St Brigid’s winning their first senior title since they won their eighth in ten attempts in 2014, St Barry’s delivering on their immense underage promise to go up to senior, and Northern Harps winning their first ever adult title at the end of a rollercoaster 80-minute final against St Mary’s; under normal circumstances, nothing that would happen in the Junior B and Junior C ranks could possibly compete with these storylines for the public’s attention.
These were not normal circumstances however, as Friday night’s Junior B Final in Kilbride was a truly special occasion, with roughly 1,000 fans in attendance to take in the showdown between St Michael’s/St Ronan’s and the home club, represented by ‘Rocky’s Rebels’.
The Kilbride side, drawing heavily on players who featured alongside former club captain Rochelle ‘Rocky’ Mullaney during their run of five SFC titles in a row from 2016 to 2020, started the year as a social group, drawn together to honour their friend, who passed away in July of 2024.
However as the year progressed, muscle memory kicked in and it was an array of former stars who gave them a strong foothold in last Friday’s final.
Sandra Shanagher, who refereed the 2024 county senior final and whose daughter Aisling captains Kilbride’s first team, lined out in goal and her connections with another veteran, midfielder Bernie Donnelly, gave Kilbride a solid platform of possession.
Roughly 20 years after they all emerged onto the adult scene in Kilbride together, Corina Gormley anchored the team at centre-back. Siobhán Martin (née Tully) put in a tireless display at centre-forward to create a series of opportunities, including a first-half penalty goal from Clodagh Spellman, and Sinéad Clabby led the line with authority, scoring a goal that put them six points up with less than ten minutes to play.
All good, except St Michael’s/St Ronan’s had their own fairytale they wanted to write. Clodagh Daly scrambled in a goal, Rachel Flynn nailed a free with the last kick, and the match went to extra-time.
20 minutes of further intense action still couldn’t separate the teams and so the hordes of young ‘Saints’ supporters that provided such noise and colour to an already special occasion gathered behind the dressing room end goal at around 10.40 pm for 20-metre free-kicks.
Clabby scored hers, as did Leah McCawley, the St Michael’s/St Ronan’s teenager who made her debut for the Roscommon intermediates in goal this year.
Seven other kicks fell short or wide as reserves of energy and adrenaline ran dry, leaving substitute Una McGuinness to kick the winner for ‘The Saints’ and give them their first adult silverware in their short history.
In the Junior ‘C’ decider that preceded it, Pádraig Pearses crowned an incredible year for their second team by overcoming St Dominic’s, 3-11 to 0-10.
Pearses had teenage stars all over the pitch with Katie Canning dominating the game at midfield, Sarah Kate Goode scoring 1-4 from full-forward and Bella Downey picking up the Player of the Match accolade for a tireless performance.
Gemma Casey hit 0-5 from play and another free as she led the St Dominic’s attack superbly with the half-back line of Molly Anne Feeley, Hannah O’Connor and Aisling McNally all battling hard but Pearses finished strong with Laoise Costello coming off the bench to strike their clinching goal.
