By Niall Gartland

LOUGHGIEL captain Amy Boyle took the call last Saturday morning, hours before finding out their All-Ireland semi-final opponents.

As it transpired, Cork side St Finbarr’s landed their first-ever Munster Championship title with a 3-11 to 2-12 victory over De La Salle. Boyle, who plays for Antrim, has never played against a Cork team at either club or county level so Saturday’s game at Ashbourne will be an entirely novel experience in that respect.

All-Ireland semi-finals aren’t new to her, however. This will be Loughgiel’s fourth semi-final joust on the national stage in as many years, though only once – in 2022 – have they come out on the right side of the argument.

In 2023 they were defeated by Dicksboro on a scoreline of 2-13 to 1-10, while last year they fell to a bitterly disappointing one-point loss to Galway club Sarsfields.

Boyle, who is in her second season as captain, says that winter camogie brings its own challenges but that they’re ferociously determined to make it back to an All-Ireland final.

“A few years ago we played our All-Ireland semi-final on a frozen pitch. It just depends on the weather, but on the whole it is a factor. It’s a bit more physical, more of a possession-type game, working your scores when you get the chance. The faster game probably doesn’t work as well come the winter.

“At this stage, there’s not going to be a bad team in the championship. It’s never going to be easy regardless of the outcome.

“We’ve only been on the winning side of an All-Ireland semi-final once, so we’d love to be able to do it again, to get back to an All-Ireland final.”

Loughgiel have taken on Sleacht Néill’s mantle as provincial standard-bearers since ending a string of defeats to their Derry rivals in 2022. Boyle says the experience of winning Ulster titles never gets old.

“It’s special every year – I don’t think you ever get used to it. We went from getting beaten in six finals-in-a-row, which feels like no time ago at all, to winning four in-a-row. We’ll savour every one, it’s not something you can take for granted.”

Loughgiel came out on the right side of a surprisingly comfortable victory over Sleacht Néill at this year’s semi-final stage before overcoming a determined Clonduff side in the provincial showdown. Boyle wasn’t surprised that it took some time to come to grips with their Down-based opposition.

“I don’t think any of us expected the Sleacht Néill match to go the way it did. We got goals early on in the second half and just ran away with it. It was probably hard to recreate that performance two weeks later (against Clonduff).

“We played Clonduff in last year’s semi-final and it was a similar match, there was nothing between the teams at half time. We know how physical they are, and that’s the way Down teams are in my experience.

“I think neutrals possibly thought that we’d walk the final but I don’t think we ever thought that at all. At the same time we were confident that we’d come through a tough battle – we knew we had the fitness and have been able to deal with whatever teams have thrown at us all year, so there was no panic on our end.”

Loughgiel are managed this year by club legend Johnny Campbell, who was joint-captain of the team that landed an All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship title in 2012. Boyle says the players are loving Johnny’s regime.

“When we heard the rumours at the start of the year that Johnny was going to come in, we couldn’t believe our luck.

“He doesn’t need any introduction around Loughgiel. It’s not an easy job but he’s brought a lot of professionalism to it. We’ve a panel of 35 girls and he takes time for every one of us.

“I don’t think we can thank Johnny and the rest of the management team enough for the commitment they’ve brought in.

“It’s probably the happiest I’ve seen everybody come to training, and no doubt that’s because of the standards set by the management team.”

Whatever happens in Saturday’s battle royale, there’s a bigger picture at play, and that’s inspiring the younger generation – though wouldn’t it be wonderful if Loughgiel make it back to the big day at Croke Park in a fortnight’s time?

“The flags are still flying. A few of us took the cup yesterday (Friday) into the local primary school, and we got a lot of great questions from the children. They’ll have their red day where they wear their Loughgiel colours which I’m sure they’re all looking forward to.

“It’s nice to be able to go into the school and see the next generation of camogs and hurlers coming through, and it’s good for them to see us being successful.”