Athleague 'honoured' to be in All-Ireland final
Athleague manager Liam Gordon gives direction to his team from the sideline at Moneygall GAA club. Pictures: Eugene McCaffrey
Athleague did everything right in their All-Ireland semi-final against St. Joseph's Doora-Barefield.
They got the basics down to a tee, battling hard, creating and taking scores and showing incredible desire to push themselves over the line on Sunday afternoon. They did so despite near-freezing temperatures and arguably facing a favoured opposition. Manager Liam Gordon highlighted a core focus of his group, taking one game at a time.
“We focus on one game at a time. We’ve done that since the start of the year. Our main goal was to get back to the county final, to get over that and drive on from there and thankfully we’re preparing for an All-Ireland final”, he smiled.
In response to a question on what it means, Gordon’s delight was clear.
“Thrilled with the performance. They worked awful hard. On a day like today, with the fog coming down, goals win games, and we knew that if we got one or two we’d be there or thereabouts. Thankfully we got the goals, and they didn’t, so it was down to workrate and getting the goals when we needed.”
Preparation is key to any game, especially against unfamiliar opposition, but Gordon’s team did their homework.
“We were lucky enough, we had seen them last week when they got over Monaleen. We had seen their strong players and knew their strong points so it was just about trying to nullify them as best we could and in fairness the girls stepped up to the mark. Also, we really try to focus on our own game. Trying to implement our good habits and force the play as much as we can and thankfully that worked”, he explained.
Gordon also alluded to an exciting but busy fortnight’s preparation ahead with Laura Fleming’s wedding the day before the big game. Gordon says they will “plan as they go”, not sounding too worried but, clearly, proud of his team.
Echoing their manager’s joy, joint-captains Rachel Fitzmaurice and Chloe Whyte Lennon reacted to their side's 2-6 to 0-9 victory.
“It’s unbelievable, we can’t put words into it at all. We’ve been working so hard, even over the past few years trying to get past the All-Ireland semis. Two or three years ago, we couldn’t get past it up in Donegal I think it was and we just had to do it this year. Some girls came back that were nearly in retirement, and we had to put it together and just fight hard and go for it”, highlighted Fitzmaurice, just after another fine display from centre-forward.
Joint-captain Lennon said that “words can’t describe it. You’re training in the cold, but we won’t be complaining about training in the cold anymore. We’ll be looking forward to it. As Fitzy said, we’ve been knocking on the door of All-Ireland semi-finals for a while and this year it’s being played in Croke Park so it’s a great achievement and a great honour to be able to represent not alone our club but our county in an All-Ireland final”, Whyte Lennon highlighting the magnitude of their achievement.
Athleague are well worth their place in the All-Ireland final after vanquishing a strong St. Joseph’s Doora-Barefield. They don’t seem fazed by the prospect of another big final. Rather they are already chomping at the bit to prepare for a huge occasion in the club’s history.
“”, Fitzmaurice vowed, remaining focussed on the job at hand.
This All-Ireland will be fiercely fought, but Athleague are clearly up for it and ready for the challenge.
