Saturday, 25 July 2026 | Tymon Park, Dublin

Much like our Junior Women’s Championship, the Junior Mixed competition featured an action-packed group stage. Across three groups, 18 teams competed in 39 thrilling matches, spanning counties from Galway to Dublin, Derry to Wexford, and Limerick to Roscommon.

These eight teams – Carrickmacross Emmets, Emo, Galway City Rapparees, Inniskeen Grattans, Kilmore, Leighlinbridge, Myshall and Na Piarsaigh  – have all fought hard to earn their quarter-final places in Tymon Park in Dublin on Saturday afternoon, and we look forward to seeing them all showing us just why they’re among the top Junior Mixed teams in Rounders at the moment.

We’ve seen home runs, incredible one-handed catches, masterclass pitching, clinical fielding, and explosive base running. Now, we’re down to the final eight teams fighting for a spot in the semi-finals. Here is how the quarter-final match-ups stack up ahead of Saturday’s action in Tymon Park.

Galway City Rapparees (Galway) vs Emo (Laois)

• Time: 1pm
• Referee: Shirley Lennon (Meath)

Galway City Rapparees topped Group A with three wins from three and will now face the third placed team in Group C, Emo. Having beaten their nearest rivals, Na Piarsaigh, with a bat in hand, Rapparees never looked in any danger and cruised comfortably to top spot in their group. Emo had two difficult games against Group winners Leighlinbridge and second-placed Myshall but had comfortable wins over newcomers Dunsany, Naomh Pól and Oulart The Ballagh.

Emo’s Junior Mixed team is a new addition for 2026 and features some of last year’s All-Ireland winning Minor Men’s team as well as strong players from last year’s Intermediate Mixed team like Michael Slevin, Barry Ryan and Niamh Horgan. Rapparees can call on Senior Men’s team players like Ajay Kumar, Greg Mannion and Dave Gannon as well as 2025 All-Star nominee Cat Carty and you have to feel that the depth and skill of their panel gives them the edge.

However, any squad under Michael Slevin can never be dismissed and Emo teams over the years have consistently shown that their fighting spirit and determination can get them over any difficult patch. Rapparees’ ability to pull together and work as a unit is one of their key strengths and this, as well as their excellent batting and communication on the pitch makes them a formidable opponent.

On the day, expect neither of these sides to give up and we can look forward to a battle to the end!

Prediction: Galway City Rapparees

Kilmore (Roscommon) vs Myshall (Carlow)

• Time: 3pm
• Referee: Danielle Keane (Laois)

This will be the second match of the day for both these clubs and, depending on how their women’s teams have performed in the morning, this game could start with a determination to avenge the morning’s result or a desire to continue a winning streak.

With six wins from six and a perfect 30 points on the table, Kilmore should be quietly confident. With at least one bat in hand from every league game, they proved their superiority at the group stage. Their opponents, Myshall, only lost to group leaders, Leighlinbridge, but won their other games comfortably, although their fellow Group C teams were, in general, less experienced than Kilmore’s Group B conquests.

Both sides have very skilful pitcher, catcher combinations – Myshall’s PJ Lalor and Matthew Roberts and Kilmore’s Aidan Carr and James Jamieson – who work well together and are able to successfully achieve outs both at home base and first. Kilmore’s Mixed team benefits from having some of the strongest women players form their Junior Women’s team in Ana Carr, Joann Sharkey, Ruth McElhone and Nicola Craughwell and the wealth of experience they bring from that team benefits the Mixed no end.

Myshall, on the other hand, have the Senior experience of Gillian Nolan and Margaret Simpson to boost that of their longtime Junior Women such as Alma Rae, Anita O’Donoghue and Mya Farrell.

There really is very little to separate these teams and our guess is that this could well be the match of the day. Expect neither side to give an inch but mostly expect seriously impressive fielding, strong batting, great catches and a tight scoreline.

Prediction: Kilmore

Leighlinbridge (Carlow) vs Inniskeen Grattans (Monaghan)

• Time: 3pm
• Referee: Áine McLaughlin (Dublin)

Leighlinbridge, the second Carlow side to be involved in two quarter-finals on Saturday come into the knockouts in a very strong position having won all six of their group games, most of them extremely impressively. They will face Inniskeen Grattans of Monaghan, a side not unfamiliar with quarter-finals, having reached this stage in 2025 and lost to Galway City Rapparees. Having only seen defeats this year to local rivals Carrickmacross Emmets and group toppers Kilmore, their league campaign has been steady and well fought.

Inniskeen’s Mixed team women all play Intermediate Women’s rounders this year and the extra level of skill this has brought to their game has been evident in their Mixed matches. Julianne Smith in outfield misses very little that come her way while Layla McArdle and Carol McKeown are both very reliable players that consistently perform well. Inniskeen’s Mixed team pitcher/catcher combo of Seán O’Connor and Ciarán McArdle bring their Men’s team expertise to Mixed and all in all, this is a team that, on the day, is well able to produce the goods and win this match.

Leighlinbridge are in their first year at Junior Mixed and, while they have recruited former Intermediate player Jason Curran, their core players are all in their inaugural year at this code and are impressing. While their women – Tracy McNally, Louise Riddell, Chiara Trench and Jen Kelly among others – have been honing their skills at Junior Women for the past two years, this year’s combination of playing both Mixed and Women’s Rounders seems to have given them an extra edge and made their play just that bit sharper.

This has the makings of another game that could go all the way to the wire!

Prediction: Leighlinbridge

Na Piarsaigh (Limerick) vs Carrickmacross Emmets (Monaghan)

• Time: 3pm
• Referee: Shirley Lennon (Meath)

Two more teams in their second contest of the day make up the pairing for our final Junior Mixed quarter-final. Na Piarsaigh’s men and Carrickmacross’ women won’t have much time to recover from their earlier games before they need to be on their best form again for this game.

Having lost only to group toppers Galway City Rapparees, Na Piarsaigh have won two games. Carrickmacross Emmets, qualifying from the larger Group B, have four wins under their belt.

Once again, Carrickmacross is a team with an excellent pitcher/catcher team in Paul Boylan and Darren Hughes and, when on top form, Paul Boylan is among the best Junior pitchers in the country. Rachel Boylan at Short-stop misses very little and is a fantastic leader on the pitch, constantly aware of where the play is heading.

Na Piarsaigh’s outfield are accurate and punish pop-ups with some great catches. At bat they can place balls into outfield gaps but Carrickmacross’s greater experience and teamwork would indicate that they have what it takes to get this over the line and take the victory.

Prediction: Carrickmacross Emmets

Once the last out is called on our 3pm Mixed games on Saturday we’ll have our full Junior Semi-final line-ups across our Women’s, Men’s and Mixed Championships and we’ll be one step closer to knowing who will contest our Junior Finals in August and September.

We wish the very best of luck to every player, mentor, and supporter across the 13 clubs competing this weekend. Reaching an All-Ireland quarter-final is a fantastic achievement—play hard, leave it all on the pitch, and enjoy the occasion!

Finally, our very special thanks to Limekiln Rounders for hosting our quarter-finals and for ensuring that the day goes smoothly for all our teams. Rounders truly is an amazing community and, on days like this, there’s nowhere any of us would rather be!