AFTER missing out on club championship football for the last three years, Mullahoran’s Aishling Sheridan could not have asked for a better return.
The former AFLW player with Collingwood decided not to return to Australia for the 2024 season, to remain closer to family, giving herself the chance to play club championship football – the AFLW season clashed with the club championship season at home – and it has certainly yielded results beyond her wildest dreams.
After clinching the Cavan intermediate county title, they blazed a trail in Ulster, proving much too strong for their opposition along the way, including a final win over Carrickmacross two weeks ago.
Now on the All-Ireland path, they will face Leinster champions Bennekerry/Tinryland from Carlow tomorrow in Kingspan Breffni Park (1pm).
“I’m really enjoying football at the moment,” said Sheridan, who admits that while she is missing her Collingwood team-mates and friends Down Under, she is not missing the sport.
“It’s probably the first time in a long time I’ve been able to focus on it [club football] solely for longer than a few months which I’m enjoying. It’s just nice to get back playing with girls I’ve grown up with, coached and my family.”
Indeed, as well as playing alongside her sisters – Mona and Geraldine – Sheridan is also playing alongside girls she coached at underage level, and sharing county and Ulster success them, has been special.
“I don’t think words can explain it. There’s just something special about winning with your club team, I’ve seen so many of these girls grow up and coached them at under 12 with my sisters and now we’re winning together. We’re all very close and I think that helps too; it’s a memory I’ll never forget and always be grateful for.”
It was a relief, more than anything, to win the Cavan championship, because of pressure from within to get back to senior level after a few years in the middle grade.
After that victory over Knockbride in the final, the pressure lifted, and they have taken everything in their stride so far and look like a team who will be hard to beat.
While thoughts do naturally drift to potential All-Ireland titles, it is important not to stray too far off the path in front.
“I think with regards the Cavan championship, there was a lot of pressure, probably more so internal pressure we put on ourselves,’’
‘‘Once we got into Ulster, we just focused on one game at a time, and everything was a bonus for us as it was one step further than a lot of us have reached with our club.
“Now that we have gotten over Ulster too, it’s hard not to think what could be, especially when you’re so close to a final. But we just want to stay focused and take one game at a time as anything can happen in an All-Ireland series.”
