Dearbhla Magee recalls watching the All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship draw towards the end of March.
"I watched the camogie draw eating my dinner, and needless to say, I didn't finish the end of the dinner," says the Down fullback, the PwC GPA Player of the Month for May in camogie.
Magee's loss of appetite was down to her county drawing camogie heavyweights Cork and Galway, along with Clare.
The draw made their opening match against Clare a vital one for both sides. Down went into the game buoyed by having ticked one of their main goals for the season: retaining their Ulster title. They did that with 0-15 to 0-9 victory over Antrim in mid-May.
🏆 | Congratulations to @downcamogie_’s Dearbhla Magee who has been voted the PwC @gaelicplayers Camogie Player of the Month for May.
Well deserved, Dearbhla 👏 pic.twitter.com/KmX88ZuuAV
— PwC Ireland (@PwCIreland) June 7, 2023
The game against Clare was played on particularly familiar turf for Magee at Liatroim Fontenoys where her brother and father are the groundsmen.
Late in the match, with Down holding a healthy lead, it appeared Magee and Co were heading for the win they craved but Clare turned it around to win by five points.
"It was a game we had targeted from when our group was released, the same way we had targeted the Ulster final to beat Antrim," says Magee.
"Decision-making towards the end wasn't the best. [We needed to be] more clinical in terms of not giving a free away, and simple things like making the right call and making the right pass. That will come with experience. We are a very young squad at the moment. That will happen."
Down won promotion to the top tier with victory over Antrim in the 2020 intermediate final. This is now their third season at senior level.
In 2021, they escaped the trap door with a win against Westmeath in the senior relegation final. Last year, a draw with Antrim and victory over Offaly ensured they finished above the relegation playoff places.
20 March 2022; Aisling O'Neill of Dublin attempts to block the shot of Dearbhla Magee of Down using her hands during the Littlewoods Ireland Camogie League Division 1 match between Dublin and Down at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
"The first year, we weren't jittery, we were just inexperienced," says Magee.
"It is a different intensity and speed of ball stepping up from intermediate. That took us a wee while in the first year to adjust.
"Last year was a season that got away from us. There were opportunities to win and we ended up fighting relegation. We retained it. I would like to think this year that we are still staying up. That's a mission within us, that Down camogie needs to stay in [senior]."
At intermediate level, Down had done "a little bit of strength and conditioning" but that has increased significantly over the past two-and-a-half years.
"We're in the gym twice a week and we have Gerard and Jordan who are very good," says Magee.
"We're doing a programme within our own club gyms and then we have the opportunity to go to Ulster University to use the gym up there, which is excellent.
"I try to time it myself so that I'm going to the club gym at the same time the club girls are training. I will go see them at the start of the session. Go and do my gym session and see them at the end. It works out that you're still seeing the club.
"Micky (Glover) and Paul (Donnelly) bring that professionalism. Positive Paul and moaning Mickey - well I call them that.
"Paul is always very positive. He's the logistics man in terms of sorting everything out. Micky is the trainer and he's very good in terms of performance analysis. We did it a little but not as much as we do it now.
"That is the kind of stuff you have to do if you're competing at senior. We didn't do it at intermediate. You knew a few players but now it's everybody has to know their individual role. The strength and conditioning has helped to bring us up to speed with senior teams."
9 September 2018; Dearbhla Magee of Down in action against Maeve McCarthy of Cork during the Liberty Insurance All-Ireland Intermediate Camogie Championship Final match between Cork and Down at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
Though she is still just 25, this season is Magee's tenth as part of the Down senior panel.
"When I started out, I was probably a nervous player, always doubting my ability, always overthinking things, always judging myself straight after performance, and ridiculed myself," she says.
"Whereas now, I park it and that's it. I have that laidback attitude that there's nothing I can do after the 60 minutes is up.
"Having a more relaxed vibe, I feel like have developed more as a player. I'd have been very nervous in terms of I'd be sick at half-time and stuff or sick before a match. Obviously, that's not good physically.
"I would say I'm much, much better in terms of being used to it. I'm only 25 but I have been there for numerous years. Other girls are looking to you as a more senior leader.
"You have that expectation on yourself that you can't be going around looking nervous. You are the one talking to the younger ones who are nervous. There is that change in responsibility over the last few years.
"That's Sarah Louise and Niamh saying, 'You have take a bigger role here and you have to step up'. That's probably helped me with my confidence, the fact that I have to then go and talk to other girls, encourage them, and be a leader on and off the pitch.
"I'm a PE teacher. Developing through my degree and having to stand up and teach in front of people, and having people observe you, that fear of performing in front of others disappears because that's your day-to-day job.
"The intermediate final, you couldn't look to me the week before with the nerves. Teaching has really helped in terms of my confidence. I am a new teacher so I am observed a lot in school to make sure I'm progressing."
This weekend, Down face Cork - who lost to Galway in the opening round - at Páirc Uí Chaoimh. For Magee, it's the type of challenge they should be anticipating with relish.
"Two years ago, we ran Cork very close and only lost by six points at Páirc Esler," she says.
"We're hoping to minimise that or get the win. We are strong enough.
"It's a matter of looking forward to playing Cork and Galway because, in my opinion, you wouldn't want to be anywhere else than playing against the best."
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