s

Junior Semi-Finals

Cracking Junior games will take place all day in Edenderry GAA when our top twelve teams take to the two pitches for our Junior Men’s, Women’s and Mixed semi-finals.

We are very grateful to Edenderry GAA’s Committee for inviting GAA Rounders to their fantastic facility and for allowing us to host our Junior Semi-finals in Offaly.

At 11am Junior Women – Kilmore and St. Kieran’s – and Junior Men – Galway City Rapparees and Gusserane – will commence our day’s Rounders.

The Women’s match will see the unbeaten Roscommon side take on Limerick’s St. Kieran’s, runners-up in their league group. While Kilmore were favourites to win their quarter-final against Wexford’s Gusserane, St. Kieran’s were expected to have a harder time getting past Carrickmacross Emmets. Kilmore have demonstrated all year that they are excellent fielders – spectacular catches from Ruth McElhone, Clodagh Sheerin, Nicola Croughwell and Ana Carr in the quarter-final pay testament to that – and super base runners but they are also excellent batters, able to place balls outfield in the gaps between fielders. St. Kieran’s are also skilled batters and their pitcher, Deirdre Ambrose, is accurate and fast. With back catcher Siobhán Halligan, the two make a formidable team for getting outs. On the day, Kilmore’s experience, cool heads, calm fielding and strong batting should see them take the win.

Referee: National Secretary Shirley Lennon

Prediction: Kilmore

The Men’s match will also see unbeaten Galway City Rapparees take on Wexford’s Gusserane, runners-up in their league group. Topping their group and bypassing the quarter-finals, Rapparees will be rested and ready for this challenge while Gusserane had a tough fight on their hands in Tymon Park two weeks ago to get past Monaghan side Inniskeen Grattans. With pitcher Séamus Keegan and back catcher Colin O’Halloran working in sync to get outs on home and straight to first, Rapparees are a well-oiled fielding machine that also have the batting skills to get runs on the board. Gusserane, who played Intermediate Mixed this year, are also a tight outfit with a strong pitcher in Karel van der Merwe and excellent fielders in Conor Murphy and Morgan Nash Colfer. Expect neither side to give an inch in this potentially tight and super close game.

Referee: The Heath’s Danielle Keane

Prediction: Galway City Rapparees

After a short break, or not depending on how long the first games take, we’ll be back to action with two 1pm games – again one Women’s and one Men’s match.

In Men, Carlow’s Myshall will take on Dublin’s Na Gaeil Nua. Group toppers Myshall also skipped Quarter-finals, while Na Gaeil Nua beat Limerick side Na Piarsaigh to earn their place on Sunday. With an excellent pitching/catching combo in PJ Lalor and Matthew Roberts, Myshall have the potential to punish third good balls not hit or clips that go backwards. Newcomers to Rounders, Na Gaeil Nua have proved that experience isn’t everything and have shown all season that they can bat and catch like seasoned professionals. Shortstop Ryota Yamagochi and 2^nd Base Javier Isern can both bat far and run fast and it will be containing them and their teammates that will cause Myshall problems.

Not the first time these sides have met, having played each other last month in the league, the victors that time were Myshall. Have Na Gaeil Nua learned from their mistakes that day or will Myshall be ready to win again?

Referee: The Heath’s Danielle Keane

Prediction: Myshall

Our lunchtime Women’s game is between unbeaten Carlow side Leighlinbridge and unbeaten Limerick team St. Senan’s so this really will be unchartered territory for the team on the wrong side of Sunday’s scoresheet.

St. Senan’s pitcher, Louise Kelly, has been their secret weapon all season and her ability to pitch fast and accurately has caused problems for all the sides they have met so far. Many of St. Senan’s women also play Intermediate Mixed and the skills honed at the higher grade have worked to their advantage in ensuring smart batting, fast fielding and quick outs. However, they have yet to come up against an opponent like Leighlinbridge who can also field and bat and have won several league games by more than double scores and with multiple bats in hand. Their quarter-final defeat of Skryne was clinical in its tactical efficiency with three up three out and no mercy given for any errors made. This will be both teams’ toughest battle to date – who will be strong enough to make it through?

Referee: The Heath’s Philip Keane

Prediction: St. Senan’s

And finally, at 3pm it will be time for our two Mixed semi-finals with repeat appearances from Kilmore and Galway City Rapparees, this time taking on Limerick’s Na Piarsaigh and Monaghan’s Inniskeen Grattans respectively.

The Galway side comprehensively beat strong Laois team Emo in their quarter-final with excellent performances from Ajay Kumar – scoring a Home Run, pitcher Séamus Keegan, back catcher Sorcha Dowd, Mel Mannion on 1^st Base and 3^rd Baseminder Cat Carty. Shortstop Greg Mannion missed nothing outfield and, at bat, had some great hits. While Inniskeen also had an excellent performance against Leighlinbridge to make their way into the semi-finals – shortstop Trevor Hilliard was a one-man wall past which few balls made it, it wasn’t quite as impressive or comprehensive. Their fielding was just a bit less tight and their batting not quite as sharp, but the intervening two weeks may have given them time to hone those skills and be ready for the Rapparees.

Referee: National Secretary Shirley Lennon

Prediction: Galway City Rapparees

Kilmore have impressed all season with their excellent fielding and clever batting and comprehensively won through their group, not losing a game. Their depth of squad is such that even on days when key players are not available, they can make it work and still get the runs in and outs needed to secure the win. Key to their success is pitcher Aidan Carr and his accurate, fast and smart bowling. His ability to catch short pop-ups and throw to base has caught many batters out. Outfield Mark Harrington is a powerhouse and has both an excellent catch and throw. Keeping it in the family Mark’s son, Eli, and Aidan’s wife, Ana, are both important infielders who can be relied upon to catch, throw and bat accurately. Jamie Sharkey at shortstop is dangerous if a ball is batted short and Oisin Boland is not an outfielder you want to direct a ball towards! Na Piarsaigh have their share of excellent fielders and Patrick Fitzgerald has been responsible for many outs. At shortstop Ian Jennings was formidable during their quarter-final defeat of Carrickmacross Emmets, while pitcher/catcher Alan Healy and Sarah Stanley were both responsible for multiple outs. Although Na Piarsaigh’s ability to keep calm during what was the most tense finish to any of the ten quarter-finals that day was seriously impressive and won them the match, they weren’t facing a team as collectively strong as Kilmore and it’s hard to see how they will have the batting power in particular to overcome the Roscommon side.

Referee: The Heath’s Philip Keane

Prediction: Kilmore

And then there’ll be six – our six Junior Finalists. The best of the best who will bring their A game to Abbotstown, Kilcormac and Mallow and aim to be crowned All-Ireland Champions for 2026. All we can say is bring it on! Sunday will be some day of Rounders and we can’t wait to be there to see every bit of it.

gaarounders.ie

facebook.com/GaaRounders/

@gaaroundersoff