Greenlough are in ‘uncharted territory’ ahead of Bridie McMenamin showdown

By Niall Gartland

THE longest established camogie club in Derry, Greenlough, will contest this Saturday’s Bridie McMenamin final against Éire Óg, Carrickmore.

They’ve been managed this last few years by a native of Dungannon, Stephen Taggart, who just so happened to work under Carrickmore’s manager Declan Sherlock in his previous guise as Tyrone camogie manager.

The former allies will be foes for the afternoon at Éire Óg’s home ground (Carrickmore won the toss) but it’s all in good fun, as Taggart attests.

“I’d been involved with the Tyrone senior set-up, I was a coach with Declan for two or three years with him. It’s a nice wee personal battle between ourselves, it’s a bit of craic.

“I was chatting to him after our semi-final, I know Carrickmore will be a typical Carrickmore team. They’ll be dogged, they’ll be ruthless, they never know when they’re beaten.”

Greenlough won a long-awaited Derry Junior Championship final with victory over Drum before embarking on a run to the Bridie McMenamin final with wins over Mullaghbawn and Newry Shamrocks. Taggart is firmly enmeshed in all things Greenlough at this stage.

“Myself and another lad from Dungannon, Dominic Rush, a great Tyrone hurling man, went up three years ago. We won the league the first year we were involved.

“We got a couple of championship wins then last year we’d a mixed league campaign and didn’t perform well in the championship at all.

“Dominic decided to step away and he’s a miss but we’ve had a good season and won the Junior Championship.

“We probably went in as favourites to the championship, we knew if the girls brought their intensity they’d be there or thereabouts.”

Their Bridie McMenamin semi-final win over Newry Shamrocks was a high-scoring encounter to say the least. They won by 7-12 to 6-3 with all six of the opposition’s goals coming from Louise Kenny.

“It was a mad game. They’d an exceptional player at full-forward, Louise Kenny, she played a bit of football for Armagh as well. We struggled to stop her to be honest, she scored a hat-trick in the first half and another in the second, so we’re glad to see the back of her!

“We’re buzzing to get to this point, it’s uncharted territory for them. A lot of the younger ones had decent school runs with St Conor’s and a couple of the schools in Maghera and Magherafelt, so they’ve a bit of experience of big games. But for a few of the older girls – they’re not exactly old though – it’s their first taste of success so it’s a novel experience for them.”