Camogie and Ladies Football coverage is brought to you in association with The Square Bar, Portlaoise
Camogie and Ladies Football coverage is brought to you in association with The Square Bar, PortlaoiseIn life sometimes you have to get knocked down before you can get up and the Laois camogie team can certainly relate to that phrase.
Last season, they contested the National League, Leinster championship and All-Ireland finals – losing all three by a combined total of three points.
Camross sharpshooter Aimee Collier was involved in all three of those heartbreaking losses.
Already this year, Laois have corrected one of those defeats by claiming league glory.
And speaking ahead of Sunday’s All-Ireland showdown with Armagh, Collier reckons the loses from last year are driving the team on.
She said: “That’s sport, like everyone has to lose at the end of the day and we were just unfortunate to lose out by that narrow margin.
“I’d nearly rather lose by a few points than just one point because you were nearly there and what could you have done to fix that?
“That’s definitely a huge driving force behind us this year. I think that’s driven us on the most, especially even losing in the other two finals by a point.
“We knew coming into this year that was our main focus, there’s no more one point losses anymore like we have to drive on this year and we have to put things right and it’s definitely showing on the field this year.
“We’re focusing on the third and fourth quarter to really drive on because we did go in up at half-time last year and in that third quarter, we took our foot off the gas.
“That’s one thing we’ve tried to focus on this year, not to slip off.”
Collier also spoke about the emphasis on strength and conditioning that the team have made this year.
She said: “The lads came in and we were just gyming at the start of the year, that’s all we did at the start of the year, even for most of the league we just gymed.
“I think it’s made a huge difference, especially for the younger girls coming into our panel.
“Whatever about us, we probably lost out on a bit of strength and conditioning over the years, but for the younger girls to start with that, it’s great. It’s definitely made a huge difference on the field.
“I do feel that bit stronger and better on the field anyway, so hopefully that’ll be an extra percentage that’ll drive us over the line.”
Camogie and Ladies Football coverage is brought to you in association with The Square Bar, Portlaoise
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