O’Reilly and Crossmaglen chasing historic double

By Shaun Casey

CHAMPIONSHIP medals are the only currency worth chatting about in Crossmaglen and for Christina O’Reilly and her clubmates, they’ll hope to have two in the bag over the next couple of weeks.

Like last year, the Rangers have reached the senior finals in both the Camogie and Ladies Football competition. In 2025, they only came home with one trophy, but history will be made if they can collect the two this year.

The ladies take on Shane O’Neill’s this Saturday afternoon before the Camogs face off against Granemore three weeks’ time.

Of the ladies and camogie teams, only five players don’t participate in both codes, but the club and team managers have made it possible for the girls to excel in both.

“It definitely is exciting to be in the final of both sports but it’s tough at the same time because you’re trying to balance the workload,” O’Reilly, a Cavan native, continued.

“It is quite good in Crossmaglen, however, because the dual club is amalgamated, and they do try to limit the nights that we’re training. We might do a two or a two-and-a-half-hour session on a Tuesday and Thursday, an hour of football and an hour of camogie.

“They try to work with you, so you have your rest period, or you have the gym and recovery, so it is manageable, thank God.”

Cross came up short against Clann Éireann in the football final twelve months ago, when the Lurgan side were back-to-back Ulster champions. Shane O’Neill’s put an end to their reign, opening it up for the rest of the county.

Having joined up with the Armagh senior team this year, O’Reilly, who won a Gaelic Life Club All-Star for her performances in 2025,  got first-hand knowledge of Aimee and Blaithin Mackin’s impact at the highest level and stopping them on Saturday evening will be a big test for Cross.

“Last year we did push on but Clann Éireann were just a different beast. We knew we were there or thereabouts with them, but they just had the experience,” she added.

“This year, once Clann Éireann were beaten, I think everyone was nearly on a level playing field. We’re going to give it a good go, and I think a few of the girls know they didn’t perform last year so we’ve stepped it up to another level and put in that extra bit of training.

“We’ve been pushing hard because we don’t want that disappointing feeling on Saturday if we’re there or there abouts again, but we haven’t got over the line.

“It’s a massive game for both sides. We haven’t won it in 22 years so both teams are going to be up for it. Neither of us have anything to lose so it’s a nice way to be – that you can just go in with no fear and play with freedom.

“Having played with the Mackins this year, it’s obvious that they’re going to be a big part of it. We can’t solely focus on those two players; we know they have loads of great footballers. We’re just trying to get ourselves right and aim to get a 60 or 70-minute performance.

“We know we have to work extra hard to not let the ball go into Aimee. She’s going to score, you can’t really stop her, but if we limit the ball going in then maybe it’ll come down to whoever concedes the least goals will win the game.”

On the Camogie side of things, it’s a repeat of last year as Granemore stand between Crossmaglen and their two in a row ambitions.

Cross’ were unfortunate not to pick up an Ulster title last year, losing to Eglish after a replay, but reflecting on the 2025 meeting with Granemore, O’Reilly hopes they can execute the same gameplan.

“We threw the shackles off last year and we know Granemore have a lot of leaders throughout the field, but we dug in, and everyone stuck to their job,” she recalled.

“We just worked hard and we tracked them in numbers and hassled out the field. We took the right shots and the scores when they were on and gave the ball to the girl in the right position.”

It’ll be a busy few weeks for the Crossmaglen community. Splitting those two deciders is the men’s semi-final as Shane Lennon’s men look to overcome Clann Éireann and book their own place in a final.

“There is a nice buzz around the place, and we have a good bit of following from the community,” O’Reilly said. “Everyone is meeting you on the street and talking about it. Everyone is just enjoying it and rallying behind us.

“We seem to always train on the same nights as the lads, and to see the lads pushing on is great. Then they come and support us, we’re all in the gym at the same time so everyone is pushing each other on.”