From darkness into the light for Steelstown's Megan and Katy

Megan Devine and Katy Holly have been through it all at Steelstown, and they are now hoping that today brings a trophy they have both suffered to win in recent years.

To say the midfield duo have suffered is an understatement, with both players having to fight their way back from ACL injuries, which have kept them on the sidelines for far too long. Team mate Leah McGonagle recently made her comeback from the same injury in the Derry Championship final against Glen, and no one understand the significance of that more than Megan and Katy, who have ben through the exact same pain and frustration.

“It was really hard,” Megan admits. “I had my surgery in 2020 and I came back and my first full game was the final against Kinawley in 2021, where we were beaten by a point. It was kind of mixed emotions, because obviously getting back to playing a final after being out for so long, but then getting beat was not so great. We’ve built now since 2021, to help me and Katy and now Leah play, and to have us all back from ACLs is great.

“Being injured, there’s so much that goes on behind the scenes that people probably don’t see. Me, Katy and Leah have spent a lot of dark days in the gym, but to get to an Ulster final, it just makes everything worth it. You have to go to those dark places to get the results you want.”

There has been other suffering as well, the injustice of being kicked out of Ulster at the semi-final stage last year. That may have broken a lesser team, but just 12 months on, Steelstown have the chance to put the story right.

“We were absolutely devastated for a good 48 hours,” Katy said. “Thomas (Cusack) had said that we could take a couple of weeks/ months off to try to mentally, emotionally and physically get over the thing, but when it went to a vote, we were asking if we could organise a bit of indoor, could we do the gym, because I think we’re so close as a unit together that it was like misery enjoys company. You could sit on our own and sulk, but we got together, we regrouped and we put it quickly behind us. We don’t need to dwell on it to be honest.

“We don’t really talk about it. It happened, we have gotten over it and we’ve used it as motivation all year, not just this week, but from last November all we wanted was to get to this November, and to get back playing. Hopefully it’s actually been a good thing. It’s given us perspective and given us motivation and hunger on those dark cold mornings and nights when you’re maybe going ‘I couldn’t be bothered to go to training’. We all want to be there, we’re all buzzing to be there regardless of the weather, because we have all got the same goal, we want to try and go as far as we can in this campaign.”

From covid, to the final loss to Kinawley in 2021, to the controversy of 2022, it has been an extremely difficult road for Steelstown, whose last success in Ulster came an incredible eight years ago. Megan and Katy both played in that game, but a lot has changed since.

“It’s been a long time coming now to get back into an Intermediate final,” Magan acknowledged. “Last year was awful for us obviously because we were trying to build from 2021, but again, everything seemed to go against us. But we’re back with a seat at the table now.

“Our motivation after every game is to get back on the pitch on the Monday night. We always say after the game that the main focus is to be back on the pitch on the Monday night, so regardless if it’s cold or wet, there is such a buzz on the Monday to get back on the field, because that’s what we’re aiming for with every game.”

From Katy’s perspective, each year since has brought its own lesson, and learning from those lessons is as important as anything the girls do on the training pitch.

“In the past eight years, when you look year on year on year, I think we’ve learnt and developed something each year that’s added to the next year,” she continued. “Every year we’ve built on something that didn’t go right the year before, whether it was indiscipline, whether it was taking shots that shouldn’t have been taken, or whether it was not being punctual to training.

“Each year we have done something small which we hope will have a big impact. In 2015, I got sent off in that final with seven minutes to go, and I would like to think that I’ve learnt from that, and that other people learn individually as they go, so it’s just putting that all together into a unit where we’re all learning and we’re all so willing and hungry to learn. It’s unique to have that in a team where everyone is very respectful of other peoples’ roles.”

Just one game, one opponent and 60 minutes separate Steelstown from that long-awaited Ulster title, and Katy is so hopeful that it can finally happen in 2023.

“We’ve had that many near misses with Ulster so we’re well-rehearsed in what to do. We just haven’t got over the line,” she said. “I think that’s paid off. In the semi-final there was only a point in it at half time, but there was no panic an we won by 10 points. I think that’s a mixture of experience and then maybe the younger players being blissfully unaware, and being happy go lucky, if we’re a point down or up, who cares? It’s nice to have that wee mixture. We’re hopefully a well-oiled machine at this point so if things go wrong, we know not to panic.”