Galway and Wexford managers on round two of championship

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Galway driven by pain of defeat

Galway Camogie manager Noel Finn has said that the pain of last year’s All Ireland Final defeat is the single biggest motivational factor for his charges in their 2011 Camogie championship campaign.

Speaking ahead of their second round tie against Clare on Saturday, Finn acknowledged that last year’s defeat to Wexford in the All Ireland Final and more recently their defeat in the Division One League Final, again to Wexford, made a huge impact.

“”Definitely the only thing in the minds of each player is making it back to Croke Park for the All Ireland Final- last year’s defeat hurt our side badly. They were extremely disappointed and dejected with their performance and nothing bar an All-Ireland is going to remove that for them.””

The Connacht side opened their championship campaign with an empathetic 2-14 to 0-9 win over champions Wexford at Enniscorthy last weekend.

Finn made substantial changes to the side, moving veteran forward Therese Maher from centre forward to centre back while star forward Veronica Curtin had to make do with a place on the bench along with All Star corner back Regina Glynn.

There were four championship newcomers with Eimear Haverty, Heather Cooney, Lorraine Ryan and Therese Manton making their full senior championship debuts.

“”There is competition for places, and we need that in order to drive on. We need to have more options all over the pitch and no player is assured of their spot,”” said Finn.

Meanwhile, Wexford manager JJ Doyle is anxious that his side return to winning ways when they face a resurgent Cork side in Pairc Ui Chaoimh on Saturday.

“”Against Galway, we did not get going at all. Nothing went right for us on the day and we are aiming to get our campaign back on track. It is vital that the players react in a positive manner this weekend.””

The low scoring rate of his side in last week’s tie, registering 0-9, with only one score from play, is also a source of worry to Doyle.

“”Certainly the scoreline and only one point from play is an issue, but we have Saturday’s match to try and get things right and to recover from last week’s defeat as a team and that is what we intend to do.””

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