Littlewoods Division Two League Quarter-Final: Antrim v Galway (Saturday Donaghmore, Ashbourne, 2pm)
PAUL McKILLEN, Antrim’s joint-manager, doesn’t know what to make of Saturday’s quarter-final opponents Galway.
“They beat Cork at the weekend and Cork were already qualified with a huge score-difference. So you don’t know what kind of team Cork had out. Were they trying out players or giving their bench a run? I just don’t know what to make of it.
“Galway lost to Kerry in the first round of games and then won the other two matches to make it through. They left themselves a hill to climb and made it up the climb.
“I suppose we, being new to the camogie scene last year, don’t really know the strengths and weaknesses of other teams – especially some of those senior reserve teams – so we have to focus on what we have ourselves and I am pretty pleased with how things are going.”
Leaving the pitch in Owenbeg on Saturday, McKillen and his co-manager Jim McKernan couldn’t have been happier.
“We found space, we found players. We scored eleven points in the second half and some of those were brilliant.”
While Antrim’s point scoring certainly pleased their manager, they created five one-on-ones in the first half and it didn’t seem to annoy McKillen that only two of those finished with goals.
“We told the girls that didn’t score at half-time not to worry about missing. At least they were taking up the positions to get those chances. We said if another chance comes along, take that and put it away.”
There may have been some apprehension from the Antrim team and management before the league began when they were drawn in a group to face a resurgent Derry and a Down team that had beaten them in the All-Ireland Intermediate final in Cavan before Christmas. But it hasn’t shown in the two games over the past couple of weeks.
“We didn’t mind facing Down as we felt that we were better than the performance we gave in Breffni Park and the opening game would be a good chance to prove to ourselves that we were good enough.
“That day we were looking for a performance from the team. We ended up with the win and I think the game on Saturday saw us much more relaxed and playing as a team.
“Antrim is a young side and it is a work in progress. We are working our socks off. The girls did their winter training, their strength and conditioning is first class.
“That is down to Elaine Dowds, Eoin (Mahon), Kurtis (Ashcroft) and Lucia’s (Dowds) gyms. They have put in the work with them over the winter. Jim (McKernan) and I came in then in May and have been doing the stick-work and it’s coming along lovely.
“If we repeat the performance we put in last Saturday, it will be hard to beat us.
“There is a gap until the championship in July and we need to be playing games as far as possible into June to bridge that gap. We knew what Down and Derry might offer and we dealt with that. Now we take on something unknown and we are hoping to continue where we left off in Owenbeg.”
