CLODAGH MCCAMBRIDGE REFLECTS ON ARMAGH’S PERFORMANCE IN THE LIDL LEAGUE FINAL
By DAIRE WALSH
Having come away disappointed on her most recent trip to Croke Park, Armagh full-back Clodagh McCambridge was determined that her side’s Lidl National Football Division 2 decider against Laois would go down as one to remember.
In the equivalent match at GAA HQ a little over 12 months earlier, Armagh came out on the wrong side of a 1-12 to 0-12 scoreline against Kerry. This year however, Armagh ensured that the second-tier title rested in the Orchard County for the first time since 2015.
It was a dream start to the action for the Ulster women, who had registered four goals by the ninth minute of the play – including a hat-trick for star forward Aimee Mackin. Although a gallant Laois outfit dug deep to bring the gap back down to three points in the third-quarter, Armagh rallied once again to make it a pleasant outing in north Dublin for McCambridge and her inter-county colleagues.
“I think in the past we’ve probably been a bit inconsistent in our league performances. I think just after the defeat in the final last year one of the targets was to, yes, hopefully get to a league final, but in order to do that it was to take every game as it comes. We’ve just been working on trying to get a performance every game and hopefully get a result at the end of that,” McCambridge said.
“Finals are just for winning. I know we started really well, all those goals going in at the start, but then we probably took our foot off the gas a wee bit. We came out flying, but it was very early on. You always knew they were going to come back and they did.
“We knew the second half they had a bit of a wind and they were always going to come out hunting for it. We were just trying to keep things simple and do the right things. Just grateful to get over the line eventually.”
With the likes of Erone Fitzpatrick, Sarah Anne Fitzgerald and Mo Nerney within the Laois ranks, McCambridge and her fellow backs were always going to be kept on their toes throughout the Division 2 showpiece. This is something that runs in the family as McCambridge’s brother Barry is currently a key defender in the Armagh men’s set-up under Kieran McGeeney, who previously managed Orchard ladies boss Shane McCormack during his stint as Kildare supremo.
Yet while the McCambridge siblings are often tasked with marking duties on the opposition’s go-to attacker, she believes the role played by those around them is of equal importance when it comes to snuffing out a potent threat.
“He’s only starting to get his chance. To start with that is always a good way to go. He has always got help around him as well and I’m the same out there. I’m watching him, trying to learn things from them. You can do your best marking one-on-one, but it’s the players around you putting the pressure that causes a bad ball in that you might get a hand to.”
However, football wasn’t necessarily always in the blood for Clodagh and Barry as their father hails from a part of Ulster where the small ball rules the roost.
“My Dad is from Antrim, up there in Cushendall. It would be a hurling stronghold up there. A lot of my uncles would have played hurling for Antrim. They’d say we’re playing that other sport, we don’t get the credit that we deserve sometimes!
“We would always keep an eye on how they’re doing there and they keep an eye out on us as well. It’s good that way, but you’ve always got that interest there as well.”
A part of the Armagh panel since 2015 – she was called into the squad shortly after that year’s NFL Division 2 success over provincial rivals Donegal – McCambridge was thrilled to see one particular development within the county ahead of the current inter-county season.
Even though they had been using it on a semi-regular basis for close to 18 months, October of last year saw newly-installed floodlights being turned on at their training base of McKeever Park in Killean.
This is the first venue of its kind across Ireland to be solely dedicated to ladies football and being able to hold evening sessions there in the winter and spring months makes a world of difference. McCambridge has a busy job as an actuarial analyst with Vhi and having a certainty over where training is being held is a huge benefit to the Clann Eireann club star.
“In the past you were finding out at maybe five o’clock where you’re training at seven and you need to leave straight away. Having our own training ground is brilliant. It’s our home. You turn up and there’s the orange colours there. It’s great to have that. One of those standards that we’re setting for ourselves is looking after that to bring on other teams coming after us.”
Whilst the aforementioned McCormack is the first Armagh manager to avail of this facility, he was already familiar with McKeever Park after working alongside his predecessor Ronan Murphy as a coach for two years. He had a previous spell in charge of Wexford for the 2015 and 2016 seasons, and McCambridge was delighted that someone who understands the dynamic of the Orchard squad was assuming the reins from Murphy rather than someone that might be starting from scratch.
“It was great to have that continuity. We’ve had a good couple of years, we’ve definitely progressed. To just be able to build on that in this next year with Shane stepping up, it’s always good. You’re working on similar concepts and similar principles that we’ve been working on for the past few years. To just be able to push that on is always going to be a benefit.”
In the six TG4 All-Ireland senior football championships that followed their last appearance in Division 1 of the Lidl NFL in 2017, Armagh have managed to reach the knockout stages of the Brendan Martin Cup each time. Despite always being competitive, they have only managed to reach the semi-final of the competition on one occasion (2020).
McCambridge had noticed a major leap forward from league to championship in more recent times and feels when it comes to competing at Division 1 in 2024, Armagh will be able to reap the benefits when summer football comes around.
“Whenever it comes to championship, I think there’s a real step up. Obviously we’ve been playing senior for a good few years now, but you do notice the step up in standard from Division Two when you’re going up against Division One teams,” McCambridge added.
“It will definitely be of a benefit going into championship, playing those Division One teams week in and week out. Just getting up to that standard a bit quicker then.”