McNaughton hopes Saffs win to avoid nuptial dilemma
Article excerpt
Antrim camogie captain Lucia McNaughton faces an unusual scheduling conflict: a potential All-Ireland Intermediate Championship quarter-final would collide with her wedding day. McNaughton's team plays Kerry on Saturday in round two, with a win potentially altering the tournament timeline enough to sidestep the clash. The situation highlights the tight scheduling challenges facing Irish sports fixtures and athletes juggling personal milestones with competitive obligations.
Antrim camogie captain Lucia McNaughton hopes her side can overcome Kerry in round two of the All-Ireland Intermediate Championship on Saturday (15:30 BST) to avoid a quarter-final tie that would clash with her wedding.
McNaughton is due to tie the knot with St John's hurler and fiance Conal Morgan on Saturday, 4 July, the same day as a potential quarter-final for the Saffrons.
After a comfortable victory over Derry in round one, a second win in the group would almost certainly guarantee Antrim's place in the last four of the competition.
McNaughton said that taking the more direct route has always been Antrim's aim, but she now has a bit of extra motivation to ensure they make it straight through to the semi-finals.
"I am trying not to think about what might happen if Antrim had to go the quarter-final route," said the Loughgiel stalwart.
"Our focus as a team is always on putting into operation a gameplan that will get us through to winning each game.
"If you go back to the start of the year, our goal for this competition was to top the group and get into a semi-final. That would be the direct route. Our preparation for the actual game won't really have changed because there is a wedding in the middle of that.
"[Kerry] are a formidable outfit and we will have to work very hard to beat them. Hopefully it all works out for us."
Making it through to the semi-finals would also have implications for McNaughton's potential honeymoon plans, which the centre-forward admits have been shelved for now.
"There are no plans yet for the honeymoon. We will just have to look at things and figure that out a little closer to the time," she added.
"I think those of us who commit to camogie or hurling, or any sport indeed, are used to the idea of booking last-minute holidays and working around key fixtures."