This weekend sees Trinity’s camógs descend on Mallow in search of a coveted Fr Meaghair Cup. It’s a remarkable achievement for a side that finished their league campaign without a win to their name. Trinity have been a team reborn in the championship, embracing a new, beautiful brand of attacking camogie throughout the championship and – crucially – matching performances with results.
Before the start of the season, captain Eimear Dolan told The University Times that Trinity’s camogie team “possibly doesn’t get the recognition it deserves”. In reaching the finals, the camógs have already proven themselves worthy of respect. Now they have an opportunity to hammer home the point.
For Dolan – who spoke again this week to The University Times – the difference between then and now is “mainly down to a change among the team’s mentality”. The camógs have regrouped, improved, and won two of their three group games in convincing fashion. Dolan credits manager Shane Noonan with this transformation: “Shane did a lot of work with the team about building belief and confidence in our individual abilities and using this belief to strengthen the team as a whole.”
Juliette O’Flynn, whose dominant midfield performances have earned her plaudits so far in the championship, echoes Dolan’s sentiments. “Perseverance and belief”, for her, are central to the team’s change in fortunes. She too sees the championship as a chance for the team to “prove” themselves.
O’Flynn, though, says it’s not only the their self-belief that has improved: “I guess we played individually in the league and in the championship we’ve really started playing as a team.”
O’Flynn’s statement is borne out in the team’s obvious on-pitch chemistry. Against St Mary’s – in a game they won 3-09 to 1-07 – the fluidity with which they worked the ball through the lines was striking, and marked a contrast from previous years when the side sometimes seemed to reliant on star players. This often led to the team rushing balls into players such as Aisling Maher, in the hope that she could finish. This year, O’Flynn pointed out, every player from midfield up scored from play against GMIT.
But every team needs a few stars, and when Trinity have been searching for pivotal scores this year they’ve invariably turned to full-forward Laura Stack. Recent games have proven that when Stack plays well, Trinity play well, and with this, surely, comes a degree of pressure for Trinity’s prolific scorer.
When I speak to Stack though, she shrugs off the question and the implicit praise contained within it. She puts the success of the camógs down to their team ethic: they are, she says, “a very tight knit group of friends off the pitch, and this has been transferred to our play throughout the year”.
Stack is diplomatic when I ask about the obvious gap between Trinity camogie’s league and championship campaigns, pointing out that they’ve lost “three to four brilliant players” this year. She is keen to stress the positives that emerged from their league campaign and the opportunity for experimentation that it provided: “Take for example Eimear Dolan, who was corner forward last year and was moved to full back this year.” Dolan, Stack says, has grown into her new position after playing there in the league and is now “playing brilliant in the championship”.
A consistent theme throughout all my conversations with the players is the strength of their relationship with Noonan. College sport, in many ways, is a test of adaptability, with the consistent loss of old players and addition of new ones making flexibility a prerequisite to success. O’Flynn says Noonan has handled this superbly, accepting the inevitability of change and getting creative to come up with new gameplans year on year. Using the league as a testing ground, he’s successfully identified Stack as Trinity’s premium forward and has now built his championship team around her.
Trinity’s camógs kick off their finals weekend tomorrow morning against St Mary’s. On the eve of their trip south, Dolan concludes by assuring me that they’re ready, and determined to remain focused on their own mindset. This, it seems, is the biggest factor in Trinity’s resurgent form. Now comfortable in their own abilities, Trinity are asserting their gameplan on others, forcing them into the type of high-octane play that opens up opportunities for Trinity’s inside forwards. They’ll be hoping to ensure that nobody can ignore their achievements after this weekend.
