‘Anything that I've asked of the two of them this year, they have delivered’

Anton O'Neill's first year in charge of Meath Camog's came to an end on Saturday after a spirited performance was not enough to get the better of a talented Down side, writes Tom Gannon.

Meath were coming off the back of two very poor performances against Offaly and Antrim, and while they were big underdogs heading into the quarter-final, Meath showed great tenacity to bounce back and put in a good showing in defeat to the Ulster side.

Speaking to the Meath Chronicle after the game, Anton spoke about how his side had plenty of chances but that they were not clinical enough in front of the posts. Regardless, the Kilmessan man was proud of the way his side performed.

"We had to regroup going into today because we knew we were not as bad as the last two performances. We had loads of chances, but when you don't take them, it drives the other team on. If we had been a bit more clinical, we might have been able to shift momentum. That's just the way it is. It's very hard to look out there when you feel that nothing is working. To be fair to the girls, I asked them to put on a show today and they did. Things just didn't go right for us."

Following heavy defeats to Antrim and Offaly, O'Neill was disappointed that his side's efforts on the day weren't reflected in the scoreline. He also reflected on the year and looked inwards at where he and his management side may have asked too much of the players at times.

You have to try to keep building and take the knocks. To have three heavy defeats in a row is hard to take. We had new players in this year and a new team. Sometimes we probably looked for too much. The main thing is that hopefully they got something out of the year from the training and from ourselves.

Anton's daughter Rachel had a very good performance on Saturday, and when asked about the centre back, Anton got a little bit emotional before explaining how proud he was of his two daughters' efforts with Meath this year.

"To be fair to Rachel, she's just like myself when I was playing, she puts her heart and soul into it. Laura is the same as well. Anything that I've asked of the two of them this year, they have delivered. It is hard sometimes because questions get asked about whether I am as hard on my own as I am on everyone else. There is no doubt that those two girls gave it their all, and they are treated exactly the same as everyone else on the pitch."

Finally, O'Neill was asked what he thought could be improved within Meath Camogie. The manager spoke about the improvements needed at underage structures in the way the game is coached in Meath and also the impact that the more dominant Ladies Football has on the sport in the county.

"I think what is making it hard for us is actually the basics of the game. We make it a bit hard for ourselves when we are approaching the ball and we should be a little bit more fluent. Coaches in clubs are doing the best they can but we do need to encourage speed and pace. We need to encourage more training at home. You have to be able to jab lift, you have to be able to hit left and right and strike on the run. It's not easy, but we have to have a look at what we are coaching underage so that it is more natural when girls get to senior," said O'Neill.

"The other thing is, and I don't like to be alluding to this all the time, but we are in a football county and football will win out. That is a factor, if you are going and training two nights of camogie, one night of football sets you back to a slower pace. No disrespect to the football but the speed of the ball is different in hurling and camogie. But look it, we can't fight one over the other, and it is what it is."

Leah Devine was appointed as captain at the start of the year. The Na Fianna star shared her reflection to the Meath Chronicle on the defeat to Down.

"I'm disappointed and emotional at the moment. We were saying beforehand that if we just went out and played, we would give ourselves a chance. Whether we won or lost, we wanted to play better than we did against Offaly and Antrim because we know we are better than that. We had chances there today, we missed a lot of them, and that is hard to take. I don't think we are far off, like Down were maybe a bit fitter than us but yeah, it's just disappointing."

The wing-back didn't try anything different than she normally would in her role as captain. She spoke about the various leaders already within the group and also said she was proud of the way the side performed in their final game of the year.

"I didn't try to do anything different as captain this year than I normally would. There are enough leaders in the dressing room, and the likes of Claire (Coffey) and Ellen (Burke) are great leaders. I don't need to be doing much yelling. It would have been nice to have a better year, but I suppose I am proud of how we finished today."

One positive that has come out of Meath Camogie's campaign was the introduction of youth into the team. Devine spoke very highly of her clubmate Brodie Kelly, who this year burst on the scene.

"I always say my favourite camogie player is Brodie Kelly. I play club with her and she is the best young one I know. Her work rate is unbelievable, and she is only just gone 18, so she has a big future ahead of her. Isabel (O'Connor) as well is also playing class. So it is positive that there are players coming up through the ranks. We had a good influx from the minors and the 23's as well. The players are there but it's just about getting it to click."