Kelly Believes Antrim Will Be Underdogs Ahead of Monaghan Showdown

The Antrim Ladies Gaelic Footballers will not be looking at past results says manager Emma Kelly, as her outfit take on Monaghan in the Intermediate Quarter-Final this Sunday.

It is a big weekend for the Saffron women, in the TG4 All Ireland Intermediate Championship Quarter-Final, with a 2pm throw in at Davitt Park in Belfast, the 2022 All Ireland Junior winners, have been beyond impressive since moving up to the Intermediate grade and a win on Sunday would see them contest a semi-final against either Clare or Westmeath, the latter they beat in the group stages.

A maiden win over Westmeath at the Intermediate grade has seen Antrim remain unbeaten in the championship, in fact they have just a single defeat this calendar year, coming to Tyrone in Ulster, that in the early rounds, but have also claimed the Lidl Ladies Division 4 League Title and recorded Intermediate success in Ulster over Tyrone.

While they have won an All Ireland, Division 4 of the league and two Ulster Championships in 12 months, attention will turn to Monaghan on Sunday, for quite possibly their biggest game of the season, earlier in the year they game out winners in a 3-12 to 1-13 action packed Ulster Intermediate Championship tie, but Kelly says that Sunday’s game will be a completely new contest and is not looking back at their previous encounter.

“Monaghan the last time we knew that we were going out against the big guns, to be honest they’ve gained their confidence now, they’re on a roll so we’re not looking back at the last game, it’s about looking forward to the next game, we know it’s a brand new challenge coming into it, they’ve new management and things are looking up for them so we’re just trying to focus on this Sunday, we’ll not look back at last week, the camp is still confident are raring to go, it’s a new game for us, we never ever look at the past”

Antrim booked their home quarter final after a comprehensive 1-18 to 0-08 win over Longford in Cargin, during their final group encounter, it will be two weeks on Sunday since they last took to the field, but have a host of players out injured at the moment, with a squad carved down to about 21 players, the loss of Ana Mullholland will be huge for them, but Theresa Mellon coming back will give them a boost.

“We have far too many injuries, I think we are down to 21 of a squad this weekend, due to injuries and holidays and things like that, Ana Mullholland she got her cast off, she dislocated her elbow just before the Longford game, so she’s a massive loss in Midfield for us, she’s a few weeks away, Theresa Mellon is back, she’s back fully training, we didn’t risk her against Longford, but she’s back to full tilt now.”

A real dark horse in the Intermediate championship, Antrim will fancy their chances against Monaghan to book a famous semi-final in their first real push at the Intermediate grade, they got their famous first win at the grade earlier this championship and now look to continue to push on and remain competitive.

Despite their title as Junior All Ireland winners, along with their status as League and Provincial Champions, Kelly believes Monaghan will be the favourites ahead of their meeting on Sunday, Antrim have certainly been an underdog in the Intermediate grade this year, this title is one that Kelly feels suits them better, as they enjoy going out to prove a point each week.

“No I think everybody has just got a wee bit of a wake up call, that it’s not just Antrim, we can go out and compete with the bigger teams and the Intermediate teams, but to be fair Monaghan will still be favourites, to us they’re favourites, they’ve just come down from Senior, they’re transitioning, but if you look at that team, you’ve Muireann Atkinson, you have the Donaghmoyne girls, the Garlands, Rosemary Courtney, other girls in there too that have been playing at Senior level for years, so to me they’re still favourites

We will always be the underdog, we are coming up, it’s just we’re developing and we are on a roll, but hopefully it continues to roll for us but to us Monaghan would still be the favourites, we would prefer that as well I think we kinda like having to go out to prove ourselves each week, because nobody expected what we have done so far, so it’s just going with the unexpected for everybody else now.

Clearly we believe in our camp and we know that we have the talent and the skill, to go out and compete with the best and you know yourself when you’re playing against better teams, that’s when you lift your game even more, so it’s another challenge for us to see how far we can go, Sunday’s a massive game, its knockout football, we just have to roll with it and see if we turn up on the day and put in our usual nitty gritty performance and turn the skill on then, we should be well in it and come out the right end.”

A Derry woman by birth, Kelly already had an All Ireland winners medal in her back pocket, before she had to switch allegiances due to work commitments, she transferred to Antrim in 2012 when she moved to Belfast for work and only stopped playing at inter-county level at the end of 2020, departing as an All Ireland winner for their 2012 campaign.

The end of the pandemic year of 2020 brought the curtain down on a career that started when she was 13 playing inter-county football, but came into the managerial role at the very beginning of the 2021 season, following the sudden departure of Dee McConville as manager of the Saffrons.

From the field to the side-line, it was a quick transition for Kelly to take up management of the team so soon after her retirement from inter-county football, but one as she says was made easier by the players knowing her from previous experience along with having the hunger and desire to wear the Antrim colours.

“To be fair to the girls they’ve made it easy enough for me, I’ll say that quietly for them!, whenever I was playing I didn’t shut up anyway, like I was constantly onto them and coaching them, I would have a good relationship with them even still now, so it’s just really knowing the boundaries and barriers, it’s not like the girls are gonna come and say oh play me here, play me there, but they know that I’ll be honest with them, they’re honest with me and we all kinda want the same goals.

It’s kinda an even platform we work off each other, like myself and Cathy Carey and Ciara obviously in the office and stuff like that, we will kind of just go what do you think about this, or that, or will we do this, we’re working together it is a nice enough relationship, I know they dont like some of the hard work in the trainings and stuff but it comes with it, I’ve been and done that I’m not making them do anything I haven’t been made do in the past.

I think it was a smooth enough transition, made easier by girls that actually wanted to be there and play and know what they were getting, obviously taking them at underage level, most of them knew what they were getting with myself, it would be different if I was maybe coming in brand new, they girls know me they didn’t have to get to know me, the majority knew me from either playing with them, against them or taking them at some point underage.”

After her 22 year long career as a player, Kelly now well into her third year as the manager of the Saffrons, has brought success to the county, the development has been in place and now the sky’s the limit for them ahead of Sunday’s Intermediate quarter-final with Monaghan, as Antrim look to produce another stellar display and book their ticket to the semi-final stage.