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INTERMEDIATE REVIEW PEIL Autumn | Issue No 3 | Volume 14 Anthony Masterson's Wexford were talked up as potential championship dark horses after storming past Meath to land the Lidl NFL Division 3 title. They got to the All-Ireland quarter-finals but were perhaps unfortunate to meet eventual winners Tyrone. Wexford scored 2-8 against Tyrone but they conceded 1-15 and the Red Hands prevailed with four points to spare. Wexford are there or thereabouts in the quest for an All-Ireland title and they gave Tipperary a real rattle in 2017. Consolidating their Division 2 status will be the first task for Wexford in 2019 before their thoughts turn to the championship. But given their recent rate of progress, there's no reason why the Slaneysiders can't feature in the shake- up for provincial and national honours. Defeating Sligo to win the Connacht title and deny the Yeats County a third successive provincial crown was a big step forward for Roscommon. They then beat Laois in a classic All-Ireland quarter-final but Meath proved a bridge too far at the semi-final stage. Roscommon had beaten Meath in the group stages of the championship but the tables were turned in emphatic fashion at Dr. Hyde Park. Roscommon looked flat and perhaps caught by a touch of stage fright on their home patch, and letting Meath build up a match-winning lead. The Rossies were cut open far too often but will absorb those lessons and learn from them over the winter months. Silverware in the cabinet in the form of that Connacht success, and competing in an All-Ireland semi-final, still represents a fine season for Roscommon. TG4 Intermediate Championship 2018 Jackie Cahill takes a look at Tyrone's closest challengers in 2018 and who might make the step up in 2019 o Tyrone, the spoils and the Mary Quinn Memorial Cup for 2018. The Red Hands made amends for their 2017 All-Ireland Intermediate Final defeat against Tipperary, while securing a return to the Senior grade in the process. Tyrone enjoyed a 6-8 to 1-14 victory over Meath at Croke Park on September 16, which leaves the Royals to try again as they aim for a return to Senior Championship Football. Other counties fell just short in the 2018 championship and here, we take a look at the season that was for some of the main contenders. Eamonn Murray's charges can take some solace from the fact that Tyrone lost an Intermediate Final before they won one. Unfortunately, from a Meath perspective, it appeared that they didn't do themselves justice against a Tyrone team fuelled by hunger and the hurt of that 2017 loss. Meath's high-point of the campaign was undoubtedly a semi-final victory over Roscommon, when they were firing on all cylinders. Roscommon were Connacht champions and had already beaten Meath in the Intermediate campaign but the tables were turned in emphatic fashion. That display had many people touting Meath as a serious threat to Tyrone but they'll need to absorb the lessons of a painful Croke Park loss before going again in 2019. There's certainly serious talent in the Meath ranks and the immediate aim next year will be another crack at promotion from Division 3 of the Lidl National League. For two successive years, Sligo fell short against Tyrone in All-Ireland Intermediate semi-finals. The Yeats girls did narrow the gap in 2018 and gave Tyrone arguably their stiffest test of the entire campaign. The job now for Sligo is to hold onto the squad that they finished the season with, as the likes of Stephanie O'Reilly returned late in the campaign to add experience and class to their squad. Relegation from Division 2 of the Lidl National League was a setback but Sligo will be one of the favourites to bounce straight back to the second tier. Sligo know, however, that they will be a highly-competitive intermediate championship in 2019, with Tipperary also in there after the 2017 champions suffered relegation from the senior grade. Wicklow bowed out of the TG4 All-Ireland Intermediate Championship at the quarter-final stage – but not without putting up one hell of a fight. There were times at the Gaelic Grounds where Sligo threatened to over-run Wicklow but the Garden County stuck in there and only lost by six points. There was also a significant boost earlier in the season when Wicklow claimed the Lidl National League Division 4 final, to atone for the 2017 final loss to Longford. Wicklow will need to keep their panel together and consistent to make further strides next year, while they'll hope that the more experienced players who continue to sparkle will stick around for at least another season. A lot done, more to do is a fair assessment of Wicklow's season, while new faces in the squad would do no harm either. T 1. MEATH 2. SLIGO 3. WEXFORD 4. WICKLOW 5. ROSCOMMON