by Daragh Ó Conchúir

Elaine Dowds would love to start International Women’s Day on Sunday morning with a warm glow of victory still coursing through her veins following the Central Camogie League Division 1A tie with table-toppers Waterford at the All Saints grounds in Ballymena (1pm, live on Camogie Association YouTube).

Dowds is a dreamer but she is also a pragmatist and recognises that the Déise are making a concerted bid to win a national senior title. So she can see Antrim winning but is very much aware that Michael Boland’s squad have the armoury to put her charges to the sword if the circumstances are right, or wrong, depending on the viewpoint.

What clearly infuses belief is the defeat of Cork a fortnight ago, on the champions’ home territory, thanks to goals from the brilliant Nicole McAtamney and Aimee Ferris. Cork were without a host of household names but Antrim were not at full strength either, with one of camogie’s best attackers, Róisín McCormick only returning to full-time training this week.

While Dowds herself had enjoyed victory over the Leesiders as a player in an All-Ireland junior final in 1997, the 1967 All-Ireland semi-final has been mentioned as possibly the last time the Glens contingent had toppled the Blood And Bandage at senior level.

“The Cork team was by no means weak – it certainly wasn’t – but it didn’t have the big names that everyone knows from the All-Ireland final. We’re realistic about that,” Dowds acknowledges.

“But at the same time – we just turned over Cork! And the girls are absolutely buzzing but I think they’re more buzzing about how they played. Their workrate was exceptional and so many of the targets we set were met and surpassed. We let them enjoy the buzz but we drew a line under it on the Tuesday. We needed to focus on Waterford.

“But it was an unreal experience for us and a relief that we managed the 60 minutes. Those girls were so proud of their performance. And rightly so.”

Dowds is that rarity at the elite level of women’s Gaelic games as a female manager, but the Dunloy Cuchulainns stalwart is one with a proven record of achievement, as a player and a mentor.

She represented Antrim for more than 20 years, first getting an U14 jersey as an 11-year-old and calling time on a lengthy senior stint at the age of “32 or 33,” due to a dodgy knee. She had added All-Ireland intermediate medals in 2001 and 2003 and when her playing career concluded, moved naturally into mentoring, with the club and also her place of work.

A science teacher at renowned camogie and hurling nursery, Cross & Passion Ballycastle, Dowds’s enthusiasm, positivity and nous paid dividends there, just at they did through the age grades with Dunloy.

Antrim came calling and she could not have been prouder, not least when guiding a youthful and supremely talented outfit to the senior ranks with a brilliant All-Ireland intermediate final win over Kilkenny at Croke Park in 2021.

Then, to the shock of many, after a couple of strong campaigns in terms of performance and not just cementing top-flight status, but qualifying for the quarter-final in 2023, Dowds was cut loose.

She is back now though, having typically not been idle during the two-year enforced sabbatical, as part of Dublin’s backroom team and manager of Derry giants, Slaughtneil.

“What happened in 2023 was insane and look, it’s done and I’m not in the business of looking back,” says Dowds now. “I was lucky to have a break for two years, different experiences with Dublin and Sleacht Néill and it gave me a chance to clear my head of Antrim camogie.

“But for me, it was unfinished business and I think if I had stayed away, I would have left the unjustness and all the Machiavellian politics of that time define me and that’s not who I am. I was definitely bitter at the time but I came back because this is a group of players that I have worked with for three or four years at county and a lot of them at school as well.

“I knew this group of players and I felt that they deserved better. So I didn’t come back for stats or for validation but for the players who deserve fairness and honesty and integrity and belief in them.

“The other side is, every single player in the country will say their club is the love of their life and I’m the same. Dunloy is such a club to be from. But I have always loved the county and all my county experiences have been positive so it probably was inevitable when the county board changed, that I would come back and that I would be very welcome and supported.”

That united approach has already yielded dividends and Dowds is excited, particularly with the progression of the young players she has introduced that are gelling well with the likes of 2021 captain Lucia McNaughton, current skipper Caitriona Graham, Maeve Kelly, Amy Boyle et al.

Antrim had suffered badly in her absence though and went from being in the top six to relegation in 2024. Carl McCormick and Martin Coulter steadied the ship admirably last term and Antrim won the Division 1B League. It gives Dowds the severest tests in preparation for the summer.

“I’m not being disingenuous when I say we are very realistic about where we are. Carl McCormick did brilliant work last year to get to 1A, to win Ulster again but we didn’t win intermediate last year, so to be promoted to Division 1A, I was wondering if they were ready for it. There’s such a disparity between the top five teams and the next couple of teams.

“We played Tipp in the first round and I felt we were actually really competitive with them bar the last five minutes of both halves, where we conceded quite a lot but I don’t think the scoreline (2-19 to 0-9) reflected the match.

“We had said it at the start of the year, that probably, we were in for some tankings. But for us as a group to survive 1A, let’s not look at scorelines. Let’s focus on our targets, our process and improving week to week to week. And after the Tipp game, we looked at some of the things that really exposed us and it was the running game that the southern teams do so well and probably the best team I’ve ever seen do it is Cork senior camogs.

“We only had two sessions to work on it and talk it through but the tracking of players became a key focus and I think we did much better against Cork.”

That’s an understatement. That they took it on board speaks to the authority of the coaching group but also to the intelligence and determination of the players.

“Waterford have put out very strong teams in the last two games and they look to be very focused on and capable of winning the League. But the win over Cork has definitely buoyed us and given us a lot of belief. We are confident we can go out and be very competitive against Waterford.

“We could go out and get tanked. I think we can be competitive but we might not be but I said at the start, I don’t care if we get beaten by six points, 16 or 66, it doesn’t matter. What we’re gaining here in terms of experience, and what we’re able to work on, playing these teams, will set us up for the intermediate championship. There’s no place I’d rather be.

“I believe that we can beat Waterford on Saturday. That’s the truth. But irrespective of the results, this speeds you up, it puts you under pressure and it improves your decision making.

“We’ve brought a lot of new players on board and they’re absolutely incredible. The speed, the strength, the athleticism – this young cohort of players I’ve brought on board this year, I think, are actually the catalyst for what’s happening. The hunger is indescribable. The older players that have been around a long time, have been set on fire by the young players. I don’t think I’ve experienced the intensity of training with any other team ever. The hunger and the passion. Last night, I came out of training buzzing and I think it’s the young ones coming through driving those standards.

“But then you have the experience and the calm heads in the dressing room. It’s a really nice mix.”

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