By Niall Gartland

ON paper, Derry camogs have a mountain to climb if they’re to surmount the considerable challenge of Antrim in this weekend’s All-Ireland Intermediate Championship group stage opener in Doire Trasna.

They met a few weeks back in the Ulster Senior Championship semi-final with Antrim seemingly cruising to a 2-19 to 1-3 victory. Derry vice-captain Áine McGill points out that by no means were they out of their depth though, as evidenced by the fact they trailed by only three points at the interval.

Realistically, Antrim are boiling hot favourites to secure another win over Derry, but McGill is hopeful that they can, at the very least, put it up to Ulster’s dominant force.

“I suppose it’s probably a bit clichéd to say that the scoreline was misleading, but I do think it was actually the case. At half-time there were three points in it and we had missed a good few opportunities. I think towards the end we maybe had to push up to try and win the game and Antrim probably just pulled away.

“Again, it’s a bit cliché, but I think most people who attended the game would have said the same about the final scoreline Again, it was a loss and it wasn’t a good enough performance in that respect, but we feel there’s work there that can be done. There are things I know we can work on.”

Áine played a key role as Derry landed All-Ireland Intermediate honours with a replay victory over Meath just three years ago, but quite a lot has changed in the meantime including two changes of management. There’s been a significant enough turnover in personnel – for example stalwart Aoife Ní Chaiside has retired and is now involved in a coaching capacity, but McGill believes that there’s still ample experience within their ranks.

Core group

“Yeah, I still feel there’s a good core group that have been there for a good few years now. There are maybe girls who haven’t been there consistently, or maybe weren’t part of the All-Ireland-winning team that people refer to, but there are still girls who are familiar with Derry camogie that might step in and fill gaps for their own reasons.

“I’d still feel the majority of the starting team are experienced players, are well fit for what’s required, and they know what’s required as well.”

“We definitely have a good mix of younger girls coming through as well though. Micky Henry and Micky Quigg have been involved with those underage teams so they’ve a good idea of who’s out there, and they’ve brought in some younger girls who are brilliant. They definitely keep us on our toes and are pushing, so it’s a good mix as well. And yeah, we would hope that might sort of come to fruition in the championship.”

Elaborating on their new management team spearheaded by Micky Henry, McGill, who works as a Research Associate in Leukaemia Biology at Ulster University, says they understand that players mightn’t always be available for training.

“Micky [Henry] was involved as a coach for two years, then he took a step back last year and came back as manager this year. We’re familiar with him and he’s familiar with us. He probably does a good job of meeting players halfway, texting us and keeping in touch. I think that’s just the type of relationship we have with him.”

“I definitely feel there’s a trust there. I think with female teams there has to be a bit of give and take. People have different commitments and everyone gives as much as they can, but sometimes different things come up. I have to travel for work sometimes and he’s understanding of us.”