Ladies Gaelic Football

www.ladiesgaelic.ie | SUMMER 2021 | 43 PREVIEW pandemic, Murray says that his players "came back fitter post lockdown." That's testament to Meath but also an indication of how hungry they were to atone for those previous losses. And current Meath skipper Shauna Ennis reckons that Westmeath are the team to beat now in the Intermediate title race. "I don't think you can look past Westmeath," Ennis says. "They were in the Final last year and put up a really good fight. They'll be out to go one better. Teams like Clare and Roscommon will never be too far away either." O'Shaughnessy adds: "Some of the more consistent teams over the last number of years who we would have come up against are Clare, Roscommon and Kildare. "However, Laois seem to be going very well this year and have bagged Division 2 status next year, with Westmeath retaining their Division 1 status after a hard-fought win over Tipp, which will no doubt stand to them as they prepare for Championship." O'Shaughnessy adds: "I think the standard in the Intermediate grade can be very much underappreciated. "The grade is very competitive and very hard to get out of. A lot of teams are of similar standard and, therefore, it makes it hard to predict a champion." And so while Westmeath will start out as favourites, there's danger lurking around every corner. But Ennis is also a believer, like Murray, that if it's your time, it's your time. "I really believe that everything happens for a reason and I don't think we were ready to move up to Senior until this year," she says. "We had to learn from the first two Finals and improve as a unit – and be ready to make that step." O'Shaughnessy agrees: "I think, in hindsight, we needed those extra years at Intermediate to build as a group of players. "I think making it to Finals in 2018-2020 gave us the hunger and drive to work harder in those years, which has helped us develop into the team we are now. We are still very much building as a team but the work we put in (during) those years in Intermediate provided the solid foundation to work on." And while O'Shaughnessy has pointed to an open race, she acknowledges that Westmeath's 2020 experience should stand to them. "They'll be eager to make it back to (GAA) HQ to rectify the wrongs of last year's Final. "They showed great heart in their relegation play-off against Tipperary and have secured Division 1 Football for another year, so I've no doubt they'll want to match it with a return to the Senior grade." Few would back against Westmeath, and Murray, O'Shaughnessy and Ennis certainly believe that they can do it, but the Lake County need only look at Meath's recent experiences to understand that it won't come easy. If Westmeath finish the season as TG4 All- Ireland Intermediate Champions, they'll have earned it. Intermediate Championship MEATH CAPTAIN SHAUNA ENNIS MARY KATE LYNCH OF MEATH CLAIRE SULLIVAN, KILDARE MO NERNEY OF LAOIS

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