ALL-IRELAND INTERMEDIATE
CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND TWO

KILDARE V DERRY

Saturday, Manguard CoE Hawkfield, 2pm

By Kieran Lynch

DERRY will be looking to make it two wins from two, when they travel to Kildare this weekend, having defeated Meath 2-14 to 0-11 at home in round one.

Last year, Meath knocked the Oakleaf County out of the championship at the quarter-final stage, and manager Martin Coulter explained the importance of last week’s victory, not only to avenge that loss, but to start their 2022 campaign on the right foot.

“It was a massive win for us, because Meath have been a bit of a bogey team for us over the last few years,” he said.

“We only have five games to qualify, and only two of those are at home, so if we had lost our first home game we would have been on the back foot.

“It was a really good win, and it puts us in a good position going forward.”

Whilst Aoife Shaw rightfully received plaudits for her two-goal showing, Coulter said that the win was owed to a tremendous team effort.

“Our defence played super,” said the Derry manager.

“To only concede 11 points was phenomenal. Aofie Shaw at full-forward took her two goals really well, and in general the whole team played very well. They had a hunger about them that typified the whole performance. Even the subs who came on were really sharp and focused – I think everybody knew how big of a game it was for us.”

They may be only one game in, and nobody is getting carried away just yet, but Coulter has tremendous confidence in his team, and he believes that they can go a long way in this year’s Intermediate Championship.

“Winning builds momentum and we’re that bit closer to the quarter-finals, which is where we’re aiming towards,” said Coulter.

“If I’m being totally honest, I think that we’re as good as what’s in the competition. In the league Meath beat us by a goal, and we’ve just beat them by nine, and Cork beat us by a point. And those two teams would be two of the big-hitters in the competition.

“On any given day we’re a match for any one of the teams. But we also know that if we don’t perform, we won’t be up to that standard, so it’s really on us.”

Looking ahead to this weekend’s opponents Kildare, Coulter won’t be getting complacent despite their 1-22 to 0-11 loss against Kilkenny. In fact, he believes that it will make the Lilywhites a dangerous prospect, as they have a lot to play for.

“We beat them in the league by eight points, but Kildare had to come to us on that day. It’s a different story when you’re the ones doing the travelling.

“They lost their first game last week, so I really expect them to throw it all on the line here, because if you lose two-in-a-row in this competition, you’re in trouble. And we’ll need to be close to the level we were at last week, to come away with the win.”