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Armagh club side eyes All-Ireland after Ulster success

Mags Carvill pictured with a younger Niamh Coleman 23 years ago on a club trip to Florida
Mags Carvill pictured with a younger Niamh Coleman 23 years ago on a club trip to Florida

Twenty-three years ago, Clann Éireann player Mags Carvill posed for a photograph with a young fan and told her parents she hoped that one day they would win an Ulster title together.

Nine days ago they did just that.

The photograph was taken during a club trip to Florida in 2000.

The young girl, Niamh Coleman, scored the only goal of the game following a pass from her sister Dearbhla when they beat south Belfast-based Co Down side Bredagh 1-10 to 0-8 in the Ulster Senior Club Championship Final in Omagh.

They became the first Co Armagh ladies' side to win Ulster.

Mags Carvill has now won 12 senior Armagh titles, and is glad she postponed retirement for a year.

Mags Carvill and Niamh Coleman pictured 23 years on

"The photograph was taken in Florida when Clann Éireann went on a trip to a sevens tournament. I was playing and Niamh was my biggest supporter, she was only two at the time," she says.

"I'm just delighted that I stayed on for an extra year just to recreate the picture and make history."

It's a photograph that Niamh Coleman treasures.

"I was actually asked last year to choose a photo that inspired me and that's the photo that I chose as my inspiration," she says as the pair prepared for a training session ahead of this Sunday's All-Ireland semi-final against Ballymacarbry of Waterford.

"On and off the pitch Mags has always been someone who I looked up to."

Both players hope their story can help inspire the next generation.

"It's amazing to look back on. I always went to watch my mum play alongside Mags, I don't think she'd be too happy at me saying that giving away her age," says Niamh.

"But it's just amazing, it inspires me to push on for as long as I can and hopefully some of the younger girls pushing through maybe one day I could recreate a photo like that and I'll be in Mags' position."

The Lurgan club has dedicated the victory to the memory of the late Marie Hoye, who was one of the founders of the women's team.

Marie Hoye was one of the founders of the club's women's team

A victory parade on the night of the win passed her home on the way to the club.

But celebrations were short-lived as attention turned to the ladies' sides first Senior All-Ireland Club semi-final.

Standing in their way of the final in Croke Park is the oldest and most successful club in ladies football, Ballymacarbry from Co Waterford, who have lifted the Dolores Tyrrell Memorial Cup 10 times.

Clann Éireann has home advantage for the game and Mags Carvill hopes to end her career on a high.

"I definitely hope I'll be able to sign off in style," she says.

"We have a great side here, a great manager and a great mix of experience and youth and superstars of the future and Niamh is one of them. She's always a player that I have backed that she's going to make it to the top and I think now she is at the top level.

"We believe in ourselves and believe we can go all the way. Hopefully we can."