After finally ending their All-Ireland final hoodoo against Slaughtneil this year, the McGrath sisters of Sarsfields in Galway will not be getting ahead of themselves as they explained to Off The Ball.
Even some of the youngest players involved were carrying years of baggage as Sarsfields came up against Slaughtneil in an All-Ireland club final for the third time in years last month.
"We were very, very young in 2017 and 2018," recalled Siobhán McGrath of the Galway club's first two final clashes with their Derry opponents. "A few years makes a huge difference for a young team which we still are really.
"I'd only turned 16 for the first final, but you don't really think about it at the time. A lot of us would say, really, that we probably got to our first All-Ireland a bit too early.
"We'd only won our first county championship ever the previous winter and then getting to the All-Ireland final, it was maybe too early for our own good but it has certainly stood to us."
One aspect of the strong McGrath influence over Sarsfields' success, it was Siobhán who has now been named AIB Camogie Club Player of the Year for her performances across the season.
1 March 2020; Sarsfields players, from left, Laura Ward, Siobhán McGrath and Tara Kenny celebrate following the AIB All-Ireland Senior Camogie Club Championship Final. Photo by Harry Murphy/SportsfileAfter achieving All-Ireland success with Sarsfields, the future looks bright for a Galway club that is brimming with talent. The added intrigue that is likely to come as they and Slaughtneil forge a seriously competitive rivalry in the years ahead can only be to the benefit of camogie.
Nevertheless, as Siobhán and her sister Orlaith explained in conversation with Off The Ball, they cannot afford to let their minds wander.
"We wouldn't even be focusing on Slaughtneil now," they confirmed. "When we go back into Galway again for the club championship, it's going to be an absolute blood bath really.
"There's about six teams at any given stage of the year that would have belief that they could win the county championship. So, before we ever think of Slaughtneil, we have to get out of our own group in Galway which is hard enough at the best of time."
Nevertheless, having finally overcome the club giants of camogie in recent years, the McGrath sisters are confident that having beaten them once, they can do it again.
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