Looking head of tomorrows TG4 All-Ireland Junior Championship Group A Round 4 game against Longford at Tir na nÓg Antrim joint manager Mickey Devlin spoke to Saffron Gael, looking back at the shock defeat by Derry last time out
Our team play in the final against Derry was exceptional… every girl worked for each and their work rate was outstanding… Defensively we fought for every ball and the pace in which we attacked resulted in some fantastic scores .. but most of all our game management on the field was superb… the girls covered some ground and our turnover rate was exactly where we would have wanted it…
To lose in the National league final
Ah yes no one likes to lose finals and to lose by the minimum margin can be deflating but we played really well that day and created so many chances which on any other day we would have converted most of them… but that was still our second promotion on the bounce which is a remarkable achievement for this group and something these girls can be very proud of… in total these girls have now played 5 finals out of 5 attempts in our time working with this group which itself is a fantastic achievement…
Looking ahead to division 2 next year
We are under no illusions how tough division two will be … But to be honest we have not spoke about next year as there’s quite a lot of work to do in the remainder of this season…
The journey under the Devlin/ Scullion era
I think everyone can recognise how far this team has come from Chris and myself took over..
Antrim football wasn’t in a good place when we took it over but we knew the challenge ahead and had our own plans in place to revive the county…
Everything as regarding progress I always give the credit to the players… last years group have been a massive part also of where we are now… hard work is the key to success and progress and we have been lucky that the players have gave everything we have asked.. these girls deserve to be where they are and love representing their county..
All Ireland – the story so far –
We are in a group of 5 with Offaly.. Derry .. Longford and Kilkenny… the other group has 4 teams with the top two from each group going to the semis..obviously we have ambitions to do well in this competition but then again another 8 teams share those ambitions…
We will concentrate on one game at a time that’s as far as we will look
It has been a mixed story so far- one win secured against a sharp moving Offaly side and a defeat to a very strong and polished Derry team .
Next up we have Longford tomorrow and we have prepare the girls to the best of our ability and they are working so hard – so we take each game as it comes.
A united group
Togetherness is key .. when you have that it’s a fantastic base to work from.. the group has some fantastic leaders with none other that team captain Bronagh Devlin who always leads by example..
Ciara Brown, Aine Lynch, Lara Dahunsi, Theresa Mellon, Aine Devlin and Maria O’Neill have been playing senior for a few years now and they are always so full of encouragement to the new girls and the younger girls who have came into the panel… Aiobheann Monaghan who is still a minor most certainly has a fantastic future at this level and our new girls have settled in well .. Laura Agnew is special talent also .. Will play anywhere for the team and is so dedicated…
Our backroom staff is people are the unsung heroes of any group… Sean our physio.. Neil our Coach.. Shane the goalkeeping coach.. Oisin our sport psychologist .. add so much value to what we do… Tierna our Female Liaison Officer is so popular with the girls and is always there for them in whatever they need ..
As for Colette she has everything running like clockwork.. nothing escapes her and she leaves us with nothing to worry about and makes sure anything needing done is well covered… again like Tierna she is very popular with the group …
As regarding Antrim’s future things look incredibly good especially with the young talent coming through the ranks ..