Ballygalget retain National Feile title

13 June 2018

AFTER success at National Féile last year, winning the All-Ireland Division 2 Shield title, Ballygalget U-14 camogie team were not content to rest on their laurels, setting their sights firmly on improving upon that success and aiming to come back the following year to win the Division 2 Cup title.

This unbelievable dream came true on Sunday when the girls topped their group stages and powered through the finals stages, to win the Division 2 Féile All- Ireland Cup in a flourish of skill and determination.

The year so far has shown the girls tower above all other teams in the Down League, leading the team to enter the Antrim League in a bid to extend through more challenging games. The Down Féile saw the girls win outright for the third year running and this year, not concede a single score throughout the entire competition.

The girls are certainly a formidable force within our county, but nothing is certain when you enter national level competitions. So, heading off last Friday to Eyrecourt in Galway at the weekend, there was a tangible sense of excitement and anxiety, as no one knew what lay ahead.

As we left the sunny climes of the Ards Peninsula, we had no idea of the torrential Atlantic Coast rain that we were soon to encounter — all suitcases packed with shorts, t-shirts and Factor 50, we would have been more suited to wellies, waterproofs and umbrellas. Thankfully, the matches were held up on the Friday night, and the rain eventually eased, giving groundsmen time to scoop the puddles off the pitch.

Our Féile campaign kicked off with a match against St Thomas’, Galway. The girls eased their way in to the swing of things and had a convincing win of 6-5 to 1-1. Match two was an entirely different experience. In a repeat of year’s shield final against Na Fianna from Meath, the girls were awakened and challenged in a physical and skilful game.

Excitement was building along the sideline with spectators loudly cheering the girls on, encouraging them towards a win. The girls battled hard to come out victorious, though exhaustion was evident as the final whistle blew just before 10pm and the girls had left home more than 12 hours earlier.

The host Club, Eyrecourt, took exceptionally good care of our girls, and after a restful night, the girls encountered their new friends as opponents when we met for our own game. This was a very enjoyable game, where the girls secured a place in the quarter-final stage with a score line of 5-3 to 2-0.

Saturday afternoon meant a move of pitch to Portumna. As we arrived we managed to catch the second half of the Ballycastle v Naas quarter-final, and brows began to furrow as we could see the high standard of what lay ahead in a semi-final, if we were to win our own quarter-final.

There were nerves along the sidelines with spectators anxiously waiting in the sun, which had decided to arrive in spectacular style, just before our throw-in, but the girls and their managers had unwavering faith and the girls proved their managers right when they delivered a 6-4 to 2-3 result against Myshall, Carlow. All eyes were now set on a Birr v Ballygalget semi-final on Sunday morning.

Again, the host club provided entertainment for our girls and the new found friends set off to a disco in the local parish hall. An early bed-time was necessary as an early start loomed for Sunday morning.

Sunday morning saw a convoy of Ballygalget cars head off on the 90 minute journey to the Connacht Centre of Excellence in Mayo. The only stop off was to Tooreen, where our boys were playing their semi-final against Castletown Geoghan.

Many of our families’ hearts were torn as they had a son competing in one semi-final and a daughter in another. Thankfully, the two pitches were 15 minutes apart, so some parents were able to watch some of each match, and we decided to go live on our club Facebook page, in a bid to help those who missed out on either game.

The girls had no knowledge of the Birr team they were about to face, so set out to grasp the early score and quick thinking and clinical precision got us off the scoring blocks first. Birr had no intention of letting us take the lead without a fight, and they battled hard to reign us in, but they couldn’t match us and we emerged victorious with a score-line of 3-3 to 1-1. That was it — the final was next.

An all Ulster Division 2 Cup final would take place three hours later against Ballycastle, as local a derby as could be experienced in a national competition.

Nerves were wrecked amongst the parents on the sidelines, but again the girls remained composed and focussed on the demands ahead. Ballycastle were rocked when we scored 1-1 within the first 90 seconds, though they never eased the throttle and kept on our heels for the entire first half, and we went in at half-time with a minimal lead 1-1 to 0-2.

In a game of two halves, the second half saw Ballygalget take off in a higher gear and Ballycastle just couldn’t reply. The girls popped over point after point and sent in goal after goal. The whistle blew on a scoreline of 5-5 to 0-4, crowning our girls Division 2 All-Ireland Cup winners for 2018.

Winning an All-Ireland title two years running is no mean feat and all at Ballygalget are thrilled with what our girls have achieved. They represented themselves, their families, their club and their county with composure and skill and we couldn’t be prouder.

We hope our winning streak continues as Ciara Fitzsimmons represents the County in the All-Ireland skills in Abbotstown in two weeks time.

We would like to thank our club committee, our parents and our wider parish community for the support given with our fundraising efforts. We would also like to thank our official sponsors for sponsoring the girls’ fabulous new gear.

Thanks also to additional benefactors David Jamshidi, Martin Fay, Martin McClure, Fiona Gilmore and Bernard McGrattan. Thanks also to our Host club Eyrecourt who were exceptional hosts and we hope our girls will remain in contact with their new friends for years to come.

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