Glen Dimplex Premier Junior Championship
TWO years ago Emma Laverty was a key part of the Antrim camogie team that took on Down in the All-Ireland Intermediate final in Kingspan Breffni. The Saffrons went down by 4-16 to 2-10 in that decider.
However, the lessons learned from that all-Ulster final just before Christmas 2020 were taken on board by the team management and players and they romped to the 2021 title. Laverty, though, had dropped off the panel and was not part of the All-Ireland success.
Less than a year later, the Ballycastle midfielder is back on the All-Ireland trail, playing a central part in a completely new Antrim team that is just 60 minutes away from another all-Ulster All-Ireland final.
If the Saffrons beat Clare on Saturday in Bord na Móna O’Connor Park Tullamore, there is guaranteed to be an Ulster team waiting for them in Croke Park as the first game on the Tullamore semi-final double-bill is Cavan v Armagh.
“We all felt as a panel last year that we needed to take a strength and conditioning programme on board and it was basically seven days a week commitment,” explains the interior architect based in Todd’s in Belfast.
“I bought into it, but it simply wasn’t working for me. I was travelling to work every day and trying to give full commitment to the programme, the skills’ training, the games. I was just feeling mentally and physically exhausted all the time.
“When the games were coming around, I wasn’t getting my place and I was struggling with confidence. So I decided to drop out of the panel to concentrate on playing with the club and enjoying my camogie.”
The revival of her inter-county career owes a lot to her boyfriend David Kearney who was on the Antrim senior hurling team that won the Joe McDonagh Cup in Croke Park a couple of months ago.
“Well, more David’s father really,” corrects Laverty.
“Most of the top counties have reserve teams participating in the junior or intermediate championships providing a pathway for players to come through from underage to senior level. Down had started a reserve team two years ago and it seemed to work for them.
“So Antrim wanted to start one and Brian Kearney (David’s father) was getting involved in managing it and he asked me to give it a go. I thought I could maybe commit to it. I decided to give it a go and I am really enjoying it.
“I am the eldest on the team and therefore one of the more experienced at that level.
“There are half-a-dozen or more from the All-Ireland winning minor team last year, a couple who are still minors. So those younger players are looking to the likes of myself and other experienced players to guide them on the pitch and they are great to play alongside.”
Antrim competed well in the league earlier in the year, but the Ballycastle midfielder felt a little frustrated that some results went against them.
“Cavan beat us by a point or two and went on to win the league. Armagh beat us as well by a couple of points. Those were frustrating losses because we had the players to actually win those game, just maybe not the experience to get over the line as we are a new team.
“That was why it was important to beat Cavan in the Ulster championship. That helped with team confidence without a doubt. But unfortunately we didn’t play to our full potential against an experienced Armagh side in the final.
“They have been in a lot of finals over the past couple of years; if they beat Cavan in Tullamore that will be their third All-Ireland final in a row. And their players would be a lot older than our panel.
“We were very nervous before that game. I could sense it in the warm up and we didn’t perform the way we would have liked. But when we played Armagh in the championship in Dunloy, we showed how much we have progressed although we came up short in the end.”
Laverty missed the final group game in the championship a couple of weeks ago because of a Kearney family wedding the same afternoon. It actually wiped out three central players, Laverty and her midfield partner Clare Kearney and centre-half back Sinéad Cosgrove as well as Brian Kearney the joint manager.
“We probably looked a funny sight, the four of us updating the Twitter feed right through the game before we went into the church to the wedding.
“It was a hard decision to make but that’s why we have a panel of players, we were confident in our team to get the outcome we needed.”
Laverty, like most of the her teammates, was expecting to find that their semi-final opponents would be Cavan, but the Breffni ladies came up a point short to Clare in their final group game. Therefore it is now a step into the unknown for Antrim.
“I think that playing against Clare is probably a good thing. We had played Cavan twice already this year and we might have been looking to close X or Y down a bit more. Sometimes you can over-think your opponents and lose something from your own game.
“Playing Clare, we have to focus on getting our own game right and playing to our potential.
“Can we win? We are a good honest team that works hard so hopefully we can the outcome that we would want.”
