Issue link: http://digitaleditions.uberflip.com/i/1365376
www.ladiesgaelic.ie | SPRING 2021 | 27 INTERVIEW Devenish St Mary's club stalwart Teresa Feely took her under her wing. "There hasn't been a year since I started where she hasn't been a manager or I haven't played for her (at club level)," Maguire explains. "She's been like a mother figure." A chartered accountant with Gerard O'Brien accountants, Aisling is mainly based in the Belleek office, while there's another office in Derrylin. She's there five years now, and currently studying, too, for chartered tax advisor exams. Maguire's is a brain that's constantly ticking over. She's always had a head for numbers and on the field of play, she's worn various ones on her back. "SO MANY GIRLS ON THE TEAM HAD GREAT PERFORMANCES, NOT ONLY IN THE FINAL, BUT ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE CHAMPIONSHIP. " And at full-time, it was Maguire who was summoned to the far side of the pitch to fulfil TV duties and pick up a coveted piece of crystal. "It was a very nice accolade to get," 27-year-old Maguire concedes. "So many girls on the team had great performances, not only in the final, but all the way through the championship. "From that aspect, maybe there were people more deserving of it," she adds, modestly. When Wicklow and Fermanagh met in the group stages of the Championship, Maguire was self-isolating, having been deemed a close Covid-19 contact. She tested negative, and was back for the crucial victory over Carlow that sent Fermanagh through to the All-Ireland semi-finals. Fermanagh then beat Limerick to set up a Final clash with Wicklow, where the demons of the 2019 Final defeat to Louth were exorcised. "We went for a meal in Clones, the Creighton (Hotel)," Maguire recalls. "I live in Belleek, the Donegal border, and Clones for us would be an hour and a half away. "When we got back to Clones, there were parents and a couple of supporters there to welcome us back, and the county board. "We went for the meal and stayed there for an hour, hour and a half after that. "That's how it had to be at the time. It was different in a lot of senses. We were in the All-Ireland the year before and the build-up was totally different, but the end this time was totally different, Below Right: Fermanagh captain Courteney Murphy lifts the cup after the TG4 All-Ireland Junior Final 2020. Bottom Left: Fermanagh players warm-up before the TG4 All-Ireland Junior Ladies Football Championship Final. A wing-back now converted to wing-forward on the county team, Maguire agrees with the observation that she's an effective link player who's not afraid of hard graft. Eimear Smyth scored 1-5 in the All-Ireland Final, including a crucial second half goal, before being honoured with the 2020 TG4 Junior Players' Player of the Year award for a second successive Championship season. But she wasn't the All-Ireland Final Player of the Match – that individual accolade went to Maguire, who covered so much ground at Parnell Park. With just 20 seconds on the watch, it was Maguire's pass that set up Róisín McDonald for a crucial goal.

