‘We are going out to win’

This weekend, Stephen Sheil will oversee his Meath side as they compete in their first All-Ireland Intermediate Camogie semi-final since 2023.

The Carlow native’s first year in charge has been an rollercoaster but it appears that Meath have peaked at the right time ahead of their semi-final clash with Antrim. The Royals’ last two performances have given Sheil plenty of reasons to be optimistic.

“I was a little bit disappointed with the first-half performance from us against Derry. We missed a couple of chances, but we were still within touching distance, having played against the wind," Sheil told the Meath Chronicle.

"I said to them at half-time that they had 30 minutes to get to a semi-final and that they just had to go at it. They did to be fair, in the first quarter, they were well on top. Derry didn’t seem like they were going to threaten the goal anyway. There was times that we took an extra pass that we didn’t need so we can still improve and it was nice to get over the line”.

Meath showed great resilience in those two performances against Carlow and Derry and showed great character to bounce back from a string of defeats before those contests.

“We could have easily found ourselves in a relegation battle, but when we managed to reach the quarter-final, at that stage we felt that if we could back up our performance that we could definitely make a semi-final. We are not thinking that we are in bonus territory now and whatever happens happens. We are going out to win. It has been brilliant for the group,” said Sheil.

“They were very resilient to come through that tough period. We were there or thereabouts all the time and to be losing games by tight margins was tough. To be fair to the girls, they dug in even more and as big of a task as it was to get over the line against Carlow, I believed and the players believed that we could put up a good score on them. There is still a little bit left in the tank.”

Sheil continued to praise his squad for their commitment and buy-in. He also said that it is a fantastic achievement for such a young team. He also commended the leaders in the team for their calmness and trust.

“Every player has bought into what me, Niall and the rest of the management have asked them to do and the standards at training have gone up and up. I always say we have a panel there for a reason and everyone is driving each other on. The way the girls backed up their performance the last day showed the great character they have. It is a huge achievement for such a young team but until the year is done, we won’t be reflecting,” said Sheil.

“There are leaders in every line for us and those leaders in the group are massive. They have been there and done that and have gotten to the stage that the younger girls are aiming to get to and they know what is needed to get there.

"They also have such a calmness about them and there is no major pressure put on anyone’s shoulders and the younger girls feed off that. There is a lot of trust there between the players and it is great to see.”

One big thing that Sheil has tried to instil in the Meath side this year is belief. He spoke about sports psychologist Ailbhe Ryan and the work she has done with the team.

“There is a bit of momentum there and there is more belief. I have been telling the girls all year how good they are and how skilful they are. We have a sports psychologist, Ailbhe Ryan working with them and she has done a brilliant job with them. We certainly have that ethos now to keep going to the end no matter what the situation is that we find ourselves in. We are so solid in defence that we can afford to play with more freedom in the forwards. It’s a good mix because when the backs get the ball up to the forwards, they back them to put the ball over the bar,” said Sheil.

“I think the big difference for us this year is just mindset. A lot of the girls that were there last year are still there this year but it’s a different mindset and belief. There is no fear there at all. I can’t speak personally for last year, obviously, but if you look at the players that played against Antrim last year, there is a lot more calmness about them this year. The younger girls are after bringing a huge amount of energy and they are eager to impress the older girls. Everybody is learning from each other and nobody cares about who is getting the headlines, it is all about putting the jersey on and representing Meath.”

Sheil detailed the shift in tactics from the league to the championship. He spoke about he and his management team are leaning more into the strength of their own players rather than focusing too heavily on the opposition.

“In the league, we were looking at nullifying individual players and the threats that they posed. We slowly learned and shifted slightly during the championship, where we still looked at the danger players on the opposition side, but we leaned more into our own strengths. The last couple of games I think we have managed that mix very well of going out and doing our own thing while also keeping an eye on a couple of the opposition players.”

Sheil knows that his side will be the underdogs for the semi-final against Antrim. He spoke about the opposition's strengths before detailing what it would mean for Camogie in the county should his side get over the line this weekend.

“On paper, we are underdogs of course. At the start of the competition, Antrim were favourites to win the All-Ireland and they still are, on paper. They earned their place directly into the semi-final. They are very physical and really hard-working. We know we will have to be at our very best. We certainly won’t be going out defensive-minded though we will be throwing everything at it.”

“Antrim are obviously a very good team. They work hard and are so well organised. We absolutely will have to be at our best and there will be nothing easy about the game. We are not naive about that either. Whatever happens, whether we win, lose or draw, as long as the girls put everything in and leave everything on the field we won’t be complaining.

"It would be massive to get over the line, even for the county itself. You can see the amount of young girls who are at games and the team that are there at the moment have the ability to inspire even more girls around the county to get involved in camogie,” concluded the manager.