Trainor eyes familiar face as Armagh bid for final berth

THERE won’t be any secrets on Saturday in Kingspan Breffni Park when Armagh meet Roscommon for the fourth time this season.

The Ulster side have won all three games to date but the prize is bigger this weekend – a place in the All-Ireland Premier Junior final.

Captain Rachael Trainor is approaching a 13th season in the Armagh colours.

Aside from a hamstring injury during the march to their 2021 final defeat at the hands of Wexford, Trainor has been to the forefront of their attack for more than a decade.

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Speaking ahead of Saturday’s big game, Trainor says that the season has gone to plan up until this point and now they hope to book their place on All-Ireland final day.

“I think we have to be pretty pleased with how it’s went so far (this season),” Trainor summed up.

“We’re going in the right direction. We’ve won the league, we’ve now reached the semi-final stage, so we are where we want to be.”

Armagh’s first All-Ireland outing ended in defeat at the hands of Cavan, who had only recently made a return to the inter-county scene.

By the time the Orchard girls returned to training the following week, it was time to keep on looking forward.

“We didn’t know what to expect,” she said of Cavan. “We had a couple missing and I’m sure they might have had a couple missing.

“You just have to pick yourself up and reset again. It’s not the end of the world, we still qualified for a semi-final.”

While Armagh take on Roscommon, Cavan will face Clare in the other semi-final.

Busy times

It was a busy schedule to get there with five group games.

There was originally supposed to be a bye week but Cavan coming in left it a full quota of games. It leaves no time to fully reflect on what has gone before.

“We were just week after week,” Trainor said. “Some weeks you might have had some girls that might have picked up a knock the week before.

“With that quick of a turnaround, the injuries don’t just bounce back five or six days later.

“It’s just been adjusting to the new format, really, and going in week by week.”

The main focus of the season was to get back to an All-Ireland final but Trainor stresses that Roscommon is the only target locked in their sights for now.

“There has never been much between us,” she commented.

The Granemore star also has years of experience banked from winning titles and the disappointment that comes from coming up short.

She recalls tearing her hamstring off the bone in the 2021 season.

“I try to keep myself right most of the time,” she said. “I’ve probably been lucky. I know a lot of girls haven’t been as lucky over the years.

“That was one big injury. It set me back about 10 months out, other than that, it’s just wee niggles here and there.

“As you get older as well, I find the niggles come a bit easier. I think strength and conditioning is a massive thing now.

“It might not have been so big maybe five or six years ago. All the gym sessions you’re doing in preparation for matches and recovery after, they’re key factors to probably staying injury free.”