Sleacht Néill’s McEldowney: Ulster sides no longer a soft touch

All-Ireland Camogie

Senior Club Championship final

Sleacht Néill (Derry) v Sarsfields (Galway)

Sunday, Croke Park, 3.30pm

SLEACHT Néill camogie manager Damian McEldowney believes that Ulster sides will no longer be considered a soft touch following the Derry side’s trailblazing success in recent seasons.

The Robert Emmet’s head to Croke Park this Sunday to face Galway outfit Sarsfields in the All-Ireland final. If they win, they will become only the second ever club to a complete a four in-a-row in the competition.

The three titles collected by the side since 2017 bring Ulster’s total to just four overall with O’Donovan Rossa lifting the Bill & Agnes Carroll Cup in 2008.

From now on though, McEldowney expects the province to have a big say in the tournament – even when his own side eventually does exit the stage.

“I would definitely see a lot more interest in the camogie,” he said.

“Maybe it’s to do with our girls being so successful, people are starting to pay more attention to it.

“There were no real Ulster teams doing anything down south so maybe it didn’t get the attention that it should have.

“I would find what the girls have achieved has really put Sleacht Néill on the map, it has put Ulster camogie on the map too.

“You go down south and everyone has heard tell of you whereas five, 10 years ago nobody would have batted an eyelid at an Ulster team coming down across the border.

“It’s not even just our girls, Loughgiel are a side that have really raised the bar too and they have given us some titanic battles this last lock of years.

“These sides have proven that there is camogie in Ulster and that they can compete with the best in Ireland.”

Sleacht Néill’s three previous final wins have been by margins of two points, five points and five points, and their manager is expecting this contest to go the distance too against a side they have defeated twice already in deciders.

“It’s not going to happen because you have two very competitive teams,” when asked could one side steal a march.

“I know Sarsfields will feel hard done by, and it’s something that has probably been eating away at them.

“They didn’t come out of Galway last year and maybe that break away has got the hunger back again.

“They’re no bad team, they’re playing in their third All-Ireland final in four years and it takes a good team to get there once. To get there three times shows what they are about.

“They are like ourselves. From our first All-Ireland four years ago we have lost maybe seven players and I know Sarsfields have lost girls as well.

“It’s a familiar foe but it’s different opposition as well.”

Legendary Wexford outfit Buffer’s Alley are the only side to have won this competition four times in-a-row. McEldowney was honest enough to say that matching them has come up in conversation but also stated that is hasn’t been their driving force.

“I wouldn’t say it’s something we focus on,” he said.

“I wouldn’t say we don’t talk about it because we don’t like to dismiss what the girls have achieved. They have to know how good of a team they are, they have to know what other people think of them.

“Saying that, it’s not our focus to match any records – our focus is winning this All-Ireland.

“We want to add to our collection, so we’re not getting bogged down on breaking records.”

The manager said that they hadn’t stumbled upon any magic formula that has made them so impressive in finals, and it will be a case of as you were for Croke Park.

“It is hard to put into words at times what the girls have done. It is very hard to believe how far we have come in this very short space of time.

“There’s nothing different to it. What we find to work, and it has been working this last four years, we stick to. We try and keep everything the same, we try and keep our trainings the same as we always do, we prepare for matches the same, prepare for challenge games the same, the gym work is the same.

“If it’s not broken we’re not going to fix it and it seems to be going well for us.”

One future hope for McEldowney is that his side’s success will be the springboard for the Derry camogie team to start ascending the food chain again.

“Derry club camogie is fairly strong. Even this year in the Derry Championship, we played Swatragh in the semi-final and Ballinascreen in the final and neither club feared us. Both clubs went into those games believing that they could beat us.

“Seeing what we have done has given other clubs that shot in the arm and they’re thinking ‘hold on, if we put a bit of work in here we can achieve that too.’

“Hopefully that will bring on the Derry county team as well because I feel that Derry should be winning Ulster titles, they need to get back there.

“If our girls can win All-Ireland titles then if they step onto the county team you’d think they’d be able to push it on too.”

n.mccoy@gaeliclife.com