ANTRIM manager Emma Kelly is looking forward to what the All-Ireland intermediate championship might bring after the Saffrons’ impressive Ulster IFC success.
The newly crowned Ulster champions will face Leinster sides Westmeath and Longford in their All-Ireland intermediate group and, as Kelly (left) says they will have nothing to fear, adding that winning the provincial title to make them exempt from relegation eases the pressure as well.
“I don’t think that we have to fear anyone, and that’s no disrespect to any team,” she said.
“We are on a high, we have the belief we are good enough, so it’s just taking every game as it comes.
“I think too, that as we have won Ulster we can’t be relegated from the intermediate championship. It’s not that we want to be [thinking of that] but it means we can go out and play without that worry. This group, they are going to want to go to the next level again.”
Kelly was delighted with the whole team performance in their 2-18 to 1-13 win over Tyrone in Sunday’s final but their achievement, a first ever provincial intermediate title, did not come as a surprise to the former Antrim player.
“It was something that I knew was there, that was very possible, if we could get the right management in and that’s not me saying that everything changed because we (Kelly and Kyla Trainor) were there.
“I could see, having played for Antrim, what was in the county and what was coming through at underage level.
“That skill level has always been there. It was just about getting them to believe in themselves and I think that’s just what has changed, it’s that mindset. It’s not
just ‘we are only Antrim’.
Now we are Ulster intermediate champions.”
Kelly feels that Meath’s rise that has brought them back-to-back All-Ireland senior titles is a massive indicator that new teams can rise to the top.
“Meath showed that they were able to jump up, up and up and I don’t see why Antrim can’t either. We can slowly progress and get up. We have just taken a massive step there,” she said.
“People are going to be looking at us and see there is something special there. We have great talent coming through and we should be able to get them transitioned in and keep moving forward. The future is very bright.”
