Derry Senior Camogie

Championship final replay

Swatragh v Sleacht Néill

(Saturday, Bellaghy, 3.30pm)

SWATRAGH camogie manager Conor Gillan doesn’t feel that his side have missed the boat following their epic county final draw with Sleacht Néill last weekend.

The Michael Davitt side were aiming for their first crown since 2005, and looked like they would dump out the Derry and Ulster champions as they led by three points deep into extra-time only for Carla McEldowney to hit the net for the holders.

Gillan, however, pointed to his side’s own dramatic finish in normal time as Shannon Kearney and Máiréad McNicholl pointed in additional time to secure those extra 20 minutes.

“The heart-rate was up and down a few times during it,” Gillan said.

“Everyone remembers the last puc of the game but people maybe forget our two points in injury time to force extra-time.

“For the neutral it would have been a great contest and I think it’s very evenly poised for Saturday’s replay.”

Sleacht Néill have not only dominated Derry and Ulster in recent times, but they have also claimed three of the last four All-Ireland titles.

That makes it even more impressive that they are starting to get challenged again in the Oakleaf county. Swatragh beat them to the league last year and pushed them hard in the 2019 semi-final, and Antrim native Gillan is impressed with the competiveness within the county.

“We got them in the league final and then there was six points in the semi-final but, to me, it was closer than that.

“I think it’s testament to Sleacht Néill that teams are starting to get closer. They have set the benchmark in Derry for a few years now and the likes of Swatragh and Ballinascreen and teams like that are trying to get towards that. Maybe the gap is getting smaller.

“It maybe showed on Saturday past and hopefully we can show that again this weekend.”

Analysing the first match, it would appear that Swatragh’s main hurt came after the first water break. They had 1-2 on the board early on, Gráinne McNicholl with the goal, but Sleacht Néill recovered to lead 0-10 to 1-4 at half-time.

Gillan, however, wasn’t too concerned by that particular turnaround.

“Sleacht Néill always come with a scoring threat from various players and our bright start definitely helped us,” he said.

“Small things maybe went against us, breaks of the ball and things like that. I wouldn’t say that the girls stopped for the rest of the half or anything like that.

“After the water break things fell right for Sleacht Néill. Looking in on the game, the girls battled well and at half-time we were more than happy. We just told them to keep at it and that the breaks would come their way.

“They battled the whole way and Mairead’s point late on showed that. They took it all the way.”

By Niall McCoy

LISSUMMON manager Gene O’Callaghan has called on the Ulster Ladies to accelerate their decision on whether or not to resume the Ulster Club Championship.

The provincial series was dramatically postponed last Friday due to the increasing warning signs surrounding the Covid pandemic and the fact that Donegal was moved to level three restrictions.

A statement from the Ulster Ladies Executive said that “should there be a significant decrease in Covid cases and lighter restrictions in place, then we will review this decision on October 12.”

O’Callaghan, who was preparing his side for an Ulster Intermediate quarter-final with Derry side St Ergenat’s, Moneyglass when news came through, has called on a final decision to be made sooner – even if it means that the season is cancelled.

“If it had been cancelled then that would have been okay, but we now have the uncertainty,” he said.

“They are looking at it again on October 12 but the inter-county season is starting shortly after that.

“If they decide to go ahead on October 12 then there will be conflict between club and county when it comes to who has access to the players.

“We have three county players (Niamh Marley, Sarah Marley and Catherine Marley) and you wouldn’t want to put them in the predicament of having to decide.

“If they had said that they were going to cancel it, the year that it is people would have accepted it and moved on.”

Lissummon only found out that their trip to Derry was postponed less than 48 hours before throw-in. The club had been informed earlier in the day that a meeting had been arranged to discuss options, but O’Callaghan said that it was still a bitter pill to swallow for the squad.

“As you could imagine the girls were gutted,” he said.

“We turned up at training on Friday night for our last session before the match on Sunday.

“We got the email just before we arrived so I knew the same time as the girls did that match was definitely off.

“It was quite understandable. Donegal was in lockdown and Rostrevor were meant to go up there and obviously couldn’t. It was still disappointing though.”

The manager also said that the governing bodies should give consideration to running the competition early next year if suitable dates could be found.

n.mccoy@gaeliclife.com