CLARE McGrath hopes that she has not played her last game for Slaughtneil senior camogie team – but unless there is some unexpected decision over the next couple of weeks, last October’s replayed Derry final win over Swatragh was the top one-on-one marker’s last outing for the Emmett’s.
“The Ulster club final usually took place in the autumn, but with only “elite teams” allowed after early October, the Loughgiel game was postponed until a couple of weeks ago.
“Then with all sport still to be given the go-ahead, we haven’t got an alternative date yet and I think that a line will soon have be drawn under the competition.”
So if Swatragh was her last game, she has rounded it off at a polar extreme from where it all began at senior level around 16 years ago. Back then Slaughtneil were looking for their first ever Derry crown and Swatragh were stretching their lead at the top of the table to 27 titles.
“Swatragh and ourselves are in the same parish, so you can imagine how envious we were of their achievements. They beat us a few times during my early years with the seniors. I can remember Lavey beating us in Ballerin in my first championship game and then Lavey beat us again in the 2008 final by a point. Then there was Eoghan Rua from Coleraine.
“So after a few years, Swatragh might have slipped a bit. But we were still not able to get that first win and we were wondering would we ever do it.
“For a long time I was just praying that we would win just one Derry championship title. At the time I think I would have been happy enough with just one no matter how long it took to get it.”
When that first win came in 2012 with a 4-9 to 2-6 victory over Ballinascreen, McGrath could not have foreseen the journey the team was about to start.
“PJ O’Mullan was with us that year and again the following year. And he was taking Loughgiel hurlers as well. I think he gave us belief in ourselves and obviously when we won in 2012 that belief increased.”
However defeat to Rossa in the Ulster final and then back-to-back defeats in Derry finals to Eoghan Rua Coleraine over the following two seasons were bound to have knocked back that belief.
“The Derry camogie final in 2013 was the same day as the Antrim hurling final and PJ’s first loyalty was to Loughgiel. So he missed the final and Micky Glover was in charge.
“I think that might have unsettled us a little and it was sore losing those finals. But I don’t want to take anything away from a very good Coleraine team nor from Micky’s contribution.
“Micky was there for us after PJ left and Damian McEldowney came in as well and they were with us on our All-Ireland journey as well. Then we had Dominic (McKinley) and Thomas (Cassidy) and they really brought huge belief to us.
“We learned how to control a game, how to be resilient and not to lose belief in ourselves if we dropped a few points behind. The way we were able to come back in those All-Ireland games, even against Swatragh last year, that was built up around 2015.
“Dominic brought us on a lot as a team, but he also spent a lot of time talking to all of us individually. I had a lot of conversations with Dominic and sometimes it wasn’t nice getting the truth from him and I went home annoyed with what he had said.
“But my game improved significantly because of the things he told me and the rest of the girls would have been the same.
“We got a second Derry title in 2015, but lost the Ulster final. From then on it was about bettering ourselves so that we could win Ulster.
“Dominic and Thomas and the rest kept telling us we would do it and we had that belief. But behind the scenes they were preparing for us to go much further than being Ulster champions.”
By this point Clare McMullan had become Clare McGrath and her work as a social worker was starting to impact on the time that was required for Slaughtneil to go further.
“It is harder to keep all the saucers spinning, but (husband) Aodhán and my own family have been very supportive and allowed me to follow my dream.
“Now that I am stepping back from the senior team, I think my father is a bit disappointed and would rather that I stayed for another year or two.”
But it has been an amazing few years for Slaughtneil since that 2015 Ulster final defeat; they are unbeaten in Derry and Ulster with three successive All-Ireland titles in the bag.
“The 2016 Ulster final I suppose was the most memorable. Of course Thomas (Cassidy) sadly passed away the week of the final. Not only was he one of our senior mentors for those couple of years, he was also father of three of the players and had taken most of the girls through under-age camogie.
“I coached the under 16 team one year and he drove the minibus, but he did as much coaching as I did and kept me right.
“Thomas’ funeral was the Friday before the Ulster final and the three girls came to training that evening. It was unbelievable.
“Two days later we drew with Loughgiel and the replay was in Glen, a huge crowd, extra time, a really dramatic game and then the emotion at the end. Really unforgettable.”
Although the Slaughtneil players had never looked ahead to the All-Ireland series, their mentors had been planning away.
“They worked us really hard over the winter. We did our strength and conditioning, out several times a week over Christmas and all and the management did their homework on the opposition and set out our game-plan. I believe that all that hard work helped us to get over the line in the semi-final.”
Then it was on to Croke Park to meet Sarsfield’s from Galway. By then the Slaughtneil team had established a routine that wasn’t to change over the next few years.
“Yes, we would all go to Mass together as a team on the Saturday evening in Granaghan and visit Thomas’ grave. We travelled to Croke Park or wherever by bus, did a warm up and focussed on what we needed to do to win.”
It was a winning formula and made Slaughtneil the top club team in the country over the next three years. That run only came to an end in last year’s All-Ireland final when they agonisingly lost by a single point to Sarsfield’s.
Clare almost missed out on the 2017-2018 season and watched the 2019 final from her bed in Antrim Area Hospital.
** Part II in Monday's Irish News: we find out why as Clare McGrath discusses pregnancy loss, the birth of her son Frankie and then missing Frankie’s first birthday because she had a challenge match in preparation for last year’s All-Ireland final….
