By Niall Gartland

LOUGHGIEL camogs know Ulster final day like the back of their hand, but stalwart Emma McFadden is just as excited as ever about Saturday’s showpiece against Swatragh, which will be hosted by Tyrone club Beragh.

For one thing, it makes a change from playing Sleacht Néill, whom they have faced umpteen times down the years, but that’s by no means the only reason why the camp is in high spirits as they count down the days to Saturday.

It’s set to be Loughgiel’s 10th Ulster Senior Championship appearance in as many years, a remarkable statistic and they stand on the cusp of what would be their first ever three-in-a-row.

McFadden, who was named as Gaelic Life Camogie Player of the Year for 2023, her second time receiving the award, says that it’s not just about winning matches but about the friendships forged and maintained in the twilight of the year.

“This is definitely where we want to be and we never take it for granted either.

“Being in the competition at this time of year is something else, it’s really special.

“You travel in buses and eat together and it really strengthens the bond in the team, and it makes the dark evenings easier as well.

“It takes that little bit of extra motivation to get to training but you get there and recognise that everyone else has made the sacrifice as well. I think that only heightens the respect for each other as well, so we really love this time of year.”

The Shamrocks have been the dominant force in Antrim for a generation, but they haven’t had it all their own way in 2024 and missed out on league and feis titles.

It was certainly to discount them, however, and the team was mindful of pacing themselves after such a busy few years.

They can call upon star performers in every sector so it’s no big surprise that they got their act together and they overcame Dunloy in the Antrim Senior final before running out comfortable victors against newcomers at this level Clonduff in the last four of Ulster.

“The way I see it is that we’re coming into form at the right time. It’s been a long few seasons and personally I didn’t start back until May.

“In the year of Covid we ended up playing two Ulster finals in the space of a few months, one before Christmas, the other just after, so that was a really long season.

“The following year we made a breakthrough at All-Ireland level and played in the final in December, then we won another Ulster after that.

“Because of that, we realise we need to take our time in coming back as ideally we want to be playing in November and December.

“I suppose we didn’t retain some of our titles that we’ve won in the past and that’s still a shame but the way I see it, you haven’t to be beaten at some stage and it’s better to be winning the titles that really define your season.

“In the second half of the league we managed to win all our matches so I think we’ve come strong at the right time of year.”

Standing in their way of provincial honours is a Swatragh team that stunned Sleacht Néill in the Derry final. Loughgiel and Sleacht Néill were a familiar match up down the years, the Derry side reigning supreme in six successive Ulster finals against the Loughgiel before the tables were turned on their head in 2022.

Overcoming Sleacht Néill in the 2022 final was a huge breakthrough and they repeated the trick in last year’s semi-final but claiming a comfortable victory over Down club Liatroim in the final. They’ll be favourites to win this Saturday, but they can’t afford to be complacent.

McFadden said: “I suppose Swatragh are similar to ourselves in that respect, they’ve been trying to beat Sleacht Néill and that’s why we’ve never met at this stage before. They couldn’t get out of Derry and we were similar in that we couldn’t get out of Ulster until a couple of years ago. It’ll be good to play someone a bit different.”

McFadden has been there more or less every step of the way since Loughgiel embarked on their winning run in Antrim in 2014, winning every senior championship title going in the mean-time (she also landed previous titles in 2009 and 2011). She says the great thing about the team is that there’s always players to step up if others are absent between one thing or another.

“A lot of girls on the team have the 11 medals since 2014 and some with a few less. We’ve had a serious squad down the years. There was one year where there were three of us out having babies, and you’re thinking ‘gosh this is going to be tough’ but someone else just steps up.

“We’ve had so many hurdles down the years where you think you might not retain the title but we’ve such a strong squad and that’s made such a positive difference.”