Issue link: http://digitaleditions.uberflip.com/i/1172058
24 | AUTUMN 2019 | www.ladiesgaelic.ie "Intermediate is very hard and it is not easy to get out of. We just about survived against Clare and Sligo, and Meath and again in the final. It is wicked competitive. "Meath are a Division 3 team and we are Division 1 and there is no difference in us. It definitely is competitive. "We are just thrilled to have come out on the right side of it." Meath had the experience of playing in the 2018 intermediate decider, where they lost to Tyrone, but Tipperary's relegation from senior left them with even more hunger for the fight. Moloney has already come through the highs and lows of inter-county football and she wants her team to push on now after one of their most pivotal seasons. "We have a very young team. There are a lot of minors out there. It was their first day playing. I remember back in 2017 I got startled by the occasion. That was something I was trying not to let happen again," said Moloney. "It is natural. It happens in men's and ladies' football and that is what happened with us in the first half. Meath put it up to us and there was nothing between the two of us. "We are delighted and thankfully we got there in the end." Tipperary were favourites ahead of this year's All-Ireland final but a more well-rounded Meath were always likely to cause them problems. Nevertheless, Moloney picked off the scores, and despite some uncharacteristic wides she kept her confidence, with her teammates adding to the scoreboard as Tipperary made a statement before their return to senior. "I had a few wides but you have to keep tipping at it and sometimes they will go over and sometimes they won't," said Moloney. "It is better not letting them ones that go wide get to you. Thankfully a few went over in the end. "But when we were in a dressing room at half-time we knew this was going to happen. We just had to take on a few statistics on board. "We were giving away a lot of ball. We knew once we rectified that we would probably be a step ahead of them of Meath. "We had a lot of scorers and that is something we have worked on throughout the year. "We wanted to get more people on the scoreboard this year and thankfully that is what happened." Clockwise from top left: Aishling Moloney of Tipperary during the TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Football Intermediate Championship Final FEATURE INTERVIEW