Ladies football has certainly grown in stature over the last few years and television coverage and bigger sponsorship deals have placed a greater focus on the women's game. Emyvale GAA ladies club are one such success story that captures the imagination as they have risen like the proverbially phoenix from the ashes to become one of the top clubs in the country. The Monaghan side were unfortunate to lose out in the All-Ireland ladies intermediate football final last year when Eadestown of Kildare edged them out after a replay. However, the club had a remarkable run to the final, which captured the hearts and imagination of all concerned and they went on to garnish further success this year. In particular, their sponsors SDG Building Accessories were delighted with the girls' march to the final and proud of the success they had during the year. Company director Gary McDuffy revealed that a second year's sponsorship was never in doubt and that the partnership between the two would last for some time to come. "The girls performed heroics in reaching the All-Ireland final last year. Emyvale and Glaslough make up relatively small parishes and for the girls to reach a national final was just phenomenal," stressed the Monaghan native. Following an approach from the club early in 2006, SDG had no hesitation in sponsoring the ladies team for the coming year, but even Gary admits he was surprised by their attitude and dedication. "They (girls) put in as much effort and maybe even more than some mens' teams, there is no question about that. They are a very strong minded group of girls that have worked hard to achieve the success that they have done. "A lot of time and effort has been put in by many people to train the teams at underage level and the quality of footballers coming through is astounding. We are privileged to be their sponsors and had no qualms about doing it for a second year. "I suppose some might say we were lucky to sponsor the girls as in the first year of the sponsorship they reached an All-Ireland final, but it was certainly more to do with their hard work and determination." Football is bred through and through to both the men and women of Emyvale and they are very passionate about the game, so it is not surprising to learn of their deserved success. Gary has a proud memento of last year's All-Ireland final appearance and he admits that it is something that he will cherish for many years to come. "Before the final last year, I got all the girls to sign one of the jerseys and I have it hanging up in my office. It's a possession, I'm very proud to have." SDG may have its offices in Armagh, but the owners remain loyal to their native Monaghan, where Gary resides in Glaslough and his father Seamus who started the company and is still heavily involved in the day-to-day running lives in Emyvale. "We have followed Emyvale and Monaghan over the years. The sponsorship is more for the girls benefit as the company will not attract much work from it, but that is not the point. "Football in Monaghan is on a high at the moment following the county's senior team's exploits in the Ulster and All-Ireland championship and there is a general consensus among their supporters that success at National level can be once again achieved. "There have been a few former county footballers on the books here like Darren Swift and Anthony Treanor and I suppose that comes from our background in the GAA." SDG Building Accessories was founded in 1991 by Seamus. The company specialises in supplying a wide range of products and accessories to the building trade in both North and South Ireland. "We deal in specialised products for the building and construction industry and offer our customers all the top brand names in the business. "Our strong mix of product quality, rapid delivery, dependability and value pricing combined with total commitment to customer service has allowed us to build up an impressive client base ranging from one man outfits to blue chip construction companies as well as public bodies and Government departments. "SDG's belief has always been that our success would be directly proportionate to the manner in which we serve our clients' interests and the degree to which we meet individual needs. For this reason we have always listened to our customers and tailored our services to suit. We like to summarise our qualities to the 4Fs principle - Fast, Flexible, Focused and Friendly." Some of the products and accessories available at SDG include such notable brand names Perm-e-form, Jointstrip, Construction fixings, ABC Geosynthetics and Connolly Key Joint which cover areas such as waterproofing, formwork, reinforcement; concreting, drainage, pre-cast concrete, pre-stressing, accessories, joint-fillers and reward insulated concrete forms. Based at 21a Tullygoonigan Industrial Estate, Moy Road, SDG conducts most of its business north of the border and it has or is involved in such projects as Banbridge Retail Park, Monaghan bypass phase, Omega Water treatment works and the Westlink. "We are quite busy most of the year around and are currently involved in supplying accessories to many projects. SDG treats every customer the same, whether it be the big builder or just someone doing a private job, it's all the same to us." The company operates from a 25,000sq ft premise and with seventeen people employed all their customers enquiries will be dealt with swiftly and efficiently. "The business has grown considerably since being established sixteen years ago and fortunately it has continued to expand; although we have no intentions of increasing too big as we feel we would lose our identity with our loyal customers." SDG can draw many parallels with Emyvale ladies as both are willing to work hard and put in the necessary effort to achieve their goals and it will not be surprising if the partnership can reach Croke Park once again in the near future as both are winners in the future. Tweet

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