Easy to captain Glencar Manorhamilton with so many leaders on team says Aoife Gilmartin

It might have been the last question of Aoife Gilmartin’s captains interview with the Observer but the answer the Glencar Manorhamilton skipper delivered in response to a simple query probably sums up the secret to yet another Leitrim LGFA Senior Championship Final success for the north Leitrim club!​

​Asked what it was like to captain Glencar Manorhamilton to their 2-17 to 0-2 victory over St Joseph’s last Saturday in Heartland Credit Union Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada, Aoife simply said “It's easy to be captain on this team - I know it's cliche, but there's so many leaders on our team, there genuinely is. It makes the job easy.”

Her first answer was somewhat different as the Leitrim county player expressed disbelief that Glencar Manorhamilton had once again got across the line on County Final day: “I'm actually in disbelief, I still can't believe it. The girls fought so hard out there today.”

So what is the secret to Glencar Manorhamilton’s longevity and ability to keep coming back year after year? “What keeps us going? I think we just always have people coming through every single year, younger girls, and it's just brilliant. Also, our management has been brilliant, every year they help to build the team on.

“We also have like a core group of girls there that have been there since the beginning and they've just built the team as it's gone on and we've new girls coming in and experienced girls too, so it's just brilliant.”

Part of the reason is explained by Glencar Manorhamilton’s desire to never get ahead of themselves: “A big thing for us is just our attitude. Every game, we're just looking at the game in front of our face. We just try to improve on each game.

“We look back on games and just see what we can improve on, what we can do better. Attitude is massive for us, so we never like to get ahead of ourselves at all.”

But it must be hard not to become complacent given their demolition of all comers in this year’s championship, their lowest winning margin over seven games a staggering 18 points! And yet Aoife insists that the champions never taken any game for granted and they expected the tough challenge they got from St Joseph’s.

“We knew not to come complacent into the game,” said Aoife, adding “Joe's had a very tight semi-final and we knew that would stand to them there today. So we just knew that we had to bring everything that we got.

“We knew that they weren't going to go down without a fight, which they didn't. They made us fight so hard for every single ball out there.”

Neither does outside noise permeate the confines of the Glencar Manorhamilton camp, no added pressure despite all the talk about the now seven in a row champions: “We're not really aware of it. We just take each game as it comes and we keep things very tight within the group.

“We're just constantly trying to improve and constantly trying to push ourselves and see what we're capable of. We genuinely don't look past each game and we just never get ahead of ourselves, I think that's part of it.”

One of the reasons for Glencar Manorhamilton’s superlative form this year has been the introduction of a host of new young players into the starting line-up according to the Glencar Manorhamilton captain: “It's brilliant, especially this year, we've had a good few younger girls come up and you'd swear they've been playing.

“We've had them come up and you'd swear they've been playing for years, like they've just slotted straight into the team. Even at training, they bring a new dynamic, they bring their own way of playing, their own style and that's very much encouraged on our team, is just ‘express yourself’ and be the type of player that you are.

“We just work with each other, we work as a team and we're always trying to be positive and yeah, it's been brilliant to have the new younger girls come in this year. They've just brought a new dynamic, I suppose and it's brilliant.”