MATHERS STILL WANTS MORE IN BIG YEAR

MATHERS STILL WANTS MORE IN BIG YEAR

Richard Bullick

This has been by far the most successful year of her career to date for Armagh goalkeeper Brianna Mathers already but the young Camlough woman will be hoping the best is yet to come both on and off the pitch after the clocks change.

Shortlisted for a national All Star on the back of her superb performances for Armagh this season, Mathers can look forward to the Dublin banquet on November 14 but is aiming to make more history with her club Shane O’Neills before then.

Having helped Armagh claim the Ulster title earlier in the year, Mathers has her sights set on doubling up with Shanes, who don’t want the greatest season in their history to end for another few weeks yet.

Hard on the heels of being crowned Orchard champions for the first time ever, Shanes host Derry counterparts Steelstown this Sunday (2pm) knowing a convincing victory should be enough to take them through to the Ulster Senior Club semis.

A slightly surprising 1-19 to 3-10 defeat away to Cavan champions Knockbride at the weekend means Sean O’Kane’s side’s last four qualification fate is no longer in their own hands, though they have a strong chance.

Ulster LGFA have introduced a new format for the Ulster Senior Club Championship this season, with the traditional knockout system being replaced by three groups of three, with the three table toppers and best runner-up making the last four.

By following up their 1-11 to 0-8 victory over Steelstown by beating Shanes, surprise package Knockbride are already assured of finishing first in Group Three, while resurgent Monaghan standard-bearers Donaghmoyne have won Group One.

Donaghmoyne defeated Down club Bredagh 2-16 to 0-7 before beating Tyrone representatives Errigal Ciaran 4-11 to 0-8, leaving both those teams with a scoring difference of minus 15 ahead of their clash this Sunday.

Antrim’s Moneyglass, the current title holders after ending Clann Eireann’s bid for three provincial crowns in a row, will be expected to top Group Two by following up their opening 5-16 to 0-8 win over Donegal’s St Eunan’s by beating Kinawley of Fermanagh.

St Eunan’s overcame Kinawley 3-12 to 2-13 in round two but their scoring difference is minus 21 thanks to that thrashing from Moneyglass, so they are effectively out of the running for best runner-up.

Shanes only lost narrowly at Knockbride, so even a one-point victory over Steelstown would take them through unless either Bredagh or Errigal Ciaran beat each other by more than 13 points, and of course O’Kane’s team can help themselves by winning well.

When they won their Armagh Junior and Intermediate titles back in 2013 and a decade ago respectively, Shanes went on to win the provincial competition at both grades and no doubt will be hoping to complete the hat-trick this autumn.

Their fab four of outfield players remains the same now as for that breakthrough triumph 13 years ago, when inspirational skipper Louise Kenny, star sisters Aimee and Blaithin Mackin and the accomplished Moya Feehan were all in their mid-teens.

Kenny is still captain, the Mackins have gone on to become superstars and Feehan remains an influential figure, but Mathers, who was too young to feature in those previous successes, must now be regarded as part of a big five for Shanes.

She showcased her superb shot-stopping for Armagh all season, starting all but one Ulster Senior Championship dead rubber of the Orchard outfit’s 14 fixtures as they retained their NFL Division One status and reached the All Ireland semis.

Hitherto, Mathers had to bide her time in the considerable shadow of Anna Carr, who was allocated the No 1 jersey in the Ulster All Stars line-up for each of the first six seasons since the concept’s inception.

However, when Carrickcruppen’s Carr opted out of Orchard duty ahead of this season, previous understudy Mathers stepped up superbly and last month’s Armagh semi gave credence to the notion that the country’s top two keepers come from the same village.

Despite Carr’s remarkable heroics in the Cruppen net, Shanes eased into their first ever Armagh Senior Championship showpiece and inflicted a second consecutive county final defeat on Crossmaglen with an impressive 2-18 to 0-10 victory.

The foundations for the win were laid in a close opening period during which Shanes withstood the sinbinning of midfielder Blaithin Mackin, whose older sister Aimee finished the final with a huge haul of 1-12.

“I was only 14 when the girls won the Intermediate title so wasn’t on the panel then, so this is my first Championship medal with Shanes as well as being the club’s first-ever Senior final and to win it is great,” enthused Brianna in an interview with the LGFA.

“I suppose whenever Blaithin went off for the 10 minutes, we were probably just conscious of keeping in the game and we did.  I think Cross only ever really got level with us and, once she came back on, we really all pushed as a team, and kept playing until the final whistle.

“This is probably the first year in about five or six that we’ve had a full panel, due to injuries and some girls having commitments elsewhere.  At the start of the year, we gathered ourselves up and said ‘this is definitely our year’.  We took our chance and it worked.”

With Dromintee not fielding that season, Shanes benefited from having three extra county players guesting for them in that Intermediate run a decade ago – Aoife McCoy, Shauna Grey and Armagh’s regular goalkeeper pre-Carr, Katie Daly.

However, young Mathers made herself useful for a team managed by Peter Lynch and Caoibhe Sloan, as they made it all the way to the second tier All Ireland decider in Dublin at the start of December.

“I was water-girl for the Ulster and then that All Ireland final at Parnell Park.  They were unfortunate that day (being beaten by Galway opposition).  I think all any player wants is to win a county championship with their club.  To be able to have done that is great.

Back then though, Mathers wasn’t aspiring to follow in Daly’s goalkeeping footsteps, being more used to lining out in the forwards and, like Carr for Cruppen, she has dabbled with playing up front for her club again more recently.

Shanes had a lean time last season but now, with the band back together, Mathers has been back in nets for Shanes, not just keeping out opposition shots but launching the attacks with her reliable kickouts.

“I played forward right up until my mid-teens.  Then I was put in goals at 16.  To be honest, I didn’t really like it at the start,” admits Mathers, though the move helped her progress to the senior county panel a few years later.

“The last two championship campaigns, I actually played full forward for Shanes but this year I wanted to be back in nets and see how it went.  It worked out well because you’d the two Mackins coming back in.  They didn’t need me outfield!” she chuckles.

Many observers were shocked that Mathers didn’t succeed Carr as the Ulster All Stars goalkeeper this season, but being nominated for a national All Star acknowledges what an excellent campaign she had as Armagh’s last line of defence.

“This was my first full year starting with Armagh.  We had a good season until that tough day out against Galway in the All Ireland semi.  Especially after just my first year being in, to get recognised is nice and to feel that the hard work is paying off.”

But before she heads to the Dublin ball along with her clubmates the Mackin sisters, the trio have their sights set on Ulster glory with Shanes, and Brianna admitted ahead of the Kilbride clash that she was looking forward to the provincial campaign.

“It’s great.  I’ve never played in an Ulster Club campaign.  It’s really exciting because you don’t know what to expect, but you’re playing the best of the best.  You know it’s going to be good quality games,” she enthused.

Meanwhile, Armagh Junior champions Middletown’s first outing at provincial level saw them lose 4-8 to 1-12 at home to Ederney on Saturday, but Mullabrack beat Aghadrumsee, also of Fermanagh, in the Ulster Intermediate quarter-final on a 1-12 to 0-10 scoreline.