Football

Ladies' Football: Antrim target league crown and promotion

  Antrim's Jenny McCavana and McCavana Limerick's Dymphna O’Brien will lead their team's out tomorrow afternoon 
  Antrim's Jenny McCavana and McCavana Limerick's Dymphna O’Brien will lead their team's out tomorrow afternoon    Antrim's Jenny McCavana and McCavana Limerick's Dymphna O’Brien will lead their team's out tomorrow afternoon 

ANTRIM may carry the underdogs tag for tomorrow afternoon’s Lidl National League Division Four against hot favourites Limerick but that suits the Saffrons fine as they go in search of silverware and, more importantly, promotion. 

With a divisional final berth and ultimately victory the target for Seamus McKenna’s side at the start of the year, Antrim have quietly gone about getting to this stage. They had a mixed bag of results in the league but did enough to secure their place in the semi-finals, taking fourth spot.

“It’s great to be in this position and get to the final as it was one of the goals we set out at the start of the year,” said captain Jenny McCavana.

“We are raring to go and these are the occasions every player wants to be involved in.

“We need to go out, play without fear and leave it all on the pitch. There is no worse feeling than leaving the field after a final with regrets.”

Antrim appeared in the 2014 final, which they lost to Roscommon, while Limerick have lost five finals in the last 12 years, most recently last year’s decider against Offaly on top of 2012 and 2010 defeats and Division Three finals in 2008 and 2004.

Limerick will have certainly taken note of their opponents after they disposed of a highly-fancied Longford side, who finished top of the table, by four points in the semi-finals. 

The Ulster side were certainly not favourites to come out on the right side of that result two weeks’ ago but McCavana had said in the build up to the game there was a winning performance still to come and she was not wrong.

“I feel our performance in the semi-final was a much more accurate reflection of what we are capable of,” she said. 

“At times throughout the  league we maybe didn’t show the qualities that we have but we have steadily improved and thankfully the performance against Longford, things just seemed to click on the day.”

There is no doubt things need to click again tomorrow against Limerick because a similar performance to  the one they produced when the sides met early in the league will not do as  the Treaty county recorded a 2-15 to 0-7 win. 

But McCavana insists, with the league in its early stages, the team was still finding its feet.

“We played quite poorly that day against Limerick and got a bit of a hammering which we deserved as Limerick were the much better side,” she said.

“It’s not an excuse but I do feel that we were still finding our feet as a team at that time and that we have steadily improved since then. I feel that we learned a lot from that defeat and we have gradually grown in confidence with each game.

“The fact that both teams have got to this stage before and lost out makes Saturday’s game all the more interesting. 

“Both teams will be going hell for leather to try and make sure they don’t have to endure that feeling again. 

“Losing a final is always a horrible experience and one that you don’t forget, so ourselves and Limerick won’t need much more motivation come Saturday.”

The semi-final win over Longford will have instilled a huge amount of belief in Seamus McKenna’s side as they aim to achieve promotion from the bottom tier that has remained elusive for so long. 

Twice, in 2009 and 2012, Antrim were crowned All-Ireland Junior champions but they have never quite managed to take the title of Division Four champions and to help the county develop playing at the next league level is something they need. 

“It is hugely important for Antrim football to keep improving and progressing,” said McCavana.

“Winning promotion is vital because we have a lot of fantastic young players coming through in Antrim at the minute and we want those girls to be competing and learning at the highest level they possibly can,” she said. 

The Division Three Final between Waterford and Tipperary is the second game of the double header at Clane (3.45pm).

Favourites Waterford, who are the current All-Ireland Intermediate champions, and have yet to be beaten this season, will be hoping it is third time lucky having lost out to Sligo in a surprise loss in 2015 and Armagh the year before.

To be able to compete in any way at a senior championship level they need to get out of the third tier, just as Armagh found out and have since proved in the last three seasons.

Tipperary have only lost once this season, in a nail-biting league opener against Waterford that went right down to the wire and this one is expected to be just as close.