By Séamas McAleenan
WHEN the final whistle went on Saturday at the end of a pulsating AIB Ulster senior club camogie final, Aileen McManus was where she always wanted to be – on the field celebrating with the teammates closest to her.
“It’s something I have wanted all my life and to get game time, it might have been just five or six minutes at the end, that was just the icing on the cake. I’m so delighted for all the girls, for the whole team. They have the chance to get more days like today. I thought my days had passed. It has taken me 22 years to get here.”
Aileen Martin believed she would have plenty of days like Saturday when she came into the Dunloy senior team back in 2004 as a 15-year-old. The year before, she had watched her heroes win their second Ulster club title. The first came nine years earlier and the Antrim title had come to the village five times during those nine seasons.
She wasn’t too annoyed about losing her first final to Rossa in Corrigan Park that summer.
“I was probably just pleased to get playing alongside the likes of Elaine Dowds, Oonagh Elliott, Edel Mason (Ciara Mageean’s aunt), Anne McKee. I had been watching them win Antrim and Ulster titles when I was a youngster and I just thought that they would win another one with me in the team.”
Although Martin developed into a top club player, and by the end of the decade would become a regular in the Antrim senior team, club success shunned her.
“We lost to Rossa in the 2004 final, again in 2006 and in 2008 and that year Rossa went on to win the All-Ireland club title. That was a good team, with Jane Adams leading them.
“The Dunloy team of the ‘90s had already started to break up and it took a long time for us to rebuild to become championship contenders. We caused a shock in 2013 when we beat Loughgiel in the first round of the championship, but we couldn’t even reach the final that year.
“That was the last time Loughgiel failed to make an Antrim final until this year. So we were very much in their shadow. They were the benchmark. I have been in Dunloy teams that have taken plenty of beatings along the way.”
Martin became McManus during those years after her marriage to Neil McManus, the former Antrim hurler who played for Cushendall against Dunloy in the Antrim hurling final on November 1, just six days before the Ulster camogie final. Neil was there in Stewartstown to support his wife – and Dunloy – on Saturday.
She has missed out on some of the more recent camogie campaigns due to the birth of her two children and injuries.
Aileen with her fan club. Photo: Dylan McIlwaine
“I did my cruciate three times, I have had two children, one of them last year, and I missed last year’s final. And age is a factor too. There were many days I thought I would never get back to play for Dunloy.
“But I knew this team was coming and I just wanted to have some part in it.
“Mostly I played at half-back or midfield or half-forward. Playing the role of a panellist or impact sub rests easy with me now. I have had a long playing career. But at training I try to push the girls as much as I can.
“I didn’t get to play in the Antrim final against Cushendall. It didn’t matter to me. It was about getting the team over the line that day and I was the same today.
“I really appreciate getting those few minutes on the field at the end. It has really made my dreams. It has taken more than 22 years for me to get to play in an Ulster club final.
“This is a young team we have in Dunloy. Unfortunately, I bring the average age away up. I worked with a lot of these girls as a coach when they were U14 and it has been so rewarding to see them develop each year and become the players they are today.
“Just look at the likes of Éobha McAllister this year. What an underage star, just blossoming into a senior star. Eimear Johnston’s not a lot older and she was player of the match in both the county and Ulster finals”
As a student in Belfast, McManus shared accommodation with Sara Louise Graffin and Paula O’Hagan, who put in a big shift with Clonduff in Saturday’s final – O’Hagan shooting eight points and Graffin two from their 0-11 total.
“I have some great memories of those days, the craic and playing camogie for Jordanstown and even Ulster alongside them. They are still tremendous players. They have so much experience and they really bring the Clonduff girls with them.
“Just look at Paula. She had a baby at the end of August and she got back in shape to play and contribute as much as she did (against us) and against Swatragh.
“They have given so much and they know what they are capable of. I would love to see them win an Ulster club – just not at our expense.
“I am just glad that it’s our turn!”