By Niall McCoy

DOWN sharp-shooter Niamh Mallon believes that the weekend’s convincing camogie relegation play-off win over Westmeath just rubberstamped their belief that they are now a senior team.

The side finished their group stage with three losses from three, and lost to Offaly in a relegation semi-final, but they were more than competitive across the board before finally securing their top-flight status with a 1-17 to 2-4 win in Inniskeen.

“If we had taken a few more chances in the group stages then we could have been in a quarter-final on Saturday rather than a relegation play-off, but that’s the way it goes,” said Mallon.

“We’ll learn and it has provided massive experience for everyone in the squad. There was such relief just to secure that next year at the top level.”

The player said that the Division Two 0-18 to 2-10 semi-final win over Wexford owed much to their competitiveness in the championship arena, even if the positive results agonisingly slipped away against Waterford and Dublin in particular.

“You don’t know until you go up and have a crack,” said Mallon.

“The Wexford game in the league semi-final was the turning point when it came to the belief side of things.

“When we go in next year we’ll have that belief and knowledge and we’ll know in the back of our heads that we are good enough to compete.

“More games at that level is such a big thing too. Playing Division One next year before the championship should really set us up well.”

Having been touted as one of the best intermediate forwards in the country, Mallon finally got to test her skills against the very best – and she continually produced the goods.

The forward was modest about her performances, but there is no denying that everyone is now aware of the qualities Niamh Mallon possesses, even at the top level.

“You don’t really think about those things. It’s about getting Down to the level we want to be at,” she said.

“There were a number of players that really stood up. I thought Dearbhla Magee had a super year for us. I thought Aoife Keown had a super year for us.

“I suppose you do have doubts about competing at this level, but I thought Down did very well.”