Slaughtneil joint-captain Siobhan Bradley is aiming to lift the Bill & Agnes Carroll Cup today at Croke Park
The Derry side are red hot favourites and all that stands between them and a third straight All-Ireland title is Wexford side St Martin’s.
The parish of Slaughtneil is buzzing ahead of another big day out for the south Derry club.
For Slaughtneil, the tables have turned – three years ago, they were the team who fought their way to a first ever club camogie final.
They won at the first time of asking, beating Galway outfit Sarsfields by two points.
Every camogie journalist would say that Slaughtneil’s well-worn road to finals gives the Emmetts the edge but joint-captain Siobhan Bradley is taking nothing for granted.
“Certainly we have produced a standard, we’ve worked really hard to be where we are,” she said.
“There are teams just behind us and St Martin’s are matching us at the minute. It’s going to make for a really exciting All-Ireland final.”
Just like St Martin’s, some of the fresh faces coming through in the Slaughtneil panel will have their first outing in Croke Park, with last year’s final played in Clones after the game was twice delayed because of bad weather.
Bradley added: “Obviously, there will be nerves. It’s about remaining grounded going into this game. We aren’t getting involved in the hype going on outside the camp.”
The hype around this team and the club of Slaughtneil is understandable.
They have ripped up the record books when it comes to club competition in Ulster.
In 2016, Slaughtneil became the first club to win provincial titles in Gaelic football, hurling and camogie in the same year.
The club did it again in 2017 with the senior teams clinching provincial success in all three codes.
Success is now synonymous with Slaughtneil and no team has reached bigger heights than the camógs.
The old adage goes that success breeds success and Slaughtneil have big numbers in their underage programmes, with plenty of camogie’s future stars first picking up a hurl having been inspired by the senior girls.
When it’s pointed out that some of the younger players won’t know any different and must think that the club makes the All-Ireland final every year, Bradley laughs.
“The nights that we come back to the hall after winning championships, it’s amazing to see their delighted faces and how much it means to them.
“Hopefully, they come through the generations and will be standing on that stage as well.”
Tags: