Derry 1-17 Meath 1-9: PJ O'Mullan interrupts holiday to orchestrate Oak Leaf triumph

O'Mullan was confident that his Derry side would prove too strong for Meath at the second time of asking

PJ O'Mullan hailed his Derry squad after flying home from his family holiday to orchestrate the 1-17 to 1-9 All-Ireland Intermediate Camogie Final replay win over Meath at Clones.

O'Mullan revealed that a "five-and-half hour" analysis session after the drawn game helped set up Saturday's win.

Derry's deserved win booked their return to the senior grade.

"We felt when we looked at everything, we couldn't be as bad again," said O'Mullan after the win at Clones.

"We decided that if Meath wanted to win an All-Ireland they had to beat the real Derry," added the Loughgiel man.

"If the real Derry turned up, we knew Meath would have to be exceptional."

Derry players respond to O'Mullan's commitment

The players responded to his commitment to the squad by producing an outstanding display.

After last week's drama at Croke Park, when Meath fought back from eight points down to earn a 2-6 to 1-9 draw, the Oak Leaf County were comprehensive winners at the county Monaghan venue, as a fine spread of scorers and a dominant defence helped them back to the senior ranks.

"Everybody was talking about what Meath did last Sunday but didn't give us enough credit - it hurt a lot of our players," added the Derry boss

"We got back in on Monday night and looked at it. It wasn't what Meath were doing right, it was what we were doing wrong. The players were wonderful from start to finish.

"Today, we decided if they got a purple patch that we had to react. So they got 1-1 to get back to a point and we replied with 1-2.

"Our big players stood up, the decision making was better - we scored 1-17, and I think if you played like we did, you deserve to win an All-Ireland."

Lauren McKenna produced a player-of-the-match display for Derry at Clones

Player of the match Lauren McKenna admitted that there was an element of repaying the manager's commitment to the squad.

"I feel in the changing room, there was a different vibe this week," said McKenna.

"Last week we were very calm in the changing room but this week we were all going around, patting each other on the back (at half-time). We had the lead and said, 'We are not throwing this away this time.'

"PJ got us going and we went from there."