Derrynoose camogs instilled with winning belief

By Niall Gartland

DERRYNOOSE camogs manager Ned McCann set about instilling a ‘winning mentality’ in his players and now they stand on the cusp of a Junior ‘B’ Championship title at provincial level.

They made amends for years of near-misses in Armagh with an Intermediate Championship final win over a talented Tullysaran team, after which they received a bye into the provincial final.

They will take on Carrickmore’s Éire Ógs for provincial honours this Saturday afternoon, and manager Ned McCann says that the girls have really grown in confidence this year.

“We beat Tullysaran in the county final, and I think it was our third or fourth time getting to a county final in five years.

“We’d lost a few finals so there was a sense of do-or-die this year. It’s hard enough coming back from one county final defeat, let alone a number of them.

“We had to get the girls mentally ready – there needed to be more of a winning mentality. They’ve really put the work in this year, and they came up against a very strong Tullysaran team, who can call upon the likes of Eimear Hayes and Katie Connolly.

“We started well, got a bit of momentum and Sinead Quinn in particular caused a lot of damage up front.”

Ned pinpoints their first-round victory over Cullyhanna as a psychologically important moment for this team. It all came together in the second half and they haven’t looked back.

“We had a few girls around the mid-30 bracket, but even our younger girls have a lot of experience of playing in multiple county finals.

“I got the impression that other teams weren’t really thinking about those younger players – Sinead Quinn, Caoimhe McNally, Maeve Lennon.

“It felt like maybe Derrynoose weren’t getting much respect, and that we had a point to prove, to the players themselves as much as anybody else.

“We played Cullyhanna in the first-round of the championship and faced into a really strong breeze in the second half, but it clicked that day. As a management team, we felt it was the making of the girls. The management already knew they could win a championship, and I think after that game they started believing it themselves.”

Saturday is an unprecedented day out for Derrynoose, whatever happens. Ned says their attitude is to “go for it” against a Carrickmore team that is making very commendable strides.

“This is our first Ulster final in all codes, so it’s a massive thing. That’s what’s motivating us.

“Getting through the county final was a huge thing for us, so the pressure is off, and we’re just going to go for it.

“We’re coming up against a very young, fast Carrickmore team coming up the back of winning the Bridie McMenamin tournament last year. They’re a bit like ourselves, they have momentum and belief, so it should be an interesting game.”