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PERCEPTIONS... Laois don’t have to win Sunday’s Glen Dimplex Intermediate All-Ireland final for their season to be regarded as a success. On the other hand, Antrim must win. Laois, last year’s All-Ireland Premier Junior champions, drew with eventual Centra Division 2 League champions Kerry in the first game of the season, won two more games, but lost to Meath and didn’t make the League final. They didn’t set the Leinster championship alight, but have since won five consecutive championship games, including knock-out rounds against both Down and last year’s beaten finalists Kerry. From where they started out theirs is a success story. Meanwhile Antrim last year won 11 consecutive competitive games – six to collect the Division 1B League title, two to take back-to-back Ulster senior titles for the first time in nearly half a century, and three to top their All-Ireland group. Yet a semi-final defeat to eventual champions Offaly left their season a “failure”. This year they have competed gamely in Division 1A and beat Cork before being relegated (a better than anticipated campaign by any stretch). They have made it three-in-a-row in Ulster and reached the All-Ireland final. But 2026 will be remembered as a success only if they win Sunday’s final. Leagues are for playing, Championships decide your season. The Saffrons should win this final because they bring a lot more experience to the pitch than their opponents. Eight of the starting team played in the 2021 decider that saw them throw off the shackles and hit two goals and 21 points against Kilkenny. Maeve Kelly and Róisín McCormick were each just 20 years old in that final. They scored 1-14 between them. While Kelly has gone through injury setbacks and McCormick back issues, both have regained the form of five seasons ago and carry a huge threat to Laois ambitions. Then throw in two rookie corner-forwards in Éobha McAllister and Clíona Griffin for extra pace and finishing power – this pair scored all three goals in the semi-final win over Meath. Last year’s full-forward Katie Molloy has been a revelation at centre-half back, both in the role of defender and as a developer of the play – and everyone around her is a sticky marker with Caitriona Graham a goalie that can sweep behind her defence. What about Laois? Do the surprise finalists have as good a chance as Mayo going into the football final or will they struggle as Galway did in the hurling decider. They have come a good distance in the past two seasons, from losing a Junior decider to reaching a first ever intermediate final. A solid defence built around the excellent Clodagh Tynan has been the foundation for that upward trajectory. Jade Bergin in midfield did a lot of damage against Down, a physical player full of running. Then up front you have Gráinne Delaney, the wily Kirsten Keenan, and Aimee Collier, a huge presence at full-forward. Collier though is a similar type of player to her marker Caoimhe Conlon. She likes space in front of her to run into and take possession. Conlon has played at centre-half back and is confident moving out the field knowing that the two Ruairí Óg corner-backs are experienced enough to cover the space vacated. There will be periods of the game where Laois will trouble Antrim as Jason Rabbitte troubled Limerick in the hurling final. But Laois haven’t encountered anything like the pace and skill of the Saffron forward line; close down one threat and another fire will be lit somewhere else. There should be a few goals in this game. If Laois get a couple early on, they can make life difficult for Antrim. However there is a greater likelihood of the Glenswomen breaking through at the other end and dominating as Limerick did in the hurling decider. If Antrim win, it will be a mere stepping stone into senior camogie. If they don’t win, all those league and provincial performances will be forgotten. It has to be a fourth title for Antrim – all of them achieved with the talismanic Elaine Dowds either on the pitch or on the sideline.