Quality Games in four Counties on 2026 Championship Opening Weekend

Sunday 19 April marked the start of the 2026 GAA Rounders Championship, and it certainly didn’t disappoint with cracking games in Carlow, Galway, Roscommon and Wexford.

Intermediate Championship

Intermediate Women

Our first Intermediate Women’s game of 2026 involved two newly promoted sides and a sunny pitch in Wexford. Castletown Liam Mellows, 2025 semi-finalists and 2023 finalists, hosted Dublin Metropolitans, fellow 2025 semi-finalists.

Shortstops had the lion’s share of outs with Mets’ Katie Flynn getting four outs from catches while Castletown’s Edel Coade-Morris was responsible for three outs with some brilliant throws to base as well as great catches of her own.

From the opening innings, Castletown’s batting and running had them lead and by the end of the third innings they were ahead 16-9. However, the fourth and fifth innings saw them dominate and score a further 18 runs, a dominance against which Dublin Mets had no answer.

Final score was 34-14 to Castletown Liam Mellows who will now meet Inniskeen Grattans in Inniskeen on 3 May. Dublin Metropolitans will host Glynn Barntown in Tymon Park on Sunday 26 April.

Intermediate Men

The Intermediate Men’s competition started on a bright morning in Roscommon with newly promoted Kilmore hosting Dublin Metropolitans’ men. Kilmore contested, and narrowly lost, the 2025 Junior Men’s final, while Dublin Mets won the 2024 Junior Men’s final.

Dublin Mets batted first and got off to a good start with Beau and Asa Carley and Jack Cheyne all making it home. Kilmore took that up a notch getting four scores on the board before their first player was out and taking that up to 11 before the innings was over.

Kilmore dominated the second innings with three quick outs and an additional eight runs scored. Innings three and four saw Dublin Mets confined to three runs while Kilmore added 11 to their total. Entering the final innings, Dublin Mets had it all to do to make up the 24-run deficit and it proved to be impossible with Kilmore taking the game, with a bat in hand, 30-6. On the pitch,

David Singleton for the Mets and Kilmore’s Mark Harrington gave notable performances with diving catches and impressive batting. Mets will host St. Senan’s of Limerick in Tymon Park on 10 May while Kilmore get to have a break until 24 May when they head to Laois to play Emo.

Senior Championship

Senior Women

The only Senior Women’s match of opening day was in Carlow between hostesses Cúchulainn and Cavan’s Erne Eagles.

Eagles’ Fainche Higgins proved that her 2025 debut for the club wasn’t just beginner’s luck with four impressive catches and a throw to get an out. Rachel Reilly, Irene Scanlon, Geraldine Goldrick and Shirleen Burns, as pitcher, all contributed multiple outs and assists for a strong Eagles’ performance.

For Cúchulainn, Amy Moloney at Left Outfield and Amy Kelly at Centre Outfield both contributed to their sides’ outs while the ever-dependable Caroline Waters and Marian Sheir also helped to keep their side in the game. By the end of the third innings there was only one run in it which Cúchulainn managed to pull back in the fourth. With both sides scoring four runs in the final innings, it ended 17-17.

Senior Mixed

Next up in Carlow it was the turn of the Mixed teams from Cúchulainn and Erne Eagles to take to the pitch. Cúchulainn batted first and their first three batters were caught out, two by Sarah Galligan on 2nd Base. Eagles replied with two runs in their first bat, with two outs by Pierce Ryan at Short Stop.

The second innings saw three of Cúchulainn’s first four batters caught out while Eagles managed to get another two home. Innings three and four saw three runners home for Cúchulainn who kept Erne Eagles scoreless with catches from Billy Connors, Pierce Ryan and Kamil Walczak as well as two players out on 1st Base by Marian Sheir. Going into the final innings one run behind,

Cúchulainn were unable to earn the draw and it finished 4-3 to Eagles with a bat in hand. In what is a 2026 record for the shortest game of the season, this was over in 39 minutes!

Across the country in balmy Galway, the relief of a playable pitch after several weeks of rain and threatened pitch closures, gave a happy start to the Senior Mixed match between Kilmeena of Mayo and Limekiln of Dublin.

 

Solid fielding and batting as well from Eddie Healy who – in an early bid for Catch of the Season – made two dramatic dive catches as well as a well thought-out double out at the end of the second innings. Pitcher Chris Hughes had his share of foul outs and catches as well in what was a very entertaining game.

Pitching for Kilmeena, Catríona Cox had a great fielding game, while Kilmeena outfielders Martin Hoban and Darragh McDonnell both contributed with some great catches. While Limekiln triumphed with a score of 12-4, with a bat in hand, Kilmeena will take heart from some great plays and smart fielding on which they will develop for their next match, on 3 May, against Mixed Champions Breaffy.

Limekiln’s next matches are at home on 26 April against Wexford’s Glynn Barntown.

Senior Men

We were spoiled on opening weekend with two Senior Men’s games taking place on opposite coasts.

In Carlow, following their Senior Women’s and Mixed draw and loss to Erne Eagles, Cúchulainn’s Men were hoping to take it a step further and claim the victory. With Eagles’ first three batters safely home, Cúchulainn hit their stride with Batters 6, 7 and 8 all out in quick succession with catches from Peadar Waters and Pierce Ryan.

Cúchulainn’s answer was to get four home from their first batting innings. The second innings saw Eagles add two to their score and keep Cúchulainn from adding to their tally. By the end of the fourth innings the score was 11-5 to the Cavan men and it ended 14-6 in their favour.

It was a great day at the office for Owen Roe O’Reilly with six outs from catches while Cúchulainn’s Peadar Waters wasn’t far behind with an involvement in five outs during the match. Catch of the Match came in the final innings when Billy Connors made an outstanding one-handed catch.

Next up for Cúchulainn is a a trip to Athlone GAA on 10 May to play reigning Women’s and Mixed All-Ireland title holders Breaffy of Mayo.

Erne Eagles will also head to Athlone on 10 May to take on Glynn Barntown of Wexford in all three Senior codes.

Second match of the day in Galway was the hotly anticipated Senior debut of Galway City Rapparees, 2025’s Intermediate Men’s winners, against veterans Limekiln of Dublin.

Rapparees batted first and managed to get two home before Peter Salmon was involved in the first two outs, while Sean Ingoldsby at Right Outfield threw a super ball to get Rory McGarvey out on 3rd. Confidence high, Rapparees got the first three Limekiln batters out with Cathal Creaven catching one out and assisting for a second out on 1st Base. Limekiln remained scoreless in their second attempt at bat with pitcher Ryan Dennis responsible for two of the outs. Rapparees got one run in leaving the score 3-0 going into the third.

The scoreline really opened up in this innings with the Galway side getting nine home and, while Limekiln did get five runs, it was too little too late. Both sides brought three runners home in the final innings but the final score was 20-12 to the Galway men who proved in their first outing at Senior that they’re more than capable of playing in the big league!

Outstanding plays on both sides but notable mentions go to Galway’s Cathal Creaven for his ability to cover so much ground and contribute to several plays and Ryan Dennis for consistent pitching and catching. For Limekiln, new member of the club, Peter Salmon, was outstanding at 1st Base, while pitcher Chris Hughes, pitching his second full game of the day, Seán Ingoldsby and Eddie Healy can all be pleased with their work rate and contribution.

Next up for Galway Rapparees is neighbours Breaffy on 3 May, in Galway.

Our second weekend of Senior and Intermediate action will be on Sunday 26 April and if it’s even half as exciting as opening day, we’re in for a rollercoaster of a season! Previews, venues and times to follow later in the week.