TG4 TG4 LGFA All-Ireland Junior Final Reaction
By: Niall Kelly
Amidst the chaos and jubilant scenes at the final whistle, after Maria O’Neill’s clutch point in the dying embers sealed the Junior All Ireland crown for Antrim, Chris Scullion’s delight and euphoria was clear for all to see. After two years at the helm, alongside fellow Glenavy Gael, Michael Devlin, it was mission complete for Scullion and his talented crop of players.
After two memorable days of celebrations, I managed to get the chance to have a chat with Chris about Sunday’s final as he got a chance to reflect on what an incredible occasion it was. There can be little doubt that Antrim’s resilience and never-say-die attitude played a crucial role as they constantly rallied after suffering setbacks, and when questioned on what he felt got his side over the line, Scullion insists that their belief never wavered as they’d discussed every possible game situation beforehand.
“I think it was definitely down to our belief. During the week of the final, we catered for every scenario; if we came in at half-time behind, what would be our response. If we managed to come in and be ahead, what would be our next plan to put in place. We worked very closely with our sports psychologist, Oisin McManus, to communicate with ourselves and the girls and listen to their opinions on those situations.
“If I am honest, yes, when Megan Townsend put that goal in for Carlow, there was maybe that split second where you wonder if it’s going to be replay or ‘that the same thing as last year is happening. But the girls had full belief in themselves and I think Maeve Blaney summed it up really well in that she fully believed we would get another point even when they got their goal.”
Preparation was clearly key for the Saffrons and their management team, not just physically but from a mental perspective as well. The Glenavy native pointed to the fact that they ensured that they were all fully prepared to believe in themselves and wore wristbands during the game to motivate and act as reminders. Indeed, he had a gut-feeling that the game could be in the melting pot for the duration.
“Maybe we were slightly influenced by Kobe McDonald there during the week, he wears tape around his wrist and writes a wee phrase to keep him motivated. We tried to do that and thought of three things that we wanted to focus on and remind ourselves of these things for each player depending on where they were playing. On the inside as well though, we had to write something that really meant something to us. For my own, I had written ‘last chance,’ because I really thought it could come down to the last chance in the game.”
“Looking at Carlow’s games previously, I thought they played a very similar game to us, I thought they were extremely fit. Ed has done a fantastic job with them, and I really felt it could come down to the last few scores and in this case the last twenty odd seconds. It wasn’t good for the heart but what an intense, incredible finish it was.”
When asked to reflect on the past two seasons in charge, Scullion is clearly delighted with Antrim’s success but is keen to highlight the progression of the players which he feels is even more important.
“This was the ultimate goal by the end of the two years (winning the All Ireland.) Last year, I mentioned in an interview that perhaps we were ahead of schedule. I am obviously so happy though that we are All Ireland champions and that the plan panned out the way we hoped. I have immense satisfaction from a coaching point of view. The girls really grasped pretty quickly the tactical elements that we were trying to implement. They really bought in to everything.”
“Out of everything over the past two years, yes of course winning the All-Ireland Final was the big achievement, but it is the development of the players which I am most proud of. Watching the progression of these players and the younger members of the team has been special.”
The mix of seasoned heads and youthful exuberance proved to be the perfect formula on Sunday. The introduction of some of the younger members of the squad seemed to reinvigorate the side in the second half and Chris points to a bright future ahead.
“Bringing on that wee bit of speed and endurance later in the game, that sort of youthful expression, definitely helped us see it over the line. The girls really alluded to it after the whistle that it was the right decision to bring those girls on when we did just to give us that wee bit more energy to get us over the line.”
“I think we now are really at that level where we can compete at Intermediate. As I said before, we’ve beaten the last 3 out of 4 Intermediate finalists over the last two years, so there is no reason why we couldn’t potentially do that again. Now as well, you’ll have other girls at their clubs looking to emulate what their friends did for the county, I think that only bodes really well for the county and I hope it does and maximises the potential that we have here in Antrim.”
