Leah's league ambitions driving on the Royals

Captain Devine hoping for more camogie glory

Leah Devine has been crucial for Meath during their successful National Camogie League Div 2 campaign - so far.

It has been an incredible turnaround already this year for the camogs and Devine is looking forward to captaining her side in the league final against Kerry at Banagher on Saturday.

“There has been a good gap between the last game against Carlow and the final this week. We have tried not to think about it too much, we have just been tipping away at training. We are obviously going to start thinking about it more this week. Everyone is buzzing though and it is a nice feeling going to training when you know you are in a final.”

The aforementioned Carlow game was not one of Meath’s best performances of the campaign but as Devine explains, the Royals finished out that contest very strongly.

“I suppose we were favourites but we never get a handy win over Carlow. They started strong and we were probably a bit nervous because we had everything to lose. We can take a lot from that game and to be honest, it felt like a win. To be eight points down with 10 minutes to go and come away with a draw was brilliant. It’ll probably benefit us that we were made to work hard in a match before the league final.”

Meath’s league final opponents, Kerry will be favourites on Saturday as the Kingdom narrowly got the better of the Royals earlier on in the campaign. Regardless of whatever happens, Devine believes that Meath’s journey in the competitive division has given the team a good boost for the rest of the year.

“We certainly have improved since that game against Kerry. We have played them so much over the years and there has never been much between us. We will have to get off to a good start. The last time we played them was only the second round of the league so we have definitely made good strides since then,” said Devine.

“Div 2 is always very close and there are always only a few points between each team on any given day. To get back to a final is huge. National finals don’t come around too often and overall this league campaign has given us a good boost for the rest of the year.”

Going forward, Stephen Sheil's side have been very good this year and the wide range of scorers combined with their tendency to deliver ball early means that Meath are no longer relying on one or two sharpshooters to provide the majority of their scores.

“We are lucky that our forwards are playing really well this year. There is a wide range of players who are racking up scores whereas in previous years we may have been over-reliant on a few girls stepping up and scoring frees. We have also definitely put a strong emphasis on getting ball into our full forward line early.”

At the start of the year, manager Sheil spoke about how he took over from Anton O'Neill because he could see the potential within this group. Devine explained that the potential has always been there but this year a good few girls have returned and bought back into the project.

“There has always been potential in Meath camogie. Over the last couple of years, we have probably found it hard to get everyone on the pitch at the same time, but there are certainly enough camogie players in the county for us to be very competitive. This year we have a good few girls back and it is really positive to see.”

Of course, Devine would love to lead the Royals to silverware on Saturday but the added bonus of playing Division 1B camogie next year is further motivation for Meath.

“The prize of winning this weekend is not only the trophy but it means we get to play in Div 1B next year. That is huge. The only way you are going to improve is by testing yourself against top teams. Playing those top teams in the league will set you up a lot better for the championship,” said Devine.

“Winning the league probably wasn't a target of ours at the start of the year. However, as the games went on, it became more of a reality. Getting to the final has definitely exceeded our expectations from the start of the year,” concluded the Na Fianna woman.