By Michael McMullan

ANTRIM are one game away from an All-Ireland Junior Championship final at Croke Park and goalkeeper Áine Devlin just hopes they can keep the foot down at this stage of the campaign.

The Saffrons missed out on All-Ireland honours last year but bounced back in 2026 to retain their Ulster title and gain promotion to Division Two for 2027.

Now they face Sligo on Sunday in Clones with a place in the final at stake. While their All-Ireland group stage defeat to Derry could’ve derailed their season, it was just a case of learning the lessons before moving on.

Devlin, twin sister of captain Bronagh, made her debut as a forward for Antrim 10 years ago but has been converted into a goalkeeper in recent seasons.

“It has been a great experience,” Áine said of life as an Antrim player. having also enjoyed buckets of success with her club Moneyglass.

“Over the last couple of years, we’ve made a lot of progress as a team and that’s down to the hard work and commitment we’ve all put in.

“It’s exciting to be a part of a squad that’s moving in the right direction, and hopefully it can continue.”

Antrim secured promotion from Division Three thanks to a last-gasp victory over a Down team who have since made it to the last four of the All-Ireland intermediate race.

Promotion wasn’t high on the radar, having set their eyes on consolidating their Division Three spot after gaining promotion from the fourth tier the year before.

“It showed how much the team has grown over the course of the season,” she said of how they moved up the table.

“It was a real reward for all the hard work that had gone in and gives us another opportunity to challenge ourselves against even bigger teams and continue developing as a squad.”

Final defeat

Before that, they will be hoping to go one better than last year’s championship. After ruthlessly marching into the All-Ireland Junior Championship final, they came up short against Louth on the day.

Everything was ticking along this year until they were beaten by an ever-improving Derry in the All-Ireland group stages.

It left Antrim needing a comprehensive win over Kilkenny. And they did that, knowing they’d need a considerable score difference in case Offaly beat Derry and left three teams level on points.

“There was no time to sit and be disappointed,” she said about their thoughts after losing to their neighbours.

“We took the lessons from the Derry defeat and put them straight into training.”

Now they sit on the cusp of another All-Ireland final, somewhere they’d have settled for as their bus pulled out of Croke Park last August.

“Sligo are a very good side and they’ve shown that to us before,” Devlin said of this weekend’s semi-final.

“At this stage of the championship there are no easy games. We’ll do our homework, prepare as well as we can and focus on ourselves.

“That’s what has worked well for us all year. If we can bring the same work rate, intensity and performance levels that we’ve shown throughout the season, we’ll give ourselves every chance. We’re looking forward to the challenge.”

Croke Park is where everyone wants to the end their season. Antrim are no different. They’ll have to worry about Clones and Sligo before they can begin to dream.