By Niall Gartland

THE Antrim camogs couldn’t have fared much better over recent months and have the silverware to prove it, but joint-manager Martin Coulter says they’ve always had one eye on the All-Ireland Intermediate Championship.

The Saffrons claimed the Division 1B title before retaining their provincial crown, so they’re in fine fettle ahead of their All-Ireland group stage opener against a formidable Offaly side this Saturday at Portglenone.

Cutting to the chase, their joint-manager Coulter says they have big aspirations in the championship. A commendable showing isn’t what they want – they want to go all the way to an All-Ireland final at Croke Park.

“This is a competition we’ve targeted to be honest. We wanted to try out new players in the league and then retain Ulster, but this is the one we want to get a good run in, if possible, and at least get to the final. That’s the aim, there’s no point in saying otherwise, and we’ll see how it goes.”

The Saffrons, by Coulter’s own admission, exceeded expectations in the league but they were almost caught at the death in their provincial semi-final win over Down, a flying save from Caitriona Graham preventing a late sucker-punch goal that would have spelt defeat. That said, Coulter didn’t expect anything handy against his native county and they went on to finish the job in the final against Derry.

“Our whole aim in the league was to use the new panel of players that we’ve brought in and we got off to a great start and it went from there.

“Ulster’s a bit different, we knew we’d the hard route with Down and Derry, that both games were going to be a battle.

“They’re local rivals and we knew they were going to be tough, physical battles and that’s what we got both days out.

“Our ‘keeper Caitriona Graham pulled off a worldie of a save with the last play of the game against Down, we were two up and she made a great save at the finish. It was nip and tuck the whole way through, we couldn’t pull away from them and, as I say, that’s typical of a game between two local rivals.”

Their first-round opponents Offaly were the outstanding team in Division 2A this year, achieving promotion with a deserved victory over Derry in the league final. It makes for a tough opener from an Antrim perspective.

“Offaly did a number on a Derry team that we struggled with, and a lot of pundits have tipped them to win the competition.

“We’re under no illusions about the size of the task in front of us, and if we’re to do well in the competition, it’s really important to get off on the right foot.”