‘It was a dream that we knew could become a reality’

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Cavan minor ladies’ win over Kerry was, said captain Ellie Brady, the stuff of dreams.

“It’s a dream, I never thought I’d be here, honest to God and to be here with such an amazing group of girls, it’s just… a dream,” said the Ballyhaise woman.

“We knew coming from two years ago, being put out in an All-Ireland semi-final and the girls winning it last year, we knew we had the ability to be here again this year. You want to win your province and we knew we were good enough to do that so winning our province was the first step.

“And then we all had it in the back of our minds, two years ago, an All-Ireland semi, could we get over it. Getting over it by such a margin was possibly the best way to put that out of our minds and today, I thought we showed that there were points where we needed to drive on and we were driving on.

“The girls were just unreal today. I suppose we knew it was a dream but it was a dream that could possibly be a reality.”

Cavan were under pressure late on as the Kingdom came storming back but Brady was inspirational in a couple of huge plays.

“The legs were heavy, we won by three in the end, the girls were driving me on and I suppose the crowd and everyone was driving me on. You had to do it in the end and we did it,” she said.

A talk from Mayo legend Cora Staunton last Monday proved priceless, she said.

“Cora came up and she talked to us, having such a big personality, a big player in the LGFA coming up, it just put everything in perspective. She was saying to take it in five-minute parts. It is an occasion to enjoy but then it is an occasion where you want to be coming out on top. Cora coming to training on Monday just set it into reality for us.”

Such was Brady’s dominance that she was booed at times by the Kerry supporters, something she laughed off in typically vivacious fashion.

“The booing was driving me on, I knew I was doing something right on our behalf, maybe not their behalf. Ah listen… I enjoy a good boo sometimes!” she smiled.

For manager Gerry Charters, meanwhile, this was all about the players.

“It’s brilliant for the girls, we talked about this at half-time, this is top of the pile at the moment, it’s as good as a senior All-Ireland to Cavan. This is a stepping stone going forward hopefully,” Charters said.

“It was squeaky bum time there coming towards the home straight but they dug deep, they were blocking and harrying and hassling. Little mistakes alright but everyone is going to make mistakes, it’s how you recover when you make the mistakes.

“It’s always next ball, next ball. They have to forget about what they’ve done, whether it’s a mistake or they’ve scored a goal or a point, it’s all about the next ball until you come to the final whistle. That’s what we’ve tried to instil in them.”

Kerry’s full-forward Leah McMahon caused a lot of trouble but Cavan’s Sinéad Kelly got to grips with that threat, helped by her teammates.

“They had to work hard, number 14 was very good. But they are a brilliant group of lassies.

“When she got further out the field she wasn’t as big a threat, I don’t know whether she moved herself out or they moved her out but that had a big bearing on the game, once they got her further from the goals, more girls were able to get in behind Sinéad to help out.

“It’s brilliant, I was talking to a couple of people there who have never been at ladies football games before. We’re very happy with it, it’s brilliant for the girls. It’s not about us, it’s about the girls today.”

The next goal is to keep the group together and build towards further success at senior level.

“We’re looking at maybe trying to run an U20 competition or joining Leinster, they have an U20 competition, to keep these girls ticking over. It’s about keeping them in football. We’ve probably had a big drop-off over the last couple of years but if we could keep half of these girls playing football in the next couple of years, it would be a big boost to us.

“Four or five years’ down the line, you’d be hoping they’d be getting to an All-Ireland final, winning it. You’re not not being greedy but you have to be realistic about it, this is where these other counties started out too, winning these underage titles, that’s where we’re looking down the line.”

In the end, this win was the result of careful planning and superb execution on the field.

“They decided themselves. We had a meeting at the beginning of the year and they set out five things that they wanted to do. She (captain Ellie Brady) wanted the five of them at the end of the year and that’s what we got.”

Meanwhile, Lurgan’s Emma Tolan, who sustained a heavy knock to the head at one stage, was also delighted to get over the line.

“Kerry were very physical, I can’t remember what happened, I think we banged heads but I was okay after that, the physio came on and I was able to continue.

“We set out at the start of the year looking forward to Ulster and once we got that, moving on to the All-Ireland. We knew we had a great team but obviously it’s such a big achievement to get to the All-Ireland final, we were all very nervous, but we knew that we were strong enough to do it and well able so we’re delighted today, it’s just brilliant.”