Saffron squad keeping their eyes on the road ahead

By Michael McMullan

ANTRIM enjoyed their historic win over Cork but it’s a case of keeping their head down and looking for more improvement.

They take on Waterford on Saturday as their life in Division 1A continues. For goalkeeper Caitríona Graham, she was delighted to have been named captain this year and stresses that the group are very much focused on improvement.

“It was a nice journey back up the road after the win,” she said of beating Cork nearly a fortnight ago.

“Nobody gave us a chance probably going into it, we’ve had a few training sessions now and we take on Waterford.

“It was nice to get the win, but it’s only one win,” Graham added. “We’ve been working on our own game, not so much focusing on results, given Division One was always going to be a big challenge.

“It’s more about what we can do, our work-rate, our intensity, our ruck ball. It’s what we can do in matches more so than really looking at results.”

Graham emphasised the importance of their journey of improvement on the back of last year when they gained promotion from Division 1B under a management duo of Carl McCormack and Martin Coulter.

“Winning that (league) and going up into Division 1A this year, it’s a big step up in standard obviously,” Graham said.

“We’ve got some new girls into the panel, so the squad is quite young. It’s just about getting all these girls game time and exposure at that level.

“We’re delighted with how it’s going. In our first game, against Tipperary, we competed with them for about 20 minutes in each half.

“The scoreline didn’t reflect what we took from that game either. It’s about taking positives from these games and trying to build for the next day.”

Antrim know from previous battles what Waterford are going to bring this weekend. That’s the latest challenge to their mantra of climbing the performance ladder, one week at a time.

“We’re delighted with how things are going,” Graham added. “We’re getting more players in, some just coming out of minor last year.

“We’re getting them bedded into the team and seeing how they’re getting on.”

Getting the nod as captain is something Graham sees as an honour. Even to be seen as “captain material” by new manager Elaine Dowds was a compliment. She is quick to point to the other leaders around her in the squad.

“It’s great to have her (Dowds) back in,” Graham added. “From the last time we had her, she got experience from working with Dublin and Sleacht Néill.

“She’s come back now with a lot of freshness, a lot of new ideas and she sees the game now with a bit more experience.

“It’s great to have her back in, she’s added a new freshness, we’ve got ‘Gooch’ (Conor Gillan) and Chloe (McShane) in there as well,” she said of the coaching team, while also paying tribute to the conditioning coaches.

“It’s a great group to be part of. We had the weekend away to Cork last weekend and the bonding that that brings is great, it was a whole two days away with each other.

“It’s a great bunch to be involved with. We have good craic as well but whenever it comes to training, girls know to tune in and give it their all.

“It’s a lovely group to be part of, a lot of good friends. We’re just happy with the way it’s going now.

“We need to keep pushing for the rest of the year and see where things take us.”