Glen Dimplex Intermediate camogie championship
THE quarter-final draw last Monday in the Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Intermediate camogie championship paired Derry with Meath.
“I just knew that’s the way it would work out,” said Clíodhna Ní Mhianáin at Monday’s media launch in Croke Park.
“Outside Ulster, I would say that Meath are the county we have played most in recent years at senior level.
“I have played them nearly every year in my career. They are just always there and it is always a battle.”
The last time the teams met at championship level was the 2023 Intermediate final and Derry needed a replay in Clones before they raised the Jack McGrath Cup.
Both teams have changed significantly since those two games with Meath probably a lot more recognisable than Derry.
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“That’s probably correct,” agreed Ní Mhianáin.
“Well, there are 14 girls who made their senior debut with Derry during the course of this year. I think we have just five girls who played three years ago.
“We are very much in the middle of a rebuild. But that is something that happens regularly enough with camogie teams.
“I think that we have responded well to the training and we have gelled as a panel as the year progressed. At the start of the year we were really only finding our bearings, but the team has evolved since that.
“We met Meath in (Find Insurance) Celtic Park back in March. It was a good tight game, but I think we have improved a lot since then. I suppose so too have Meath,” surmised Ní Mhianáin who popped across from her work in the Commercial Department of RTÉ to attend Monday’s media event on Jones Road.
The Sleacht Néill player works two days in Dublin and can operate from home the rest of the week, making attendance at training a lot easier.
“It’s a lot handier for me to do that than when I was a student in Galway and making my way home by bus at regular intervals for club or county training.”
Ní Mhianáin celebrated her 16th birthday with a 15 minutes cameo appearance in the 2018 Ulster club final when Sleacht Néill beat Loughgiel 0-11 to 0-8. They went on to win their third All-Ireland crown later that season.
“It was class to come into that team at the time. There was so much experience there and you just had to do the simple things and let others lead the team.
“I didn’t play in 2023 when Derry won the All-Ireland. With the travel etc when I was in Galway, it’s only maybe in the past year or so that I got a regular place in the team.
“Quite a few of this year’s team are coming from intermediate and junior clubs in Derry and I wouldn’t really have known them before we came together this year. Like, I wouldn’t have played against them at club level, but they have brought a lot of freshness into the panel.”
Although Derry played in the seeded qualification group with Antrim, Kerry and Down, and finished in bottom place, Ní Mhianáin felt that they have gained from the games.
“Those three games were part of the learning experience for us. We played well against Down and for parts of the Antrim and Kerry games. As with the league, we want to take the learnings from those games into Sunday.
“I never really pay much heed to what other people say. I was told that Meath were on the way into the relegation play-off when they lost the first two group games. Yet, they got through.
“The Derry hurlers were the same earlier this year. They were being written off all season and they still won the Christy Ring Cup.
“We have to do the same; shut out the outside noise and learn from every game we play.”
