Scoreflash… Ulster Intermediate Camogie Club Championship final… Crossmaglen 0.19 Eglish 3.10
Replay next week
Sisters Lauren (second left) and Aoibheann McConville flanked by the Donaldsons, Orla (left) and Aveen
BY RICHARD BULLICK
LOCAL Women Sport’s LGFA Player of the Year Lauren McConville is more than willing to sacrifice her place on the red carpet at the Bonnington Hotel on Saturday night as she targets Ulster Intermediate Club Championship success with Crossmaglen earlier in the day.
It’s unfortunate that this provincial camogie final falls on the same date as ladies football’s national All Stars banquet but, while resigned to not getting to the Dublin ball, McConville will be incredibly determined not to experience a double Cinderella effect.
Defeat would be the worst of both worlds, but victory over Tyrone champions Eglish at Armagh’s Pearse Og Park (1.00pm) would set up another memorable homecoming for Crossmaglen camogs a few weeks after the club claimed their first county title since 2003.
The Orchard hero has already achieved so much in a glittering gaelic football career in Armagh’s orange jersey, both in terms of team medals and individual accolades, but she had never played a county final with her club before the age of 30.
So to line out in the famous amber and black for the Orchard domestic showpieces in both codes in the space of 20 days this autumn was incredibly special for Lauren, with the ladies football decider defeat followed by camogie glory less than three weeks later.
It has been an unforgettable few weeks for dedicated sportswoman McConville, who also got engaged the Sunday before the camogie final to boyfriend Cormac Linden, albeit she kept the news under wraps from Cross colleagues until the trophy had been secured!
Regrading means Crossmaglen are competing two tiers higher in Ulster than when they claimed the Armagh Intermediate title two years ago and went on to win their provincial competition before reaching the All Ireland Junior B final.
Lauren McConville receives her Player of the Award for this year’s Ulster final in Clones (Pic: Colin Molloy)
Although obviously better known as one of the country’s leading ladies footballers, McConville is also a very accomplished camog and netted no fewer than four times for Cross in their fourth tier All Ireland semi that year.
She hasn’t the time to play inter-county camogie and only picks up her hurl at club level when her Orchard commitments finish for the season in ladies football, but McConville’s wider experience will be important for Crossmaglen this weekend.
They are up against an Eglish side who have vast experience playing at this level but Lauren is backing the talent in a fairly youthful Cross side captained by her 24-year-old second cousin Riona McConville, whose leadership she admires.
“Riona is a natural leader. She always knows the right thing to say in the changing-rooms and on the pitch. She spoke well following our football loss and really got us refocused and motivated for the camogie.
“We definitely feel like Ulster is within our reach. It’s been nice knowing we’ve a final to look forward to, though having more teams involved in this tier and at least a semi to play first might have helped keep the momentum going.
“But we’ve been training hard and preparing well for this Ulster final, so hopefully we’ll give it a good go. And yes, unfortunately it clashes with the ladies football All Stars so I won’t be attending the awards night in Dublin,” Lauren confirmed to Local Women Sport.
This time last year, McConville was Down Under, finishing up an AFLW contract with Queensland side Gold Coast Suns, so mum Michelle had to collect the long overdue All Star award on Lauren’s behalf.
Deservedly shortlisted for a fifth year running following another season of impressive performances, McConville seems less likely to be a recipient this time given that Armagh didn’t make the All Ireland knockout stages for the first time since 2016.
Dual star Lauren McConville in action for Crossmaglen camogs in the 2023 All Ireland Junior B final
That was far from McConville’s fault, with the diminutive taliswoman on the field for every minute of Armagh’s season – most of it spent as stand-in skipper – and consistently good, but the Orchard challenge was seriously undermined by injuries to other key players.
McConville won Player of the Match as Armagh defeat Donegal in the Clones showpiece to retain their Ulster title, and subsequently received a national All Stars nomination along with evergreen veteran Caroline O’Hanlon.
She’s far from hanging up the boots yet but, coming into this autumn, there wasn’t much missing from what had already been a very decorated career for Armagh ladies gaelic great McConville.
A team woman first and foremost, she has won five Ulster Senior Championships with Armagh and an historic National League Division One title last year to go with the three lower level titles secured previously.
But there have been plenty of individual accolades too through the years including that overdue first national All Star last autumn – this is the fifth consecutive season she has been shortlisted – and four consecutive provincial All Star awards.
McConville was crowned Ulster Ladies Footballer of the Year 12 months ago, and LGFA Player of the Year at April’s Local Women Sport Awards, while she has also been the Orchard’s County Player of the Year and is a regular in the NFL Teams of the League.
Player of the Match in that historic 2024 NFL final win, she picked up both All Ireland Player of the Month awards on the back of that. Lauren also won Player of the Match for this season’s Ulster Senior Championship final in a packed Clones.
Never injured, dropped or rested since coming into the county team at the start of the 2014 season, McConville has started Armagh’s last 59 consecutive matches since returning during the pandemic from a sabbatical in Australia.
Speaking of Oz, she played for Queensland side Gold Coast Suns in last season’s AFLW having been bestowed with a league Player of the Year award at club level during her previous spell Down Under despite being an Aussie Rules rookie.
An interpro title winner with Ulster and top-scorer in the last All Stars exhibition match in Texas, Lauren skippered Armagh for much of this season in the injury-enforced absence of Clodagh McCambridge and was Queen’s University captain in her final year there.
Crossmaglen’s Lauren McConville battles forward in the ladies football county final (Pic Colin Molloy)
McConville captained Crossmaglen’s ladies footballers to an Armagh Intermediate title triumph back in 2017, but something still absent from the dual star’s sparkling CV by the time of her 30th birthday was a county final appearance in either code.
That all changed this autumn as Cross ended an 18-year wait to return to ladies football’s big domestic decider, losing to holders Clann Eireann, before dethroning Granemore 20 days later in the club’s first Armagh Senior Championship camogie showpiece since 2004!
“It’s been an unbelievable few weeks. Obviously we were disappointed with the outcome of the football, but it really is amazing to have made two county finals in each code at the top tier and testament to the hard work going on in the club,” enthuses Lauren.
“Then winning the camogie for the first time in 22 years was just unreal. I’ve been fortunate enough to experience a lot of highs and special occasions with Armagh over the years, but it’s amazing winning with your club.
“Just getting to do it alongside girls that you grew up playing with and girls you watched coming up through the underage ranks. A lot of work has gone into the development of our senior teams over the past few years, so it was great to see that all pay off on the big day.
“There was a great turnout in the hall for us when we returned to Cross. For years, we’d all have been there to support the men following all their success, so it was really nice to see so many people coming out to support us.
“Loads of the (last county title-winning) 2003 team were there as well, which was class,” reflects Lauren, who has been playing adult level ladies football for Crossmaglen since the age of 15 but originally represented Culloville in camogie.
Lauren and younger sibling Aoibheann won an Armagh Junior title playing alongside mum Michelle in 2014, but now wear the amber and black in both codes, though previous regular Aoibheann was unlucky to be an unused sub in the Orchard camogie final last month.
“We won Junior twice with Culloville and then Intermediate (camogie) with Cross two years ago. It’s nice having a sister on the team to enjoy the success with. Aoibheann is one of the hardest workers on the team and has had a great year, particularly in the football.
“Competition for places in both teams is increasing all the time, which is great. We’ve been very lucky with the underage talent coming through. We’ve had some quality players coming up from Minors this past few years, and even this season from the Under 16s.
“Aoibhe McLoughlin came in this year and has been excellent. Then we had Jessica McCreesh join later in the season too, another player who is super talented. Both girls will be ones to watch for the future.
“(Experienced Cavan native) Tina O’Reilly has been an unbelievable addition to both teams. She is so talented. Her athleticism, strength and work-rate are top class and, although she’s only joined us this year, she has quickly become a massive leader in the group.”
Lauren (left) and Aoibheann McConville with dad Jim, Crossmaglen’s first All Ireland-winning club captain
Although in both scenarios they were inexperienced county finalists facing opponents going for four titles on the trot, Crossmaglen may have been seen to have a better chance against Granemore than provincial champions Clann Eireann but Lauren wasn’t hung up on that.
“I never really had the thought process of which one we had a better chance at winning, but I knew it was well within our capability to win either game. It’s hard to judge coming into games like that because we hadn’t played either team at full strength during the season.
“Ourselves, Clann Eireann (football) and Granemore (camogie) all have good representation at county level, so the league games weren’t really the best indication of how we compared. We were disappointed with the football final, there’s no sugar-coating it.
“We have a great group of footballers and we probably felt like we underperformed slightly in the final. Perhaps a lack of experience showed too against a well-rounded Clann Eireann team.
“But we took a lot from that game, there was plenty of learnings for us and definitely the experience of the big occasion stood to us when we went to play the camogie final then a few weeks later.”
Cynically targeted by Clann Eireann in the football final as Crossmaglen’s star turn, McConville was also on the receiving end early on in the camogie showpiece, a match in which she won a few frees, pointed twice from play and set up Faye Fitzpatrick’s goal.
As such a household name in the big ball code, you wonder whether Lauren feels under more or less pressure to perform in the camogie, given lower expectations perhaps but, on the flip side, not having as much under her belt in terms of regular game-time and so forth?
“In terms of pressure, I don’t feel any difference from one code to the other,” is Lauren’s typically matter-of-fact answer, before noting: “I don’t really get the chance to play any camogie until the football season with Armagh finishes.
“So I do struggle when I return to camogie because my skills just aren’t where they need to be. But I do everything I can in that short space of time to improve and get to grips with the small ball again. Playing in the full forward line takes a bit of adjusting to too!”
She’s a real threat up front for Cross camogs, as underlined by her four goals in that All Ireland Junior B semi-final two years ago, though a rare injury niggle hampered McConville’s preparations for last month’s domestic showpiece.
“I hurt my hamstring the week of the football final, so I was very limited with the training I could do in the run-up to the camogie final. So I probably did feel like my skills were slightly off, but overall I was happy enough with my performance.
“It was just a good all-round team effort and everyone dug deep, especially at the end of the second half when the game was on the line. While it was tough at the time, it was an amazing way to win in such a tight game.
“We knew at half-time that it was going to go right to the wire, even though we were ahead at that stage. I really urged everyone to work as hard as we could at the beginning of the second half because I knew we needed to start strongly into the wind,” she recalls.
If Crossmaglen can beat Eglish in Saturday’s Ulster Intermediate decider, which will be streamed live on Ulster Camogie’s Facebook, there’s the prospect of an All Ireland run keeping them occupied until the week before Christmas.
That would mean McConville not getting much break before ladies football’s National League campaign gets underway in January, but it’s actually a similar scenario to two years ago when, like now, Greg McGonigle was coming in as Armagh manager.
“I suppose this has happened me a few times now with schedules, between camogie and even last year being away with the AFLW. I am quite good at managing my time and Greg has been very understanding about the club commitments so, whatever happens, hopefully it will all workout,” declares Lauren.
Armagh ace Lauren McConville was crowned LGFA Player of the Year at April’s Local Women Sport Awards
Sisters Lauren (right) and Aoibheann McConville won the Ulster Junior B Club title with Cross two years ago
Lauren McConville at this year’s National League Awards, where she was honoured in the Team of Division One
Lauren McConville and Cormac Linden got engaged the week before Crossmaglen’s camogie county final win
