Captain McInerney talks up Lacken think-tank's plan

Ladies football

Kevin Óg Carney

“We’re very lucky to have a management team who let us go out on the field and express ourselves and it’s great that they don’t over-think things. They collaborate and consult with us and let us take ownership of the game and we’re really delighted with the way things have gone this year.”

For Lacken captain Aisling McInerney, 2023 has gone swimmingly so far and her admiration for Lacken’s think-tank and her team-mates has definition and depth.

The Celts are back in the county ladies Senior Football Championship final and at Kingspan Breffni on Saturday next (4pm), McInerney will be doing her very, very best to make Drumlane’s day a day to forget.

Lacken have barrow loads of experience and their football nous brooks no debate but 35-year old McInerney is wont to remind all and sundry that things cerebral seldom trump things physical in the white heat of battle:

“Our experience has to count for something but it alone won’t get us over the line but we have a lot of youthful exuberance too,” Lacken’s captain declares.

“Having won it before is a big thing but this is another game, another final and I think it’ll be very close and we have to focus on ourselves and have our own house in order because we know that Drumlane will go into the final, really, really well prepared.

“They’ve already beaten us on our home patch this year and they’re the only unbeaten team from this year’s championship so it’s going to be a tough, physical battle right down to the very end of the game.”

Ladies football – at all levels – in the county has become more competitive, more intense and of a higher quality, year on year. Lacken’s approachable captain believes the upcoming 2023 senior decider should be a good advertisement for the game in Cavan:

“There’s definitely enough talent on both teams to produce a good game of football but there’s no guarantee how teams will play on the day. And just like Drumlane, our one and only objective is to win the final. If we win it playing great football, that’ll be brilliant but just an added bonus at the same time.

“We all knew last spring that this year’s championship would be a difficult one to win but thanks to our manager Seán (Finnegan) and James (Moynagh), our coach, the training has been hard but enjoyable and no stone has been left unturned.”

Back in 2020 when Lacken last lifted the biggest prize in Cavan ladies’ football (by beating Crosserlough in the final), Covid 19 was a major player, an eerie, unique lack of atmosphere enveloped the campaign and, especially, around the final itself which ought to make the winning of the top prize this weekend so much sweeter.

“It was brilliant to do it three years ago but it just wasn’t the same without the presence of our families and our club’s supporters so it would be great to win this year’s title with everyone at Breffni.

“Regardless of who’s at the final though, we need to perform to our best and make sure we play as a team and that all of us are singing from the same hymn sheet. “

Beating Lurgan in this year’s semi-final having lost out to them in 2022 gave Lacken a real boost in confidence, the in-form McInerney admits but she confesses that Drumlane will be just as hard a nut to crack this weekend:

“Drumlane have some really good individual players but, like us, it’s all about the collective for them and how many players are willing to go to the well to get over the line.

“Drumlane won the intermediate (championship) in 2020 and they’ve been getting stronger over the years but we’ll focus on ourselves, try and control the controllables and play with the shackles off and see where that takes us.”