by Kevin Egan
Three years after they first came to national prominence by winning the AIB All-Ireland Junior B Club Camogie Championship, Knockananna of Wicklow took another huge step up the chain when three second-half goals from full-forward Ciara Byrne was enough to avenge last year’s junior A semi-final defeat to eventual winners Granemore in this year’s decider, 3-11 to 012.
But as Byrne testified afterwards, this victory was more than three years in the making.
“This is the best feeling in the world, we’ve been working towards this for the last year, actually for the last ten years!” she declared.
“We all have grown up together. If we’re not playing camogie we’re playing football so we’re with each other most nights of the week. It’s like a family outside of our own families and it’s amazing to be part of it.”
Byrne admitted that “any All-Ireland final comes with nerves,” as she explained her side’s lacklustre start. Armagh county star Rachael Merry was to the fore for Granemore who burst out of the blocks scoring five of the first six points of the game, establishing a firm foothold for the reigning champions.
That was still the margin at half-time when the sides were tied at 0-9 to 0-5, when it was time for the newest member of the Knockananna “family” to step into the breach and calm his side’s nerves.
“It wasn’t hairdryer treatment, I just said to the girls that it was the worst performance we’d put in all year, and that we’re not finishing this game without leaving everything on the pitch,” said manager Gavin Weir, who only stepped into the role at in June, a first managerial role for the former county hurler.
“The message was, ‘Let’s bring it back to the basics, let’s get numbers in on the break, let’s work hard and let’s get whatever we can out of this. Let’s make sure that if we are to lose, that we go down fighting.’
“Standing there on the sideline, that was a strong wind,” he observed. “I think we were lucky to only be four points down at half-time, it was tit-for-tat for a long time and then we just finished it off”.
Finished it off, indeed.
Knockananna goalkeeper Kelli Byrne had to make one excellent save to deny Ciara Hill a goal early in the second half but Ciara Byrne found the net soon after, capitalising on good work from Áine Darcy.
All bar one of Granemore’s points were scored by the midway stage of the second half and while they did lead at that juncture, they were undone by a blitzkrieg finish from the Leinster champions, starting with Byrne’s second goal on 52 minutes, scored from a penalty.
Merry replied with a free to level, but Knockananna surged over the finish line with Byrne raising a third green flag and Laura McGrath picking off two points for the eventual winners.
“The girls were training themselves for a few weeks after the league and then they approached me, and it just so happened that we could come to an agreement on what way to work it,” said Weir of his new role.
“Once we got going, everything just fell into place. The girls were brilliant and I’m just delighted for them. From one to 15, the three subs, the other girls on the panel who didn’t get a run today, right from the start we said that our target was to win this All-Ireland, and they committed to that from the first training session, always believing in it,” he beamed.
#TheToughest
