Ulster senior semi-final – Sunday, November 3, 1pm in Clonduff Park, Hilltown: Clonduff (Down) v Loughgiel (Antrim)
CONOR Higgins knew what he was getting himself into when he took over as Loughgiel senior manager at the start of the season.
For the previous couple of years, he had been part of the management team headed by Benny Dillon.
“People say there is pressure taking over a successful team. There is. But Ronan (McCloskey) and I knew what to expect. But you also can see how ambitious the girls are, the club is.
“So it can be very enjoyable as well,” says the electrical supervisor with H&J Martin.
Loughgeil cautious abut Clonduff threat but confident in their own ability, says gaffer Conor Higgins
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“I was a bit nervous in the county final when Dunloy scored those two goals early on.
“Aye, it was a slight worry. It wasn’t the start we wanted. But it was early in the game and we had plenty of time to recover.
“We didn’t panic, we stuck to the process we have worked out and we got ourselves back into the game.”
By half-time, the Shamrocks were just a point in arrears, 2-5 to 1-7, and perfectly poised to push through for their 11th successive county title.
Second-half goals from Róisín McCormick and Caitrín Dobbin sealed a 3-11 to 2-9 victory.
“That was only Caitrín’s second start for us all year,” said Higgins.
“She came back from the county and was injured for most of the summer and we were probably missing her movement and her finishing power in a few tight games.”
In fact, it has been a challenging year overall for the new management team as three of last year’s defensive unit haven’t been available – Charlene Campbell, Ciara Boyle and Úna McNaughton.
“No, we had to re-shape our defence and then we lost Mary McKillen to a cruciate injury. So there was a good bit of re-building to do. But other players have stepped up and done a great job.
“We are probably in a decent place at the moment with more players available than back in the summer.
“The three subs we used in the final, Megan McGarry, Katie McKillop and Ciara Laverty are all players who have been in the team before and are coming back in.
“That was also the only game that Marie Laverty didn’t get some game time in, another brilliant prospect coming through underage at the moment.”
Over the last few years, Loughgiel have played Clonduff and other Down sides in challenge games and Higgins knows the new Mourne county champions have plenty of potential.
“They have indeed. There is a number of very experienced players there who have been around a long time. We played them two years ago when both of us reached All-Ireland finals. We know they are good.
“But our policy then and now is to keep the focus on our own team, our own panel. We concentrate on ourselves and how we can improve our own game.
“To a certain extent, this is a game into the unknown for us. Any time you play outside your county it’s unknown territory because you are not as familiar with opponents as you would be with an Antrim club.
“It’s one thing to play them in a challenge game and quite another to face them for real in a championship game.”
Loughgiel travel down to Hilltown on Sunday hoping to continue a run that has seen them reach every provincial decider since they went on the unbroken run of 11 county titles in 2014.
“It will be another pressure day on the sideline but the management team will have done their best to ensure the work has been done in advance.
