‘To win by seven points is unbelievable when we looked dead and gone’

THE Laois Camogie joint-managers Pat Collier and Robert Jones will lead the county into a third successive All-Ireland final after guiding their side to victory over Kerry in Saturday’s Intermediate semi-final.

Speaking after the game, Collier heaped praise on his players, insisting they deserve all the credit for earning another trip to Croke Park.

“It's unbelievable. Just these three years with these women. It's not me and Robert. It's 30 amazing women that we're lucky to be in charge of. They drive everything at training, they drive standards. They never know when they're beaten. Sometimes you’d throw in the towel, but they stayed hammering on. To win by seven points is unbelievable when we looked dead and gone. So, look, all credit to the players and our backroom staff, our physios, everybody. Everybody had a huge part, none more so than our chairman. He's a great man,” Collier said.

Saturday’s game saw Laois concede a goal inside the opening minute of both halves, but Jones admitted there was never any panic on the sideline as the management team always believed their players would respond. He also revealed that, despite trying not to look too far ahead, the girls themselves had targeted another return to Croke Park from the outset of the championship.

“We weren't too nervous on the sideline. Maybe the girls showed a bit of nerves, all right. We knew what these girls were capable of doing. We got off to a slow start, obviously, but as we did the last day, clawed our way back into it, popping over points and could have got a goal as well in the first half and still went in one point up, so that was huge. As Pat said, these girls have a serious drive in them. I remember our first round of the championship, Laura Finlay got the girls in and said, we're getting back to Croke Park. Now, I know we don't like looking that far ahead, but that's the way they were thinking. It just showed there today, just the drive and the determination,” Jones said.

Laois led by a point at half-time despite trailing 1-3 to no score in the early stages, and Collier admitted he was delighted with his side's position at the break after weathering Kerry's fast start. He felt that once Laois settled into the game, they would take control, and he is already looking forward to the final against Antrim.

“No, not really, because the first 12 to 14 minutes when we sit down and look at that, our match-ups were wrong. Kerry moved us around, but we didn't pick up on it very quick.

Around the middle of the field, we were a little bit lost for 10 minutes. Once they settled down, I mean, at half-time for me, I was thrilled there was only a point in it because, like, Kerry could have been ahead, even though we missed a simple goal, but we hadn't played. We knew that, me, Rob and the lads, that we needed just to settle down and start hurling and move the ball faster. I think the second half, for about 20 minutes, they moved the ball well. We had only three or four players on 50% there today, very injured, and they went out and did their bit. We have three weeks now, and we'll sharpen up, and can't wait to meet Antrim. Everyone says they'll win by 40 points, but I'm looking forward to it,” Collier said.

Laois have embraced the underdog tag throughout this year's championship, overcoming both Down and Kerry after each came into their respective games as favourites. Antrim will also start the final as favourites, but Collier is relishing the challenge.

“That's the way they are. Antrim are Division 1A; I even heard the president say it one time that Antrim wouldn't be beaten. They are the mark we need to get up to. We'll go on the day, we'll give it our best shot, and if Antrim defeat us, we'll be the first to shake hands with them,” Collier said.

Jones reflected on the targets the management set at the beginning of the season and admitted that reaching another All-Ireland final is an added bonus.

“At the start of the year, all we wanted to do was stay up in the league, win Leinster and stay up in Intermediate. It probably is a bonus to get to Croke Park again. It's more of a reality now. We have to just knuckle down now for the next three weeks. I think in our game, we just have to get a bit more consistency from start to finish, and if we do that, we'll give Antrim a good game,” Jones said.

The Laois support in Tullamore was immense, and Collier is hoping for an even bigger following when the county returns to Croke Park on Sunday, August 9.

“All we're trying to do is drum up a bit of support for this team. If this was the lads' team, there'd be more talk about them than Shep. This team, in the last three years, no Laois team has ever done this, lads or women. They're just a fantastic bunch and they deserve all the support they get,” Collier said.

Collier also paid an emotional tribute to Laois goalkeeper Aedin Lowry, whose grandfather Tim passed away on Thursday, July 16, just a month after the death of her grandmother Mary. He praised the Camross player for her commitment to the team during such a difficult period.

“Tim's a neighbour of mine and some hurling man. She lost her grandmother a month ago. Fair play to Aedin. She landed at training on Thursday night as well, so she's a great girl, and we're lucky to have her,” Collier concluded.