AFTER STARRING IN Galway’s run to the All-Ireland senior camogie title, Siobhán McGrath is now eyeing more club glory to round off 2021.
Her Sarsfields side, the reigning champions from 2019/20, face Wexford’s Oulart-The-Ballagh in Saturday’s delayed 2020/21 All-Ireland final at Nowlan Park [throw-in 1.30pm, live on RTÉ Two].
One of four sisters on the team and daughter of manager Michael ‘Hopper’ McGrath, 20-year-old Siobhán is hoping for another successful family affair.
Siobhán, Orlaith and Niamh were all involved in a September’s special O’Duffy Cup lift with the Tribe, while Clodagh joins them to backbone the Sarsfields team.
“It would be brilliant if we did get over the line,” Siobán nods. “Winning with Galway was unbelievable but to lose on Saturday would put a bit of a dampener on the year overall. Please God now we’ll do it.”
A PE Teaching student in University of Limerick, she’s back to home comforts this week after finishing up for Christmas. “The hype around the place isn’t too crazy,” she reports, ahead of this, their fourth final in recent years.
While the 2019 victory over Slaughtneil was monumental, Sarsfields are well used to heartbreak on club All-Ireland final day. The Derry side inflicted hurt and heartbreak on them in the 2016/17 and 2017/18 deciders, and that it was Slaughtneil Oulart saw off in this edition’s semi-final last weekend is certainly a statement.
An unknown quantity to some extent given the sides have never player before, their last-four win was enough of a warning for McGrath.
“To score 2-15 against Slaughtneil is some achievement to be honest,” she says. “Any time we have played them it has been a pure dogfight and a low-scoring match.
“It just shows their firepower up front. You have the likes of the Leacys and Ursula Jacob. These were all stars for Wexford and it doesn’t look like they have slowed down or anything yet. They’re still firing on all cylinders. Any team that beats Slaughtneil like that, you know they’re a really serious side.”
Stacked with the Wexford legends she already named, McGrath later picks up:
“If you look at their team, they’re probably the most star-studded team that we’ve ever come across to be honest; the likes of the Leacys, Ursula Jacob, Ciara Storey, the Kehoes, you could go on forever… a lot of them have won four All-Irelands with Wexford, they’ve all won two club All-Irelands, multiple All-Stars.
“The two Leacys and Ursula Jacob have all captained Wexford to success. You can’t buy that sort of winning mentality that they have; that experience and that know-how to get over the line. While you’re looking at them, you kind of just have to try to focus on your own game as well — not to get overawed by them, because in fairness, they are living legends of camogie.
“I was growing up and they were beating Galway in All-Irelands, they were breaking our hearts really. That Wexford team, I have great respect for them. I thought they were class like, they have four All-Irelands won, three in-a-row. They were kind of different to the likes of Cork and Kilkenny, there was a bit more character or something about them at the time. They were just so skillful, they really brought on the game of camogie so much.
“Even thinking back to Ursula Jacob’s goal that she scored from the ground that time. They were a class team at the time and they were definitely players I looked up to when I was growing up.
“To think that they’re still going strong all these years later just shows the determination that they have within their club and the never-say-die attitude that they have.”
But Sarsfields certainly have that too, in spades.
While their full focus is on finishing the 2020/21 campaign on a high on Saturday, the Galway powerhouse have a quick turnaround to the next All-Ireland series in the New Year.
County champions again this year, they go straight into the All-Ireland semi-final. With other provincial competitions being played in January, it’s looking like they’ll be in action again in February, with the final pencilled in for its usual March timeline.
“Jesus, we have a long way to go yet before we even think about that,” McGrath laughs. “We have to get over the line on Saturday before we even look at 2021′s campaign.
“If you were to lose, you could be kind of like, ‘Jesus, how are we going to face into another season?’ or else you could be raring to go, trying to right the wrongs so I suppose hopefully, please God we won’t have to be thinking about that anyway.”
