DERRY POWERHOUSE SLAUGHTNEIL landed an historic All-Ireland three in-a-row in Croke Park yesterday in crazy weather conditions, and it was an Offaly native who led the charge.
She was Player of the Match in their 2018 win and Tina Hannon repeated the feat 12 months later with her 1-6 haul paramount against Wexford’s St Martin’s.
Hannon’s early goal set the tone, and she pulled the Slaughtneil strings from there, causing havoc for the opposition as rain turned to sleet, and sleet turned to snow.
An All-Ireland winner with Offaly at premier junior and intermediate level in 2009 and 2010, Hannon ended up in Derry after meeting her partner — Slaughtneil midfielder Patsy Bradley — in Australia.
The former Faithful All-Star nominee wasn’t involved in the Derry girls’ maiden All-Ireland win in 2017, but has been ever-present since then and a key component of Dominic McKinley and Damien McEldowney’s charges.
It’s been some experience, she smiled afterwards, revealing that words of wisdom were shared along the way by Kilkenny’s legendary manager Brian Cody and his camogie counterpart Ann Downey.
Shivering after braving the freezing elements as Slaughtneil and Down’s Clonduff sealed an Ulster double at HQ, Hannon’s delight shone through.
“When you’re in the final you just want to perform to the best you can,” she said.
“We have such big leaders on the team and when you combine that with the young talent we’ve coming through.. to go out and play like that today, we’re just delighted to be All-Ireland champions for the third year in a row.
“Before the game, we were just talking about winning an All-Ireland. We didn’t want to put too much emphasis on the fact we were going for a three-in-a-row, but now, that it’s being said, it’s unbelievable really.
“During the year we played Kilkenny in a practice match and Ann Downey spoke to us after and made us realise some great teams had won three-in-a-row. We had Brian Cody speaking to us earlier in the year too.”
Slaughtneil now join esteemed company, becoming just the fifth team to secure three in-a-row.
Downey was part of the St Paul’s team that did it twice, while their fellow Kilkenny side St Lachtain’s, Galway’s Pearses and four in-a-row winners Buffers Alley have also achieved the remarkable feat.
“It’s kind of surreal to think that you’re placed among them great teams now and we’re so, so honoured. But that’s what’s so special about the club championship. A lot of the time, it’s not clubs from the county powerhouses.”
While Slaughtneil’s dream start sent them on their way to dominate much of the clash, St Martin’s did forge a strong comeback but it was perhaps too little, too late for JJ Doyle’s side.
The Derry kingpins, to their credit, dealt with the onslaught admirably with Louise Dougan and the Ní Chaiside sisters Aoife, Eilís and Bróna playing key roles in defence to close out the tie.
“We were in control for most of the game,” Hannon concluded. “Louise (Dougan) dropped back as sweeper because we knew their half-forward line was exceptionally strong.
“We’d seen that from their semi-final and Leinster final and as usual, Louise is just so brilliant at that role. There’s not too many can play the role as she can.
“We pushed on from there once we got the lead. And when you have conditions like that, a lead is so important.”
- Additional reporting by Daragh Ó Conchúir for the Camogie Association.
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