Faughs tops in Senior Two Camogie final

FAUGHS Celtics have emerged victorious in the Camogie Senior 2 championship this year following a win in the final against Castleknock last weekend played out in Abbottstown.

It would be their goalscoring prowess that would win out on the day as they won with a final scoreline of 3-08 to 1-11.

It was an extremely close game that saw Castleknock get the better of Faughs through the first half of the match before the third quarter of the match saw Faughs work their way back into the tie and actually establish a lead for themselves, holding on for the three point win.

It was the second time that the two sides had played each other in the championship following a game in the group stage of the competition which also saw Faughs pick up a three point victory.

Manager Brian McDonald spoke of the stiff opposition they have faced against Castleknock throughout the championship campaign.

“Defintely yeah [on whether Castleknock were their toughest opponents], there was a last minute penalty save in the group match which led to us winning by three points. They had been winning by four points early in the second half so that was a massive win for the girls.”

McDonald spoke on the team performances throughout the year, stating how he could not pick star performers from such a talented side.

“I have drilled into the girls all year that it is team team team and I stand over that. My mantra to them is that players do not win matches, teams do.

‘Obviously on different days different girls stood up. Our defence was good, our midfield dramatically improved as we got further into the championship and our forwards scored heavily in a lot of our games.

‘We got two or three goals in most games. We had the right balance through the squad and it was genuinely different people on different days.

After finishing third in the league while missing a lot of their players throughout the league campaign, the championship victory  completes an excellent season for Faughs which sees them return to Senior 1.

The year saw a breaking of recent form which has seen the team undercompete in championship.

Now with his first season of coaching the team under his belt McDonald is under no illusions as to the jump in competition waiting for them in Senior 1 next year.

“It’s going to be an adjustment and shock to the system. At the top end of Senior 1 there are some fabulous teams there. Is it a stretch for us to get up to that level within a year? Absolutely, however with some good work done in the winter months, it’s a young squad and no one knows the ceiling. There’s a huge amount of growth and development left in the squad so I think we’ll be able to cope.

“Absolutely, but I’m not going to say we are going to win the championship next year. We will have to work our way to do well in the championship next year and we will still attack it with everything we have.”

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