Boyce expects big year from camogie team
April 30, 2011Noel Boyce has set two goals for his Westmeath camogie team in the coming year. They are to win the National League Division 4 and All-Ireland junior 'A' championship titles.
Last year, the Lake County camogs were disappointed to lose the Division 4 final to Tyrone and the All-Ireland junior semi-final to Armagh. Boyce says they are determined to make amends this year and firmly believes they have the ability to capture both titles.
"If everyone can give their full commitment, we'll have a great chance," the Ringtown clubman states.
"Commitment has been a problem for the past few years. You have some girls who give it everything, but others who don't. In fairness to some of them, they are away in college and can't give it their full commitment. But to be successful nowadays, everyone has to be committed. I have set out a training programme for the year and if the girls stick to it, they will win the league and the championship. They have the ability," he asserts.
Boyce, who is a former Longford hurling manager and guided Ringtown and Crookedwood to intermediate championship successes in 2002 and 2005 respectively, admits Westmeath's preparations were far from ideal last year.
"I only came in (as manager) after the first round of the league against London. At that stage, there had been no preparation work done and we were playing catch-up for the rest of the year. We hit a nice bit of form in the championship and that made our defeat to Armagh all the harder to take."
Under the guidance of Boyce and his selectors Yvette Cully and John Penrose, Westmeath qualified for the Division 4 final for the second year in succession by virtue of a win over London and a walkover from Carlow. In the decider, they faced a Tyrone team who had beaten them by a point in an earlier round. If Westmeath were to avenge that loss, they would have to do it the hard way by defeating Tyrone in their home pitch of Healy Park in Omagh.
Played as a curtain-raiser to the National Football League final round tie between Tyrone and Dublin, Westmeath found themselves chasing the game after conceding two goals in the opening half. Tyrone full forward Catherine Hanna accounted for both as the Red Hands took a 2-5 to 0-3 lead into the interval.
Whatever hopes the visitors had of staging a second half recovery were dashed when Hanna completed her hat-trick shortly after the restart. Denise McGrath clawed back three points from frees for Westmeath before Pamela Greville pounced for a consolation goal to leave the final score 3-12 to 1-9 in Tyrone's favour.
Westmeath quickly put that disappointment behind them when they defeated Carlow by 3-11 to 0-7 in the first round of the Leinster junior championship. That victory earned them a semi-final meeting with Kildare at The Downs. Unfortunately for Noel Boyce's side, the Lilywhites held all the aces and never looked back after Ciara Tallon found the net after just two minutes. Denise McGrath and Liz Shaw replied with points for Westmeath, but the visitors went on to lead by 1-6 to 0-3 at half-time and eventually won by 2-11 to 0-6 with Siobhan Hurley accounting for their second goal.
The Lake County girls still had the All-Ireland junior 'A' championship to play for and opened their campaign with a brilliant 1-11 to 0-5 victory over their league final conquerors Tyrone at Eglish. The sides were level on 0-4 apiece at the halfway stage, but Westmeath took control after substitute Janette McCormack scored the only goal in the 35th minute. Pamela Greville and Denise McGrath tagged on scores to ensure sweet revenge for the maroon and whites.
Westmeath lost again to Kildare (3-4 to 3-16), but enjoyed comfortable victories over Carlow (4-12 to 0-6), Armagh (1-17 to 0-8) and London to qualify for the semi-finals. In the latter game, Clonkill's Dinah Loughlin hit 0-9 as the Exiles were defeated on a 2-14 to 2-5 scoreline at Robinstown. After leading by nine points at half-time, Westmeath saw their advantage cut to four points before substitute Lorraine Leavy scored the insurance goal three minutes from time.
Noel Boyce's charges travelled to the St. Peregrine's grounds near Blanchardstown to face Armagh in the All-Ireland semi-final on August 7. Westmeath looked set to repeat their earlier victory over the Orchard County girls when points from Joanne Walsh, Elaine Finn (two) and Pamela Greville propelled them into a 0-4 to 0-0 lead after 13 minutes.
But the concession of three goals in the second quarter, two of which came in first half injury-time, left the midlanders shell-shocked and trailing by 0-7 to 3-4 at the break. Pamela Greville brought the margin down to three points when she netted in the 54th minute, but as Westmeath pressed for an equalising goal, an Armagh counterattack yielded the clinching goal from Andrea McAlinden to leave the final score 4-6 to 1-9 in the Ulster side's favour.
At underage level, Westmeath's top performers were the under 14s who lost the Leinster 'B' final to Offaly by 1-1 to 4-4. The Lake County side had accounted for Meath by 3-4 to 2-0 in the semi-final.
Boyce is looking forward to the new campaign and the prospect of Westmeath getting their hands on some silverware. He has made a slight alteration to his backroom team with Mark Scally, who was team physio last year, replacing John Penrose as a selector.
"We'll be far better prepared this year," he promises.
"We have a panel of 30 players and they're all focused on doing well this year. One thing I was very encouraged about was the fact that girls were asking to be on the panel. There was a time when you'd have to beg certain players to play with the county, but thankfully that's not the case anymore," he concludes.
The Westmeath team which lost the All-Ireland junior 'A' championship semi-final to Armagh was: Fiona Keating; Sarah King, Sandra Greville, Laura Hannon; Fiona Leavy, Aisling Conaty, Eileen Murphy; Gemma Egan, Denise McGrath; Elaine Finn, Pamela Greville, Joanne Walsh; Liz Shaw, Dinah Loughlin, Janette McCormack. Subs used: Lorraine Leavy, Amee Dunne, Sarah Jackson and Muireann Scally.
Mairin bows out as Aileen runs for presidency
Mairin Fulham's decision to step down as Leinster camogie secretary at the end of January marked the end of an era.
The Rathowen woman held the position for a remarkable 29 years and was recognised as one of camogie's top administrators. Previously, Mairin had served along with her husband PJ on the Westmeath camogie board for over a quarter of a century. Mairin was secretary for 25 years, while PJ served as chairman for 27 years. In addition, Mairin also held the position of PRO.
Meanwhile, another well-known Westmeath camogie personality, St. Munna's Aileen Lawlor, is in the running to become the next president of the Cumann Camogaiochta na nGael. A native of Dublin who has been living in Mullingar since 1991, Aileen will battle it out with Antrim's Catherine O'Hara for camogie's top position at Congress in Belfast on March 26.
As well as enjoying much success as a player with her native Crumlin and St. Munna's, Aileen refereed the 2002 All-Ireland senior camogie final between Cork and Tipperary, and the All-Ireland junior camogie final between Cork and Down in 2004. Tweet
