CHLOE McCaffrey would have preferred not to have missed out on Tyrone’s first Croke Park appearance of the year when the Red Hands appeared in the Division Two league final, but a broken ankle sustained in a league game against Donegal brought an abrupt end her own league campaign.
She had, however, more than played her part – 3-10 in five games - helping Tyrone to a top two finish, which along with a league final berth, also guaranteed them promotion to division one for next season.
The league final ended in defeat to Kildare and she also missed the Ulster championship, which was cut short after a semi-final loss to Monaghan.
The first All-Ireland group game against Leitrim, who will be their opponents in Sunday’s All-Ireland Intermediate Championship final (Croke Park, 1.45pm), came just too quickly for the Tyrone vice-captain, who watched from the sidelines as her side lost a third consecutive game and suddenly the pressure was on as each game from then was knockout football.
However, Tyrone and McCaffrey have bounced back and wins over Wicklow, Clare and Down see them on the verge of All-Ireland success. The St Macartan’s player came on as a sub in the win over Wicklow and has returned to the starting line-up against Clare and Down and in three games, or two and a quarter, has struck 2-11.
There is no doubt it has been a challenging few months for McCaffrey, who is one of seven that remain from the victorious 2018 All-Ireland intermediate winning team, but she is delighted to have the chance of silverware on Sunday.
“When I was looking on in the league final, sitting in a boot in the stand, it wasn’t great. But now I’m delighted to be back and getting to Croke Park in another final. It’ll be brilliant.”
It was definitely tough. You kind of felt like you’re on the outside, but obviously I was involved in other ways. But it was tough being in the changing rooms, not togging out, and seeing the girls run out on the pitch [Croke Park]. But look, we have got back there, so that’s in the past.”
So too, in the past, are those defeats to Monaghan and Leitrim, and with each game since it has been about looking forward and knowing that they need to be at their best if they are to make sure they do not slip up again against Leitrim.
“It was tough losing to Monaghan in Ulster, watching that game and just thinking could you make a difference. But it wasn’t to be, and definitely I am going to take every chance I can now in the final and hopefully I help get the girls over the line. It’s going to be no easy task against Leitrim.”
“We probably took Leitrim a wee bit for granted in that first game. They will definitely be up for this one. It’s going to be no walk over. At the end of the day, this is a final and we’re going out to win, and we don’t want to do anything other than that. We’ll treat Leitrim with a lot of respect, but we’ll be going out to win.”