McEldowney won’t blame referees

By Ronan Scott

THE Sleacht Néill manager Damien McEldowney said that the club’s camogs need a few weeks away from camogie before making any decisions on their future.

The Robert Emmet’s club lost their All-Ireland Senior Club camogie final to Sarsfields of Galway last weekend, 1-8 to 0-10.

The defeat was crushing for the club, as it ended Sleacht Néill’s unbeaten run in the championship, and scuppered their bid to equal the record of four All-Ireland titles in a row which Buffer’s Alley had previously achieved.

Yet despite the defeat, McEldowney believes that the Sleacht Néill camogs can regain their title, they just need time away from the game.

“They will be back. They don’t turn into a bad team over night. They need a break. They need some time away.”

And when asked about a time frame, McEldowney said that after a two or three-week break, he expected the captains to call a meeting to discuss the upcoming season.

Until then though, the players need to relax.

The team will go away and forget about camogie, and reflect on what happened in the game.

“They are letting their hair down. They have made a lot of sacrifices. They have spent a lot of time thinking about camogie. They just need to get away from it and think about something else for a while.”

McEldowney believes that there is plenty of potential in the squad.

“I believe that if the girls want to come back they will come back. I can see all of them returning.

“There are younger girls in the squad there who will have learned a lot from this year. They will be pushing for places next year. There is a good blend of youth and experience in there. If the girls are willing to make the sacrifices then they can get back there.”

In the All-Ireland final last weekend, Sleacht Néill did not get off to a good start, which was part of the problem for them. After an early period, Sarsfields dominated the game, as their game plan of marking tight to Tina Bradley and Louise Dougan worked well. By half time they trailed by 0-3 to 0-6.

But in the second half the game started going their way as Shannon Graham and Bradley found the target more easily.

Sarsfields didn’t score in the second half until the 54th minute. Louise Dougan hoisted over a point at the end of normal time and it appeared that the Derry champions were on the brink of winning the title.

However, a finishing move from the McGrath sisters put Sarsfields ahead, and Sleacht Néill couldn’t catch them.

There was a feeling among fans that perhaps Sleacht Néill were harshly treated, and perhaps should have been given a free at the finish.

But McEldowney was not interested in blaming referees.

“I am not going say that we got beat by the referee.

“We missed scores. There are a lot of things that happen in games

“The first half the girls did not play at the standard that they usually would. The girls knew that they had not started well. We spoke about it at half time.”

McEldowney explained that Sarsfields were primed for the final, and were well prepared.

“We can’t take anything away from Sarsfields. They had a game-plan and they executed it.

“Most of what Sarsfields had planned we had expected.

“We knew that Louise (Dougan) was going to be marked. And we expected Tina (Bradley) to be double marked.

“We knew going in that it was going to be hard. We had discussed it with the girls. They knew what to expect.”

They knew what to expect because in preparation for the game, McEldowney sat down and worked out what he would do to stop his team.

That involved trying to limit the influence of Tina Bradley and Louise Dougan.

“It took Louise time to deal with it, but she did. It would have been easy to push her up, but we knew that she would grow into the game and she did. It took her a wee bit longer to adapt.”

The same was the case with Tina Bradley, who was under severe pressure during the game.

McEldowney said: “It’s not easy for her to play when there are two or three around her. But she found a way. I thought Tina had a good second half.

“I thought Shannon (Graham) had a good game, she did a lot of rucking and diving to win the ball.

“But I don’t remember a game where the referee had to throw the ball in so many times. I don’t know why he felt he had to do that.

“I thought Céat (McEldowney) had a great game too.”

The Sleacht Néill manager emphasised that the Sarsfields team did deserve a lot of credit for how they played.

“They have a lot of quality and have been together for a long time. They have experienced the hurt of losing to us those two occasions. Fair play to them, they are All-Ireland champions.”

Derry boss to give his

players time

Derry camogie manager Ciaran Cunningham has said that it would be unfair of him to ask players to join the county team.

The Oak Leaf boss is currently trying to build a squad in his first year back in charge of the county.

A good number of the Sleacht Néill players would be key to his future hopes but he understands that they need time to get over their defeat to Sarsfields.

“It is too soon to get them into the squad. I am keen to get them into the squad. But they will be disappointed and will be getting over the result.”

Cunningham is going to give them space, though he actually thinks that the best thing for the Robert Emmet’s players would be to get back out on t he field.

“I think the best thing to do is to get back on the horse. It gets you thinking about something else, rather than sitting round and thinking about the game.”