AFTER YEARS OF hurt and heartbreak, Emyvale are Monaghan ladies senior club football champions for the very first time.
Donaghmoyne had reigned supreme in the Farney county for 21 consecutive years. Emyvale lost 10 of those finals, while there were other semi-final defeats in the 15-year period they have competed in the senior ranks.
On Sunday, the North Monaghan club finally got their hands on the Pauline Devlin Cup after beating Magheracloone, who had sensationally dethroned Donaghmoyne.
Always the bridesmaid, now the bride.
History, at last.
“I still don’t think it really has sunk in,” Emyvale captain Eimear McAnespie tells The 42.
“We went up to senior in 2009 and have been runners-up 10 times. It just shows the resilience in us girls. We’ve kept fighting, we’ve kept coming back year after year. There’s been so many [people] that have said, ‘How did you keep doing it?’ We knew that we had it in us.
“It was just pure hard work. There were girls that had babies at the start of this year, and were playing on Sunday — that just goes to show how much it meant to us. Years of heartbreak, but thankfully we got over the line.
“It’s just absolutely insane. Up there with the best day of my life, definitely. After those 10 runners-up [finishes], it’s all worth it now.”
The end of Donaghmoyne’s 22-in-a-row bid sent shockwaves around the county. McAnespie was following the semi-final score updates on X, ahead of their own clash with Emmet Óg the next day, and it all “felt surreal”.
Emyvale sensed an opportunity, but they knew they had two big hurdles to clear first.
“Whenever we heard Magheracloone won, I think everyone in the whole community was just like, ‘God, there’s going to be new champions for the first time ever in 21 years,’” McAnespie says.
“Donaghmoyne, as I said in my speech on Sunday, they’re the kingpins of ladies football, setting the benchmark for young and old across Monaghan, Ulster and Ireland. Their 21 years of success will forever go down in history. It’s amazing and no doubt Donaghmoyne’s gonna be back again. They’re a fantastic team.”
So too are Magheracloone, she says. Emyvale ran out 5-12 to 1-6 winners at St Tiernach’s Park in Clones, but McAnespie insists the scoreline didn’t reflect the game.
The aftermath was special. The McAnespie family are stepped in the club, and Monaghan football in general. Eimear’s twin sisters, former inter-county stars Ciara and Aoife, were also playing. Their mother is three-time All-Star and ‘Laochra Gael’ Brenda, while their brother, Ryan, has also represented the Farney county.
One lovely moment was captured, as their 87-year-old grandfather, Brendan Mohan, embraced Eimear before she lifted the cup.
“I think I’ve looked at that photo about 100 times! They went to present me with the trophy, and I just caught my Granda with the corner of my eye. He was absolutely buzzing.
“It’s days like that that we do it for. They’ve been around for so long, and he hasn’t seen any of us lift that trophy.
“It’s amazing doing it with a group of girls, but having your two sisters beside you makes it that little extra bit special. Actually a few years ago all five of us [sisters] and Mammy were playing!”
Brenda had a spectator role on this occasion, and cheered them on all the way. “Oh my goodness, she was in her element. I’m so happy to know I’ve done it for her. She’s been there from the very start as well, and hasn’t done it so just absolutely delighted.
“Herself and Dad are our number one supporters. They’re at every match, obviously our number one critics as well! After games, we’d all call into the home house and hear the whole run-through of the game. They were so, so proud after Sunday’s game, and they just thought it was an absolutely excellent performance all over.”
The celebrations ran long into the night — and the early parts of the week, in the village — but the focus is returning to football. Kieran Campbell and Darren Swift’s side face Donaghmoyne in a league semi-final this weekend. Who else?
Their Ulster opener against defending champions Clann Éireann of Armagh follows thereafter.
“We won the reserve league at the start of the year, now we’ve won the senior championship, so we will definitely push on. It’d be amazing to win all three,” McAnespie concludes.
“We just can’t wait to keep pushing on and hopefully do Monaghan proud in Ulster too.”
