Sport

McGrath not resting on laurels with Slaughtneil as Emmet's target seventh straight Ulster title

Slaughtneil Clare McGrath with Maeve McGillian of Ballinascreen during the Derry Senior Camogie Final played at Bellaghy on Saturday 25th September 2021. Slaughtneil win 7th in a row. Picture Margaret McLaughlin.
Slaughtneil Clare McGrath with Maeve McGillian of Ballinascreen during the Derry Senior Camogie Final played at Bellaghy on Saturday 25th September 2021. Slaughtneil win 7th in a row. Picture Margaret McLaughlin. Slaughtneil Clare McGrath with Maeve McGillian of Ballinascreen during the Derry Senior Camogie Final played at Bellaghy on Saturday 25th September 2021. Slaughtneil win 7th in a row. Picture Margaret McLaughlin.

WHEN Clare McGrath came over to speak to me in Eyre Square in early July, I didn’t quite place her. She wasn’t wearing a helmet, you see.

Once she mentioned Slaughtneil, I was tuned in.

But Clare was well tuned in by that stage of the season. In other seasons the All-Ireland club championship ended in March, even April and the Slaughtneil players would need a rest before regrouping around the time I was meeting the defender on a family holiday in Galway.

“We had two Ulsters and All-Irelands, one after the other, last winter; one before Christmas (2020 campaign) and then one after Christmas.

"I think when those ended, we felt that we had built up a good bit of fitness and that we could continue through to the new season that was ready to start.”

The three-time All-Ireland champions went down at the semi-final stage in both campaigns, losing to the eventual winners, Oulart-The Ballagh (2020) and Sarsfields (2021). But McGrath doesn’t feel that the manner of the latter defeat in extra time left the squad feeling that since they were close enough that it would be worth another push.

The venue for the All-Ireland semi-final fixture was declared unplayable 24 hours before throw-in and a search then took place before the game was moved to Gorey in Wexford, where weather and underfoot conditions were poor.

“Hindsight is a wonderful thing. The match probably shouldn’t have been played in those conditions. But both teams wanted it played. We had put in massive preparations and you feel you are as ready as you will ever be. But it just didn’t work out.

“Sure, you have regrets at the time, but you can’t dwell on those, rather learn from them. And no, they didn’t make me want to go back and give it another go.

“I went back training and have enjoyed every session, every game. I wouldn’t be one that would put any pressure on myself that this was going to be my last season or next year will be the last. As long as I am enjoying the training, getting the chance to play for my club, I will play away,” says the mother of three-year-old Frankie.

McGrath missed out on the last All-Ireland triumph in 2019 as Frankie was born between All-Ireland semi-final and final and she kept in touch with Croke Park from her hospital bed.

“It’s the nature of sport, and particularly female sport, that teams change from year to year. You can see that with both ourselves and Loughgiel this year; some players are out with injuries, others are pregnant, some move away.

“We have had change nearly every year since we won Ulster for the first time. We have been lucky though that we have a dedicated squad of about 30 training away all the time.

“It means that when we have to use a substitute they know our system, know how we play and immediately fit in. Niamh McCullagh and Eimhear Tiff (McGuigan) are two examples of players who have come in this year and you would think they have been in the team all along.

“I really respect the girls who train all the time and then don’t get starting. They put in as much work as those who start and when it comes to match day, some rarely get a chance to be on the finishing team and show everyone what they can do.

“But if we didn’t have that buy-in from the whole panel, we wouldn’t be in a position to challenge for Derry and Ulster titles each year.”

Swatragh tested Slaughtneil at the start of the second half of their county final three weeks ago, but McGrath doesn’t feel that it was a direct result of first-half goal-scorer Sinéad Mellon going off injured at the break.

“I don’t think that was the case at all. We have had to look at how we dipped a little during that time. But Swatragh are a good team and they were always going to have their purple patch and it was a matter of working our way through that period.

“We can improve on that, I think. But we managed to reset after a while and finished strongly without Sinéad. So I don’t think her absence was the sole reason.”

Whether or not Slaughtneil continue their dominance of Ulster this Saturday with a seventh successive provincial title, one suspects that this teak-tough defender will be around for another few seasons making life difficult for any opponent she ends up marking.