NWP Recycling Ulster Senior club final: Sunday October 21 in O’Neill Park Dungannon: Slaughtneil Emmett’s (Derry) v Loughgiel Shamrocks (Antrim)
“IT WASN’T always like this, you know. We had plenty of tough years before we started winning titles.”
Siobhan McKaigue was keen to point out from the start that she wore the Slaughtneil jersey for a good while without achieving much in the way of medals and that she has learned to embrace finals because of those less successful years.
“We reached a final in 2008 and lost to Lavey by a point (0-12 to 1-8) and that was the closest any team from Slaughtneil had got to winning a Derry senior title.
“I was still a minor then and we had to wait another four years to get back into a senior final. Even after winning in 2012 we lost the next two finals to Eoghan Rua Coleraine.
“So we never take anything for granted. Things might be going well at the minute and you hope that continues, but it is important to remember where you have come from. Any final you play in could be your last.”
Talking to the current joint-captain (a position she holds with Gráinne O’Kane) it soon becomes obvious that winning that first Derry senior title will have a special place in Siobhan McKaigue’s heart.
“It was the first. It was about breaking through and we had some girls on the team like Clare Doc (Doherty) who had been playing nearly 20 years, driving us forward as young players, and she made a big contribution in that game to finally get a medal.
“Rossa beat us well in Ulster. We had celebrated the county title alright, but we hadn’t the experience and they were a good bit better than us. We had to learn from it.”
After losing the next two Derry finals, they have now beaten neighbours Swatragh and Ballinascreen in two finals each.
“When we got back to win a second county title in 2015, we had a bit more experience but Loughgiel still stopped us in Ulster. That was a big disappointment. So we had to take a few more lessons on board.”
But perseverance paid off for the Psychiatric Nurse in Belfast’s Mater Hospital and her team-mates two years ago when they beat Loughgiel in a replayed Ulster final in Glen Maghera before a crowd of more than 5,000 on an emotional afternoon.
“There was a lot of things coming to a head in that game. Thomas (Cassidy, father of three of the team) had died the week before the drawn game. As our coach he had a huge impact on us all coming through under-age.
“The draw was a huge game. Then we were trailing for a good bit in the replay and only took the lead at the end with Mary’s (Kelly) goal. And of course the whole thing about winning for the first time, the crowd, it being close to home and the hurlers already Ulster champions for the first time. It was an unforgettable experience.”
The result propelled them to an All-Ireland title in Croke Park and then last March they successfully defended that title.
The half-forward and scorer of four points from play in the recent Derry final believes that the hardest test that they got over the two years came from across the Bann river.
“Loughgiel are a tough team. It took a replay to beat them two years ago and then last year, they got a good start and led us until the last ten minutes. We have had to battle hard to beat them both years.”
But Siobhan is also adamant that both the Slaughtneil team and management have picked up a lot over the years and are able to adapt to situations they might not have handled as well before they began this unbeaten journey.
“There was no sense of panic when we were trailing Loughgiel last year. We just tweaked things a little at half time and kept going to our game plan. The same happened in the Thomastown match (this year’s All-Ireland semi-final). We kept our shape and worked away and eventually got over the line.”
Winning that game and then beating Sarsfield’s from Galway in the final meant that the girls had been going flat out for over two years.
“We were mentally and physically drained when the All-Ireland finished at the end of March. Management decided to give the whole panel time off. We didn’t train and just played away at the league games.
“Then we started back into training in the summer and built it up for the championship.”
So far no-one in Derry got close to them. Loughgiel though is a different proposition.
“They will test us and we will need to be ready for that test. They want something we have and we don’t want to give it away.”
