Leinster dual champions Na Fianna to play All-Ireland camogie and ladies football semi-finals on successive days

A dozen dual players with Meath's Na Fianna will be in All-Ireland semi-final action on successive days after an appeal to get their football match pushed back a week was turned down.

Na Fianna won the senior camogie and intermediate football championship in Meath this year and, owing to Meath’s camogie status, competed in at Leinster intermediate level in both codes.

With a dozen players involved in both codes and nine starters – including the county's All-Ireland winning football captain Shauna Ennis – it was a hectic schedule in claiming provincial honours.

Both teams were out on successive weekends in both codes – one game on the Saturday, the other on Sunday – with the respective Leinster finals a week apart.

However, the push for double All-Ireland glory has been hampered by the fact that the camogie and football semi-finals are down for the same weekend.

On Saturday 2 December the footballers travel to Louth to take on Tyrone champions Eglish, while the following day they will take on either Cork’s Glanmire or London’s Tir Chonaill Gaels for a place in the camogie decider.

Once provincial honours were secured, Na Fianna contacted the LGFA to request that the football semi-final be pushed back a week to accommodate them.

"We were told by the LGFA that that was impossible to do because the finals are fixed for the 16/17 [December] in Croke Park and they need two weeks to prepare," said club chairman Tom Curran.

"They said they need a minimum of 10 days to prepare for a final. To me, it’s a pretty lame excuse."

A spokesperson for the LGFA said that the game, originally scheduled for the Saturday, had been pushed out a day, and that the split-season scheduling leaves them with no wriggle room.

"We also have another team