Dolan back for good as Meath seek another title

Pop icons Take That disrupted the launch of the All-Ireland camogie championships at Croke Park on Wednesday of last week, but no one was complaining, possibly due to the fact that the ageing idols weren"t even there. Nevertheless, security was tight at GAA headquarters, tighter than for the 75,000 who turned up for the Meath v Dublin Leinster SFC quarter-final showdown three days earlier - well almost. Yawning expanses of empty seats were all that monitored the exact and precise workmanship of laying a protective floor on the hallowed turf. There was also an abundance of signs which proclaimed 'Keep Off The Grass" while the massive stage was constructed in front of Hill 16. 'You can"t go here' - 'You have to go around the back' - 'You have to go up there' - 'You have to go down there' - finding the right place gave an opportunity for a self-conducted tour of the vast stadium. Finally, I was rescued, it had to be by a Meath woman, and she brought me pitchside to the corner of the Cusack Stand / Canal End to find a lot of women in short skirts - or is that skorts - wearing a variety of county colours. There amongst them was the best looking of the lot, our own Jane Dolan, ready to help the Royal County in their bid for the New Ireland Cup, the trophy that the captain of the All-Ireland junior champions will receive on Sunday, 13th September. 'This is our first year in the junior grade so I suppose you could say we are facing a major challenge as the holders of the Nancy Murray Cup which we won last year when we beat Roscommon in the decider,' the Blackhall Gaels player told the Meath Chronicle. All around her the photographers and television cameras focused on the players wearing Cork, Dublin, Kilkenny or Tipperary jerseys. That"s probably understandable? Meath would not be a superpower of the game, but then camogie has only started to benefit from a major promotional drive by the legislators in the last three years. The centenary of the Camogie Association probably had something to do with that, the first official camogie game was played in Navan in 1904, but Dolan was not too concerned with any of that. 'We have to play Antrim in the first round and that will be a step into the unknown for us, but we have a good team and I"m confident that we can do well this year. 'Wexford beat Antrim in a league final two months ago and we played Wexford in a challenge since then, we weren"t too far off the pace, but it will be up to us to raise our game and I think we can,' she added. Meath are in a three-team group which is completed by Laois while Offaly, Waterford, Down and Dublin (second team) comprise the other group. 'We will play Laois on Saturday, 4th July and if we win both games then we will qualify for the semi-finals, it"s really up to us. 'We know all about Laois at this stage, we lost an All-Ireland Junior B final to them two years ago, but we won that competition last year, that was a good response from the players and we have put in a lot of hard work this year. 'Our team was very young, but we have some experience behind us now, that counts for a lot. ' I also have an extra incentive to do well because I missed most of the league this year due to a knee injury. 'I"m only getting back to full fitness now, I"ve had to work hard, but everyone else is working hard as well. 'Commitment or motivation is not a problem and we have had a successful two years in comparison to the period before that. 'Add in the fact that the standard at club level in Meath is improving all the time and that puts pressure on for places with the county team. 'Antrim will be a big challenge, but I think our team is ready to step it up to the next level. 'We know that our manager John Davis will have us well prepared and I"m sure that we will get a good crowd to support us next week at Kiltale, then it will be up to us to deliver a result,' she concluded. Meath can certainly look forward with some confidence to launching a bid for the New Ireland Cup. Four players have already featured on the Leinster junior team for the Gael Linn Cup earlier this year - Laura Flynn (Navan O"Mahonys), Louise Donoghue (Kiltale), Kristina Troy (Blackhall Gaels) and Aoife Thompson (Dunboyne). The president of the camogie association also took time out from her busy schedule - posing for the cameras - for a word with the Meath Chronicle. 'Meath camogie has made a lot of progress in the last couple of years, they won the league and Junior B All-Ireland last year and that doesn"t happen by accident,' commented Cork native Joan O"Flynn who is only three months into het three-year term. 'They have a great platform to take the game to the next level now. 'There wouldn"t be a big gap between the better teams in the top junior competition and that"s where Meath are at the moment. 'I"ve been involved with Kildare, as a player and administrator for about 10 years and I"m familiar with our neighbours in Meath, I know the organisation is good and once that"s in order, you can build from there. 'Prior to that I was in London where I played and refereed, I"m originally from east Cork which is where my GAA roots are. 'One of my objectives as president is to increase the number of girls playing camogie, we have to attract them to the game at an early age and work on skill levels. 'Camogie is a very skilful game, but it"s very rewarding and I would suspect that there are less injuries than in some other field sports, I don"t know the statistics, but that would be my belief. 'Since I took office I have managed to visit eight counties in an official capacity to monitor progress and development and I can assure you that there is a lot of positive work taking place,' she added. The National Development Plan for camogie will be completed this year and that will guide the association for the next five years with certain targets to be achieved. According to the president, relations between camogie, ladies football, hurling and football has developed positively in recent years. 'We are all under the GAA banner and co-operation manifests itself into good working relations which can only benefit everyone in the long-term,' said the president who also added that promotion of the game through the media would be very important in the future. The senior All-Ireland final will be televised live by RTE on Sunday, 13th September and highlights of the junior game are also likely to feature. The challenge for Meath is to make it to Croke Park when the television cameras will be rolling. Take that as the objective for now. 2009 National League DivISION 3 RESULTS Meath 2-7, Dublin 1-2 Meath 2-9, Armagh 2-3 Meath 0-6, Down 1-9 Meath 0-4, Laois 1-6 Meath 1-7, Offaly 3-2