Aghamore girls are one step away from history
Aghamore captain Mairead Mooney (right) with her Moy Davitts counterpart Sandra Hall in advance of next Sunday's Mayo LGFA Intermediate Championship final.
Six years ago, the Aghamore ladies could not have imagined a way into senior football.
Now on Sunday, they will be just 60 minutes away from exactly that, as they take on Moy Davitts in the county intermediate final in MacHale Park.
Going step by step having won the junior A title as recently as 2024, the club has never looked back.
For captain Máiréad Mooney, this era for the team is a special one.
“We were saying within the team it was only six years ago that we were junior B. To go from there to competing in the intermediate final, and the possible chance of playing senior, it is a serious achievement.
“It is probably something we are only starting to realise now. That we are in the final and we have a chance.”
It is a final that represents two teams who have been on very different journeys. Moy Davitts have come up just short in their attempts to get back to senior football in recent years, where some of the team have played.
When the teams met in the group stage however, it was Aghamore who were four point winners. The club has never played senior ladies football, and if this team are going to be the ones who achieve history, they know how difficult it will be.
“With Moy Davitts, we know what they are going to bring. They are really strong, they are a well-established team, they have experience of playing senior football,” outlines Máiréad Mooney.
“We are going to take this game as any other. We are just going to prepare as best as we can and train really hard.
“We know it is a big achievement for us to get to this stage and be in the final, but we will give ourselves every opportunity to see how far we can go.
“We have had three different management teams since we won the junior ‘B’. Each management team has brought something different, but they have been equally successful.
“We have a really a really motivated and talented group to face any obstacles and challenges,” adds the captain.
After the two finalists came out of their group together, Aghamore defeated Carnacon in the semi-final by seven points to set up the decider.
To make matters all the more impressive for Aghamore, they have had to deal with several injures along the way, with Mooney pleasantly surprised by their depth.
“We have had a lot of injuries in the team this year, but it is a case of the next person up. Everyone is able to step up and fill a role. That has been really key, that everyone is on the same page and working towards the same goal.
“We probably didn’t realise the depth we had in our panel until we started picking up a few injuries. The main goal was to get a performance in all of our championship games.
“Last year we got to the semi-final and we lost that. Our goal was to build on that as much as possible.”
Máiréad has had many days to remember in an Aghamore jersey with her teammates. However, captaining her team to glory next Sunday would undoubtedly be the highlight.
“I think I used this phrase when we won the junior title, I said it was a dream come true, but this would be an even bigger dream come true. To win intermediate and get to senior, we’ve never played senior football.
“It would be amazing for both the ladies and the men in Aghamore to be senior. It would be really special.
“We got relegated from junior A to junior B, when something like that happens, everything is on a low. You would never be thinking one day we could be in an intermediate final.
“Now we know we are a really competitive team, which is really special.”
