Frank expects Drumree to play ball
Frank Bawle has led Drumree to the final of the IHC in spectacular circumstances.
With two rounds to go, no one would have predicted that Drumree would be able to turn their fortunes around and qualify for the knockout stages. However, wins over Navan O’Mahonys and Donaghmore/Ashbourne secured Drumree top spot in the group. Last week they had a marvellous win over Donaghmore/Ashbourne to secure themselves a spot in the IHC final.
Bawle described how his side have progressed and improved throughout the campaign.
“We have gotten better as the year progressed, as opposed to last year when got a little bit worse as the year went on. We switched things up a little bit this year from a training perspective so that we would peak at the right time," Bawle told the Meath Chronicle.
"We have really tried to learn from last year's experience. We are starting to see the fruits of some of the changes that we made. We were also carrying a few injuries early on in the year so when them lads came back, that strengthened us.
"We are really happy with where we are right now and we are very happy with the progress that we have made over the last three or four games. Things seem to be coming together nicely”.
An automatic semi-final spot certainly was an advantage for Drumree and Bawle pointed to the group stage win over Navan O’Mahonys as a real turning point in Drumree’s fortunes.
“It was an advantage for us to qualify straight through to the semi-final but there was a stage there where it could have gone either way. We could have been out of it at one stage. The group stage win over Navan was a real turning point for us. At that stage, each game was nearly like a knockout game in terms of progression through the championship and our lads rose to that challenge."
Drumree’s semi-final display against Donaghmore/Ashbourne was impressive and they held the men in green and white to a single point in the second-half. Bawle points to the player's rise in intensity against the wind in the second half as being a major factor in getting the victory.
“We were a little bit disappointed to only be going in at half-time four points up on Donaghmore/Ashbourne. They got two goals late on in the half. We just regrouped inside and said that we had to increase the intensity in the second half to deal with the strong wind. We just knuckled down in the second half and we dealt with the strong breeze quite well.”
Bawle is not taking anything for granted heading into the final against Navan O’Mahonys and was impressed by O’Mahonys work rate late on in their semi-final. Bawle also suggested that the fact both sides know each other well means that it will be a very interesting encounter.
“The final will be interesting and Navan and ourselves know each other so well. They were quite impressive themselves on Saturday. They took their scores well and they worked very hard for their win. Particularly in the last 10 minutes and heading into extra time, they really pushed on,” concluded the Drumree manager.