FERMANAGH captain Shannan McQuade was visibly emotional as she accepted the West County Hotel Cup, the All-Ireland Junior title, on behalf of her team-mates in the Hogan Stand after their 1-11 to 0-12 win over Louth on Sunday.
It was an accumulation of things; it was their first All-Ireland final win in Croke Park – their 2017 final against Derry ended in a draw with them winning the replay in Clones, the 2020 final was played and won in Parnell Park and their 2022 final against Antrim ended in a draw, with them losing the replay in the Athletic Grounds – and it put to bed the disappointments of the last two years.
“There is a very special bond in the team and that meant a lot out there,” said McQuade.
“We have always talked about going and doing it and always talked about nearly getting over the line and I think we had the belief, that we knew ourselves that we were going to do it, there was something different about us this year, there was no doubt there.”
That belief was instilled by the management team of CJ McGourty, who himself was able to bring his All-Ireland winning experience in Croke Park with St Gall’s to the fore, and Kane Connor, Sean McCartney and Conor McGovern.
“We knew that Louth were going to be a tough battle, we didn’t think it was going to be easy out there, they are an intermediate team coming down. We were under no illusion. They worked hard and we worked hard and thank God we came out across the line better.
“The boys have a lot of experience being in this position, they are very good at their actual roles in the team and that probably helps as well.
“We will be talking about this one for a long time. This is our first win in Croke Park, it’s very special.”