By Niall Gartland

WHAT keeps Sarah Marley coming back for more, year after year after year?

The vastly experienced Armagh defender says it’s rather simple – she gets to play with her sisters Niamh and Catherine, she gets the chance to test herself against the likes of Aimee Mackin in training, and there’s also the feeling of being part of a particularly special group of players.

The 35-year-old solicitor is looking forward to this weekend’s Ulster Championship semi-final clash against Tyrone with all the enthusiasm of a rookie. Yet she’s seen more than a few changes in the Ladies game in general since she arrived on the scene in the mid-noughties.

She said: “I think the standard of ladies football throughout Ireland has really risen. When I started there wasn’t that much promotion, and it was all about turning up at training and working on your skills.

“Now there’s a huge emphasis on strength and conditioning, nutrition, psychology. That’s one element I’ve seen increase exponentially since I’ve started playing.

“We also have our own training base now and that’s brilliant as well. Other counties like Waterford are following suit with their own centre as well, and it makes things logistically a lot easier as well.

“You know exactly where you’re training on a Tuesday and a Thursday, so that’s been a huge change, and now we’re playing games regularly in the likes of the Athletic Grounds and Healy Park, places I wouldn’t have dreamt of playing in when I was younger.”

Marley wore the captain’s armband for Armagh during the league as skipper Kelly Mallon was injured. She describes it as a huge privilege, but as far as she sees it, she just had it on loan from Kelly.

“She’s back now in full training. In our last game she was named on the panel and before the game I went to her and handed her the teamsheet, I was happy to hand the reins back over.

“It’s an honour though, my sister Caoimhe was captain for Armagh so it’s been lovely. It’s just something that happened out of the blue but it’s really humbling.”

Winning last year’s Ulster Championship was especially sweet for Marley as she missed out when they last claimed provincial honours back in 2014 as she was injured at the time. They’ve had the better of their rivalry with Tyrone, winning three games against the Red Hands in the last 12 months, but there was only one point between the two sides when they met in Division Two of the league. It seems like the Red Hands are getting closer…

“We met them after lockdown in the Ulster Championship last year, it was unknown territory and the scoreline was quite generous to us.

“I thought it was closer when we met in the All-Ireland, and Tyrone would say we stole it when we met at the start of the league and maybe they’d be right. They’re a dangerous team, they have great forwards like Niamh O’Neill and Chloe McCaffrey. I’m expecting that the game will be tight and it’ll be great preparation for the championship.”