Davis proud of charges
November 27, 2011John was in charge of Meath hurlers when they reached the dizzy heights of the mid-nineties and played against the likes of Offaly in the Leinster championship, only losing narrowly to the Faithful County at Croke Park in 1996 when only six points separated the sides.
However, after finding success at club level as well, John opted to manage the Meath camogie side and they have made strides on an annual basis since. This year has been no different as the Royal County won two titles; the National league division two title and the Leinster junior championship.
John explained to the Royal County Yearbook about the huge effort that his charges have put in over the past 12 months.
In what may come as a surprise to many, the Meath junior camogie squad started training for the 2011 campaign in October 2010 and John revealed that they amassed well over 100 training sessions during the course of the year.
"The girls put in a huge effort, probably more than a lot of men's teams and they don't really get the credit that they deserve. There is a massive amount of work involved in this job and I have to say that they are a very dedicated bunch and they thoroughly deserved the success that they had this year."
Having been defeated in the last two junior All-Ireland semi-finals gave the Royal ladies something to aim for in 2011, but John admitted that promotion in the league was their number one priority for this year.
"We did aim to gain promotion from division three to division two as we feel that we need to be playing at the next level to help improve our game. In division three, the games were competitive enough, but you couldn't highlight our faults or weaknesses in those games, compared to the level of competition we will face in division two."
Meath faced Armagh, Kildare, Roscommon and Dublin in the league campaign and came through all four matches unscathed. The Lilywhites finish second meaning that they would face the Royals in the final.
Only a goal (2-9 to 1-9) separated the sides at the end of their group encounter and the final turned out to be even closer as a pointed free by Jane Dolan in the second minute of injury time snatched the Irish Daily Star Camogie League Division 3 title for Meath at Donoghmore Ashbourne, as the home side beat Kildare by 3-9 to 2-11 in a thriller.
Dolan contributed 2-4 in total although she was marked much better by Kildare in the second half. The Blackhall Gaels star threatened to run amok in the opening period though and her two first half goals put her side in a good position at half-time, leading by 2-4 to 1-6 despite having played into a fairly strong wind.
The Lilies resumed in determined fashion and a Róisín O'Connell goal in the 33rd minute gave them a dream start. A brace of points from Aoife Maguire brought the sides level, but three O'Carroll points put Kildare in control.
They held that advantage until the 53rd minute when Lizzie Oaks' sideline cut flew all the way to the Kildare net and both sides had chances to claim the silverware before Dolan's dramatic late winner to leave the scoreline at the final whistle 3-9 to 2-11 in favour of Meath.
"It was a great achievement by the girls to win promotion and now they will face the likes of Wexford and Kilkenny's second teams as well as Limerick and Down, which will certainly help to bring them on a good bit.
"In camogie, the majority of the work revolves around the ball skills and developing them to a certain level. That is why it is so important for these girls to get promotion to the second division. They have put in a huge effort all year and certainly the work has been done."
The Leinster campaign saw Meath progress to yet another final and once again Kildare provided the opposition as the Lilywhites looked to avenge their defeat in the league final only a week earlier.
The final was played at Trim and Tom O'Mahoney's side entered the break with a three point lead, but two goals in as many minutes of the second period gave Meath a lead they would never surrender.
The opening half began at a snail's pace, with both sides showing their familiarity with each other by cancelling out the opposition's threat. Jane Dolan and Susie O'Carroll's usual set piece prowess was coming to the fore, offering a glimmer of light in an otherwise banal affair.
Four points in as many minutes from O'Carroll stretched out a necessary lead for Kildare, allowing for the advantageous strong wind. Meath were offered a generous lifeline on the brink of the break, when a goal mouth scramble finally ended when the sliotar trickled over the line leaving the score 1-1 to 0-7.
The second half was poised for a very interesting battle, with both managers using the break to retreat for the dressing rooms to refocus their charges.
Kristina Troy was the first to have the green flag raised, when her free from the half way line somehow managed to sail directly past Brid Byrnes in to the net. Winning the ensuing puck out, Meath continued and took the lead when disastrous Kildare defence allowed Katie Mullen to smash another goal in to the net. Dolan punished the Lilies even further with two quick points to open up a five point lead for Meath.
The performance of Meath's centre back, Troy, cannot be undervalued as she was extremely influential in breaking up Kildare's play. A last gasp goal from Clodagh Farrell was quickly cancelled out by Claire Coffey, as Meath saw off the Lilies to prevail over last years' champions. This time by a more comfortable score (5-8 to 1-9).
"We played better in the Leinster final than we did in the league final and I think that reflected in the scoreline. Winning the Leinster title was a big boost as the All-Ireland campaign started just a few weeks later."
The format of the All-Ireland Premier junior camogie championship sees two groups, one with four teams and the other with three. Meath were placed in Group 2 alongside Laois and Roscommon. The Royals started the campaign with a six-point win over Laois (2-12 to 1-9) and they followed this up by recording a 4-14 to 0-5 win over Roscommon to advance to the semi-final.
This was Meath's third consecutive appearance in the All-Ireland semi-final and they were eager to take the next step. However, their chances against Down were hampered by injuries to key players Laura McCann and Niamh Kirby, while star forward Jane Dolan entered the match suffering from cracked ribs sustained during the comfortable win over Roscommon. Throw in the fact that experienced players Aileen Donnelly and Lizzie Lynch missed the majority of the campaign and it meant that the Leinster side faced an uphill struggle, but John was still confident of securing the win.
Meath got off to a solid start despite playing against the slight breeze and were 0-3 to 0-0 to the good after seven minutes with Dolan registering all three scores. Karen Gribbin opened Down's account a minute later and it needed a smart save from Meath 'keeper Emily Mangan to prevent Sara Louise Carr netting shortly after.
Down's goal arrived in the 13th minute when Fionnuala Carr's free from distance wound up in the Meath net with her sister lurking with intent to capitalise on a possible breaking ball. Niamh Mallon caught the eye in attack as Down moved up a gear and they were five points, 1-8 to 0-6, clear by the 23rd minute.
The Royals were revived by a Dolan point from play and a goal from close range. When the experienced Aileen Donnelly pointed parity was restored, 1-8 each. Down closed out the half with a brace of McGourty points (one free) and led by 1-10 to 1-8 at the break.
Within ten minutes of the restart Down were five points clear again after Sara Louise Carr and McGourty (free) pointed. Again Meath rallied with a Katie Mullen goal and points from substitute Aoife Maguire and Dolan (free) leaving it all-square, 2-10 to 1-13, in the 51st minute.
When Meath were unable to make good on some scoring chances that presented themselves, Down closed in on a Croke Park date with Waterford on a final score line of 1-17 to 2-11.
"We were bitterly disappointed to lose the game against Down. Jane Dolan went into the match with cracked ribs and she suffered a heavy knock early on, but in fairness to her, she still played very well. Our full forward Katie Mullen was another who seemed to be targeted by the Down defence and I felt we certainly should have got a few frees when we didn't, but look fair play to Down, they deserved to win. Too many of our girls just didn't perform on the day and that's what really killed us. I don't know if it was nerves or what, but you can't have that many failing to perform and expect to win, but hopefully they will learn from that."
John was ably assisted in his role by selectors Tom Walsh, Sharon Raleigh and Valerie Curtis, who is also chairperson of the Meath Camogie Board. "I had great help all year from those involved and particularly Valerie, who has done excellent work as chairperson.
"I would also like to thank the Meath County Board for their support and for the use of the Dunganny facilities, which were always available to us and to Jerry and Jimmy who were always there to open up and have the dressing rooms ready. Things like that really make a difference and we were very appreciative of it."
The 2012 campaign is just around the corner and once again Meath's camogie squad are already beginning their preparations for the new campaign and hoping to reach their holy grail of winning the Premier Junior All-Ireland title.
For the record the Meath team that played Down in the All-Ireland semi-final was: E. Mangan; N. Guy, A. Thompson, E. McNally; A. Keogh, K. Troy, L. Donoghue; F. O'Neill, E. Guy; S. Horan (0-1), J. Dolan (1-8, 0-5 fs, 1 45), A. Donnelly (0-1); K. Hackett, K. Mullen (1-0), L. Oakes. Subs - H. Geraghty for McNally (20), A. Maguire (0-1) for Hackett (38), S. Hackett for Guy (41), F. Lynch for Horan (48). Tweet
