Very Ireland National Camogie League Division 3B

Saturday 2pm in Clane, Co Kildare – Clare v Antrim

ANTRIM and Clare met in Portglenone on St Patrick’s Day. The game was evenly-contested for the first 15 and last ten minutes. In between Clare were dominant and got into a position early in the second half where they weren’t going to lose.

They were more physical and more skilful than Antrim during that middle period of the game and the Saffrons had no answer. It was an emerging Antrim side’s worst performance across the group games.

However joint-manager Brian Kearney was more than pleased with the performance his team put up in last Saturday’s key Very National League Division 3B final last group game. Their 1-11 to 1-6 win over Dublin secured them a place in this Saturday’s final against Clare.

“That was a must-win game for us and we were coming off a poor performance against Clare on St Patrick’s Day. So we were more than happy with the outcome.

“If you looked at the first couple of rounds in the league, Dublin were running up massive scorelines and they seemed to be the team to beat. We were very surprised that they lost to Clare. That result certainly told us we had a great chance of reaching the final.”

At half-time on Saturday Antrim led Dublin by 1-7 to 0-1.

“We had impressed on the girls that we needed to get control of the game in the first half. I didn’t think that we had it won at half time – but we certainly were in control and were worthy of that lead.

“Our work-rate was phenomenal in the first half. Everyone was doing what was being asked of them. At half time we were trying to warn against complacency.”

During the course of the league, Antrim have widened their panel, bringing in minor players Aoibheann Donnelly and Cara O’Boyle as well as schools’ stars Eavanne Martin and Sarah Fyfe. All saw action on Saturday with O’Boyle starting and the other three coming in as substitutes.

“The game wasn’t won when we started to make the substitutions. The gap was down to four points. We weren’t emptying the bench to give girls games. We had every confidence in them coming on and adding an extra dimension to our play.”

Looking ahead to the final on Saturday in Clane, Kearney is hoping that his squad attack the final as they did the Dublin game.

“The Clare game three weeks ago was a major disappointment. We played in the first ten minutes and the last ten minutes. In between we were terrible – but hopefully on Saturday we can put that right.

“I don’t think that we necessarily have to worry about Clare ahead of the final. I think they are a good side. I believe that we are their equal. But we need to get our own heads right going into the final.

“Our heads were not right when we played them in Portglenone.”