Sister act: Sandra and siblings play their part in victory
Super St Munna’s are now preparing for an All-Ireland final clash with Crossmaglen Rangers of Armagh, following Saturday’s victory over Croydon, London, at the GAA’s National Development Centre in Abbotstown.
Sandra McGrath said Saturday’s victory was a proud moment for all in St Munna’s and that the team had regrouped impressively following the disappointment of 2022.
“It’s a brilliant victory for our club. When you look back on last year, we got relegated from the league and championship and we were hugely disappointed to drop down to junior for the first time ever. It did us the world of good. They say that it helps our teams and it definitely helped us out. We have built up a huge panel of young girls and it has been a really enjoyable year.
“To get to an All-Ireland final before Christmas is just special,” she remarked.
The previous week, St Munna’s won their first ever Leinster junior title when they overcame Arklow, but there was not much time to enjoy that success.
“Last weekend’s celebrations were tame enough knowing we had this game, and we didn’t know too much on Croydon. We looked at video footage from other games and I actually went to college with one of the girls, Aisling Sheehan, the goalie: I played with her for four years. We did a bit of work on their puck-outs. I was really good friends with her in college,” she said.
Sandra, who is one of five sisters on the St Munna’s side, felt the first half goals gave her side the platform to press on.
“You just don’t know what teams are going to be like. I think it took us a while to settle, maybe the first 10 minutes. But I feel the goals definitely helped and we settled all over the pitch. Bridget Leavy produced a lovely save before half-time and it was solid from one to 15, and all the subs who came on worked extremely hard also,” she observed.
Sandra notched 2-10 in total and felt the two goals played a significant part on the day. The wintry conditions provided their share of challenges.
“The first goal was lucky; it wasn’t intended, but it went in! The second goal came from good link-up play. There was a nice ball in and the surface out there really helped, it was like a carpet. There were a few falls towards the end and I’m not sure if it was getting a bit icy,” she noted.
It’s now on to the All-Ireland final against Crossmaglen Rangers of Armagh on Saturday week, a big occasion for the club, but one that will command total focus Sandra feels. The Armagh side won their semi-final by 7-12 to 1-3 against Roscommon Gaels.
“They are going to provide a huge battle. We know, an Armagh team - they are not going to make it easy at all. We just have to do the homework and just put the heads down. We have to enjoy the journey as well, these finals don’t come around too often. And certainly not at my stage in my playing career. So we will try and enjoy every bit of it,” she added.