Devastated Eviston proud of 2023 campaign

By Thomas Conway

Drom & Inch might have been beaten, they might have had their dreams of an All-Ireland title shattered in the cold of Kinnegad last Saturday, but one thing is for sure they remain defiant.

Make no mistake about it, the Tipperary county champions will be back. Such was the view expressed by their captain Mairéad Eviston in the aftermath of Saturday’s defeat.

Loughgiel Shamrocks might have succeeded in subduing the overall influence of the Drom players in the middle third, but Eviston was still imperious throughout, working ferociously hard to secure possession and spraying some sublime passes towards the forward line.

On an afternoon in which many of the Drom players failed to alight, Eviston was among the exceptions. She was as good as she always is, but she was never going to win this game on her own.

Unsurprisingly, the Drom skipper cut a disconsolate figure following the game. She may have been dejected, but that didn’t stop her from seeing the bigger picture. After all, Drom have had another exhilarating year, and their captain was eager to emphasise this. Both her and her teammates would have given anything for a shot at glory in Croke Park next Saturday, but this loss shouldn’t diminish the fact that they have had another marvellous season, another glorious year.

“It’s very disappointing,” she said.

“Devastating is the only word for it really. And I suppose the big thing from our perspective is that I don’t we showcased exactly what Drom & Inch camogie is really about.

“So, there is a little bit of regret there on that front. But look, we’re not going to define ourselves by that performance alone. We’ve had a lot of success over the past year alone and we’ve plenty of reasons to look back and be happy with what we’ve achieved in 2022. But it is hugely disappointing that we couldn’t go that step further. There’s no doubt about it.”

Reflecting on the game, Eviston pretty much echoed the views expressed by her manager, Pat Ryan. Both felt that Loughgiel had conducted meticulous preparation for Saturday’s game. They had never played Drom & Inch before, hardly ever seen them in the flesh, and yet they seemed to know the Tipperary county champions inside out. They identified Drom’s key players, nullified them, and then played to their own strengths - creating a vacuum of space in front of the full-forward line to give the likes of Caitrin Dobbin and Annie Lynn an opportunity to utilise their searing pace.

“They definitely had their homework done, and you could see that from the way they played,” Eviston added.

“Any time Niamh Treacy got the ball they had two or three players surround her just like that. And then up front, they were just very clinical. They converted more or less every opportunity they got and going forward they were just very hard to manage.

“So, they’re an incredible side, and we wish them the very best of luck against Sarsfields this weekend.”

Eviston has embraced her role as captain this season, leading Drom both on the pitch and off it. It seems like a cruel injustice that she won’t be granted the opportunity to walk up the steps of the Hogan Stand as an All-Ireland champion, given her performances over the course of this year. But there is little point in lamenting what might have been. She is already looking towards the future. She already has her eyes on 2023, on five-in-a-row in Tipp, on another Munster title, on All-Ireland success.

“We have had an amazing year, and it’s probably very easy to forget about that with the disappointment,” she added.

“But I am just so proud of the girls, so thankful to Pat and the management. And look, it might take us a week or so to recover from this just mentally, to acknowledge and analyse where we went wrong. But it isn’t the end of Drom camogie. Obviously, we brought a lot of hurt away from that game on Saturday, but hopefully we’ll be able to bottle that and bring it into 2023 and bounce back even stronger.”