Antrim set for Croker final

The game throws in at noon with Antrim facing last year's beaten finalists Waterford who are focussed on making up for last year's loss.

Under the management of Michael McCullough, Antrim have made no secret of their desire to win the Ulster Championship and the Junior All Ireland.

With the Ulster championship in the bag following a last gasp winner against Derry in June, they are 60 minutes from achieving those goals.

In fact Antrim, in 2010, have turned nail biting finishes into an art form.

A late Jane Adams goal deep in injury time won the Ulster final while in the group stages of the All Ireland Championship they held on for a draw in the rain in July against Laois and managed to get through the semi final against old rivals Down by one point to book their place in the All Ireland final.

The Antrim team is driven by a never say die spirit and a strong bond between players from eight different clubs, from Loughgiel in north Antrim to Rossa and St John's in Belfast.

The panel includes four sets of sisters, Noelle Connolly, Racquel and Cathy McCarry of Loughgiel, Jane and Teresa Adams from Rossa, Aisling and Orlagh McCall of Rossa and Emma and Laura Connolly of Loughgiel, while Maeve Connolly is a cousin. The McCarry sisters provide a link to the 1989 Antrim team which appeared in the All Ireland final, their uncle Aiden McCarry was a star of that team at centre half forward.

Charlene Hamill provides a link to the current Antrim hurling panel where her brother Darren is a forward on both the Senior and the U21 teams.

The panel also includes a number of key players who won an All Ireland Camogie Club title with Rossa in 2008, including Jane Adams who was named an allstar for her performances that year.

While captain Jane Adams and Loughgiel's Racquel McCarry have carried the bulk of the scoring burden, and are among the top scorers for the overall camogie championship, the team's success is built on an ethos of hard work and honesty of effort.

Antrim last won the Junior Championship in 1997, with a resounding victory over Cork, and went on the win two All Ireland Intermediate titles in 2001 and 2003. A number of the players from the 2001 and 2003 team remain with the current panel and will provide the big match experience which will keep the younger players' feet firmly on the ground.

The last Junior All Ireland featuring Antrim in 1997 may have been a resounding victory, however given the history of this team in 2010, with their lust for close finishes and the ability to claim victory from the jaws of defeat in the dying minutes, it is likely to be a long day of biting nails and sitting on the edge of their seats for Antrim supporters.

All Saffron supporters hope that the result will be worth the agony and that Antrim can lift the Kay Mills Cup in 2010.