'The Championship is better than Christmas!'

Ulster Championship Intermediate Final

Steelstown Brian Ogs vs. St. Joseph’s, Glenavy

Saturday, 2pm

Carrickmore

This year’s Ulster Intermediate final is not just another game for Ciara McGurk and the ladies of Steelstown, it’s a story of redemption.

Twelve months ago, the Derry champions were controversially axed from Ulster at the semi-final stage, a decision which caused great controversy and a great sense of injustice for a team that has worked so hard on and off the pitch in recent years. Just two years on from their devastating one-point loss to Kinawley in the 2021 Ulster final, Steelstown saw their dream of atoning for that day ripped away from them.

But rather than fixate on the pain of that, the whole squad promised themselves that they would look forward, co-captain Ciara believes that attitude has served them well, and carried them to a third Ulster final since 2015.

“To be honest, the way things were left last year, our girls could have said “That’s us done”, but we were back in the gym back in training,” she recalls. “We were back out there a month later, because these girls are so dedicated and when you are in a bunch of girls like that and they want to work hard, you deserve it, so I’m just hoping now we can pull together and work hard on the day.”

This tale of perseverance almost ended in the first chapter when Steelstown sensationally lost to Gen in the opening group game of the Derry Championship. It left them with no room for error, but also a reminder that nothing can be taken for granted, despite all their past success.

“At half time in that game, we all knew ourselves we weren’t playing great,” Ciara admits. “We were eight points down and we came back but we lost to a point in the end. We knew that we didn’t play well, and we knew that the next game we played was win or lose. We had to just go back to the drawing board that Monday and work from there. Looking back, it could have been the best thing for us, because if we had won that game, we might have got complacent, but we got beat so we knew what we had to do. We all worked harder and thankfully now, look where we are, we’re in an Ulster final, and when you look back at last year, this is where we wanted to be.”

Ciara, co-captain with Aoife McGough, was part of the last Steelstown team which won Ulster in 2015, and since then she has had more successes than losses, but even with four successive Derry titles to look back on, the big games always make her nervous.

“To be honest, when it comes to this time of the year and you’re lucky to be in the Championship, that’s all you think of,” she explained. “Other people who aren’t associated with gaelic probably think we’re mad, but it’s one of those things – you eat, sleep, breathe it, basically. It’s the first thing you think of in the morning and it’s the last thing at night. One of the girls in the team actually said the Championship is better than Christmas!

“It’s like anything, when it comes to games, you just have to play on the day. You could be prepared, but it just depends how you perform on the day. I don’t think any team can be fully prepared, because so much of it is down to how you handle the game when it comes along.”

Great support

The girls were treated to a surprise breakfast at the Pairc Bhrid clubhouse on Sunday morning, an event organised by the club’s Mothers & Others group, in recognition of the girls’ journey to another Ulster final. Little things like that add to the real family feel at the club.

“Getting to any final is a dream, and getting to an Ulster final is just amazing,” Ciara continued. “It’s a great feeling and there’s a great feel about the club. We’re lucky in that the Mothers & Others put on a breakfast for us the week before so it’s great to see the support even from people, even those who have just started getting involved in gaelic this year. We get support from our families and friends as well so it’s a great buzz. Slaughtmanus have also been allowing us to use their pitch on a Wednesday night. It is so great to see support like that from other clubs and we are so grateful to Slaughtmanus for helping us.”

Steelstown have seen off St. Enda’s, Omagh and Castleblayney, Monaghan to reach this stage, two very different performances against two very different opponents.

“Any gaelic player will tell you, sometimes you play to the level your opposition, but if the whole team isn’t playing that well then you stay at that level,” Ciara explained. “But if a few players are bringing that intensity, it goes through the whole team and the team goes up a level. Last week, Castleblayney brought it to us. In the first half we weren’t that great, and they did put it up to us, and in the second half we knew, if we wanted to be in the Ulster final, we knew what we had to do. It was evident in the second half that we put the work in and we came away with a good win.”

Perfect mix

One thing that this Steelstown team has is an incredible mix of youth and experience, with key players still there from the 2015 victory in Ulster. This team has certainly been through it all in recent years.

“There’s a good mixture throughout our team,” Ciara acknowledged. “There are ones who experienced 2015 and we also have girls who experienced the loss in the 2021 final. Some of us have felt the heartache, some of us have felt the joy in winning, some have felt none of it, so it’s good to have those more experienced players to help bring the younger players along, and hopefully experience what we did back in 2015.”

Standing in Steelstown’s way this weekend is St. Joseph’s, Glenavy, an unknown entity from Antrim. Brian Ogs have been here before however, and they know now, just as they did last year, and the year before that, just what it means to reach this stage. They are now just an hour away from redemption.

“You can’t take it for granted,” Ciara agreed. “When you get there, you want it and any gaelic player will tell you that when you’re in an Ulster final, your main goal is to win. If you had said to me last year that we would be in an Ulster final this year, I would have taken your right arm, and leg off to get there.”