Antrim manager Elaine Dowds hailed the "resilience" of her players, who rebounded from some turbulent times to book a return to camogie's senior grade for 2027 with victory over Laois in Sunday's All-Ireland Intermediate final.
Dowds was ousted as team manager after the 2023 season when Antrim reached a senior quarter-final, which led to disquiet in the camp and resulted in Brian Kearney and Mark McFadden stepping down prior to the start of the 2024 league.
Carl McCormick and Martin Coulter stepped in but the Saffrons would suffer Championship relegation and while they recovered last term to win promotion to Division 1A of the league, they were pipped at the semi-final stage of the Intermediate Championship by Offaly.
With Dowds back at the helm, Antrim finished the job this time around as they pulled clear in the second half with the Dunloy native delighted her players got their reward for staying the course.
"It's been a long time coming," Dowds told RTE Sport.
#dowds #final #players
Dowds was ousted as team manager after the 2023 season when Antrim reached a senior quarter-final, which led to disquiet in the camp and resulted in Brian Kearney and Mark McFadden stepping down prior to the start of the 2024 league.
Carl McCormick and Martin Coulter stepped in but the Saffrons would suffer Championship relegation and while they recovered last term to win promotion to Division 1A of the league, they were pipped at the semi-final stage of the Intermediate Championship by Offaly.
With Dowds back at the helm, Antrim finished the job this time around as they pulled clear in the second half with the Dunloy native delighted her players got their reward for staying the course.
"It's been a long time coming," Dowds told RTE Sport.
#dowds #final #players
14 days ago
