Éire Ógs skipper never gave up hope in decider

By Niall Gartland

ÉIRE Óg joint-captain Aoibhinn Daly never gave up hope. Trailing by three points with the finish line in sight in Saturday’s Ulster Junior ‘B’ Championship final against Armagh’s Derrynoose, things weren’t looking good, but they pulled it out of the bag with a stunning late comeback.

Player of the Match Niamh McElduff weighed in with a smashing goal to restore parity, and then up stepped Daly with what turned out to be the winning point in injury time, sparking memorable scenes of celebration at the final whistle.

Daly said: “It’s not as if we hadn’t been in that position before. We found ourselves in a similar spot against Derrylaughan in the Tyrone Intermediate final, and against Crosserlough in the Ulster Championship, and that stood to us. We kept our cool and we got the scores at the right time, thankfully.”

It’s been an unforgettable 12 months for the Éire Ógs. A first-ever Bridie McMenamin title, a first ever Tyrone Intermediate Championship, a first-ever Ulster Junior ‘B’ title – it’s fair to say they’re riding the crest of a wave.

Asked how much it means to the club, Daly said: “I don’t think I can even put it into words. A few weeks ago I’m not sure we’d have believed this is possible, so to go on and win Ulster in two different grades is phenomenal.

“At the start of the year, the big aim was to win a first Intermediate title, and winning that gave us even more belief, and we’ve made history again.”

And they did it all without the playing services of Ailise Coyle, who captained the team to last year’s Bridie McMenamin success.

An ACL injury ruled her out of this year’s campaign, but she took on a managerial role and was held aloft the Ulster title on Saturday alongside Daly.

“She led us to our first Ulster title last year, but unfortunately she did her ACL at the start of this season. She didn’t lay down, she became involved in the management team and led us from the sidelines. That wasn’t an easy job and now she’s led us to another Ulster title.”