'You can't knock the efforts of the newbies'

Anton O'Neill can take plenty of positives away from his first game in charge of Meath as they got the better of Armagh in the National Camogie League Div 2A on Saturday afternoon. They put in an impressive performance in the second-half and as the game progressed into the closing stages, Meath pulled away from the northern outfit, writes Tom Gannon.

Speaking to the Meath Chronicle after the game, the Kilmessan man was impressed with how his side performed, especially considering the positional and personnel changes adopted on the day and for the year ahead.

"We were probably carrying a favourites tag today but in defence of the team, we had a lot of positional changes and we have a much younger squad now for the year ahead. The more experienced players that are still there did very well today but you can't knock the efforts of the newbies and the panel as a whole."

Armagh brought an intense physicality to the encounter and O'Neill was keen to express his thoughts on some of the dangerous tackles that were being allowed to go unpunished throughout the contest.

"It took us a while to get to grips with the game and Armagh brought a physicality to the contest that we wouldn't be used to at the moment. I've been encouraging the girls to play hurling and to play the ball. I don't like to criticise, but I thought there were a lot of high tackles that were let go and that is dangerous to the game. From a head injury standpoint, there needs to be a lot more focus put on that in general."

When Meath did get to grips with the game, they showcased a fantastic running style performance. O'Neill praised the girl's efforts in that regard and also in the way they stood up to some of the heavy tackles that were being thrown at them.

"We eventually got our running game going and it was great to see the girls finish out the game in a very positive manner. A lot of what we have been working on came into play as the game progressed. I liked the way that the girls stood up to a lot of the hard challenges that Armagh were throwing at them. It's a positive result for us, we will look at some of the things that went wrong for us and we will try and sort them out for the next day."

It is not unusual for Amy Gaffney to put in a player-of-the-match performance and once again, the Ratoath star was phenomenal in the green and gold of Meath. O'Neill spoke very highly of Gaffney and explained the reasoning behind starting the speedster at wing back, an unfamiliar position for the attack-minded player.

"Amy has so much talent, more than she even realises herself. She is a classy player and when you get her on the ball, she does some amount of work. We started her wing back today to try and change her approach to the game and it worked. We were then able to create a link there between attackers and defenders. We are trying out a few things and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Amy was vital today to the plan that we set out."

AMY GAFFNEY

Gaffney herself was quite pleased with how the Royals performed on the day and she explained how the team had learned from the experience of their first game last year where they drew with Westmeath.

"I think we did well, we knew coming into this that Armagh were going to be strong. We didn't want to take anything for granted. Last year, the first day out, we drew against Westmeath and we should have beaten them. That came back to bite us, so we wanted to get the win on the board and get off to a good start."

After the game, Gaffney was feeling the effects of the physical nature of the contest but she did explain the benefit of having a tough game early on in the campaign.

"It was a very physical battle and I'm a bit battered now after it. It's probably a positive that we did have a tough game today because it prepares us better for the next day. We have Kerry next week and they will be strong and physical as well."

Gaffney was handed the number seven jersey for the contest, a position that she was very unfamiliar with. For the second-half, Gaffney was pushed up to midfield but ahead of the contest, she did take a positive approach towards her adopted role at wing-back.

"I've been part of this panel for 11 years and I've never played in the backs so it was tough going. I just treated it like any other game and I went out with a positive mindset towards it. It was a bit different alright, but it was a good learning experience."

EMMA REGAN

Emma Regan was back in a Meath jersey for the first time since 2022 and on her reappearance she certainly did not disappoint. When things were not going well for Meath in the first-half, the Na Fianna woman dug deep and came out on top of a lot of her 50/50 battles.

"I was very happy with how I performed individually and how the team performed. It's great to start the year with a win. There are a lot of new girls on the team and we are still getting used to playing with each other. The pitch wasn't in great condition either so that didn't help matters."

During the interview, it was obvious that Regan was struggling with her voice and she put this down to being very vocal on the field of play. Before she headed on her way, she looked ahead to Meath's next game against Kerry.

"I was doing a lot of shouting out there which is a sign of a good game! I am hoping my voice will be back for the trip to Kerry next week. Hopefully, we can produce a similar performance there and come away with the win. We will probably head down there on Friday and we will be well rested and ready for the challenge the following day."