'It would take a lot to break us’

Looking at footage of the Roscommon players receiving their LGFA Intermediate All-Stars in Croke Park on Friday evening, it was hard not to be tickled by the reality that two of them — Aisling Feely and Áine Connaughton — would end up marking each other less than 24 hours later in a county final.

Presumably, the craic was only 90 between Feely, her Boyle team-mate Saoirse Wynne — who was also one of the six Roscommon recipients — and Connaughton, who had kept tabs on Fermanagh’s marquee forward, Eimear Smyth, in August’s All-Ireland final at GAA headquarters.

Feely subsequently produced a Player of the Match performance with 0-8, spearheading her side’s charge towards Boyle’s second senior crown, but she was quick to acknowledge her Roscommon team-mate during the after-match celebrations in Ballyleague.

“For me, Áine is the best full-back, definitely at intermediate level, probably in the country. She’s absolutely amazing. The minute we knew that we were playing Clann, I knew that I’d be marking Áine. I had two weeks to prepare mentally for that.

“I marked her all year at county. I know how good, and how sticky, she is. But I also know my own strengths, and how I could use them to give her a tough time.

“But I’ve nothing but good things to say about Áine. She’s an absolutely amazing defender. In the first few minutes, she blocked me down in the corner. That’s just Áine, she puts her body on the line for every single ball,” she highlighted.

The overall picture, however, painted a picture of maroon and white relief, decorated with satisfaction — that a group of players kept their word to become champions once again after 2023.

“Winning the first one was just amazing, but it probably made us a bit naïve that we’d get back to finals more regularly. The following two years were really disappointing. This year, I guess we just took it one game at a time. We weren’t looking too far ahead. We just wanted to build on every single performance.

“This has been a long time coming for us. We’re only senior four years, but the last two years haven't gone the way we would have liked. Last year, we got the guts of the team that won it in 2023 back, but we were probably looking too far ahead, and Brigid’s gave us a lesson in that semi-final.

“That scoreline didn’t flatter them in terms of how much better they were. We came away from that game knowing that we needed to get to that level if we wanted to win a county final. So, this is so special because they don’t come around very often.

“We didn’t have it all our own way today. Clann made it so hard for us. But it’s just so sweet to be back at the top.

“Ladies’ football in Roscommon is in such a healthy place. There are so many teams that can compete and have an amazing championship, like Éire Óg and Dominic’s knocking out Brigid’s.

“It really was anyone’s championship. But I’m just so happy, just to see what it means to everyone in Boyle.” 

Feely felt that her side played poorly in the opening half before banking on their pre-match lowdown of the breeze coming in off Lough Ree to get the job done.

“We were probably second to every breaking ball (in the first half). We weren’t testing their ‘keeper as much as we should have. We didn’t attack their kickouts as much as we had planned.

“We knew that the breeze was substantial, but it wasn’t going to win us the game. We trained up here last week to get a feel for the wind, and it definitely helped. We knew that we were in a good position, but we also knew that more was needed,” she explained.

Ultimately, in Feely’s eyes, Boyle’s victory came down to the positivity forged among a group of players that would do anything for each other.

“We’re just such a positive team. Communication is a big thing. No one gets given out to for taking a bad shot. It’s always the next ball.

“It was a tough two years. If you were in another team environment, that might turn a bit toxic, girls might walk away. But we’ve stuck together.

“When you have the likes of Róisín and Saoirse Wynne leading the team, they don’t have a bad bone in their body. They’re obviously killers on the pitch, but they’re the nicest girls off it. When you have girls like that on your team, it would take a lot to break us because we’re just so positive,” she concluded.

In Boyle’s case, the proof was most certainly in the pudding.