‘We weren’t allowed to perform’, says Cahill

Given that his side’s draw in Portlaoise had seen them eliminated from this year’s All-Ireland intermediate championship, it was understandable that Westmeath camogie manager Diarmuid Cahill was visibly disappointed after last Saturday’s game (see page 70/71).

At the outset, the bainisteoir confirmed the bad news for the reporters present, stating: “Yes, today’s results put Dublin through. It’s very disappointing for ourselves.

“We weren’t allowed to perform today by a good Laois team, in fairness to them. They had nothing to lose, and they came out here and gave it their all. We weren’t allowed to play camogie today the way we should play it.”

When it was put to him that it had looked likely that his troops might take command after Denise McGrath’s two goals early in the second half, the Tipp man responded: “No, it didn’t happen. A few silly little mistakes cost us, like not tracking back and not making it harder for the Laois players to win the ball and deliver it.

“They worked very good scores. We can’t take that away from them. They didn’t allow us to play to our ability.”

His response as to whether ‘a draw was a fair result’ was unequivocal: “No, it wasn’t. I don’t want to get myself in trouble, but there were a couple of decisions there that I don’t understand. Some decisions went against us, and against Laois as well.

“I thought it was a poor performance from a key person in any camogie match. That was disappointing for both sides.

“We’ll regroup as a panel after today and see where we go from there,” Cahill concluded.