IT TOOK DUBLIN rising star Kate Sullivan all but 10 seconds to find the back of the net in yesterday’s currentaccount.ie All-Ireland intermediate club final.
Her goal, straight off the throw-in, paved the way for glory for St Sylvester’s, as the Malahide outfit won their first All-Ireland crown at this grade.
With Sullivan’s Sky Blue team-mates Sinéad Aherne and Nicole Owens among others central to the victory, Syls finished 1-6 to 0-7 winners over Castlebar Mitchels of Mayo.
22-year-old Sullivan has been a member of Mick Bohan’s Dublin senior panel over the past few seasons and has made her impact felt when called upon.
A classy forward with a bright future ahead, Sullivan is destined to play a big part as the county look to bounce back from last year’s All-Ireland final defeat to Meath.
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But yesterday, it was all about Syls, with manager Anthony Cooke hailing her heroics in the aftermath.
“Kate’s been brilliant all season,” Cooke said following the two-point win at Duggan Park in Ballinasloe.
“Hopefully, we’ll see a lot of her in the Dublin jersey this season, she’s been in and out of the team the last few years. Since she’s come back into the club this year she’s just been phenomenal.
“Her pace is something else but she has that finishing quality as well. To be honest, it [the goal] wasn’t something we’d worked on but Kate obviously won that throw.”
Castlebar Mitchels boss Fintan Keane, meanwhile, said he was “extremely proud” of his side’s effort in their first All-Ireland intermediate final, though the narrow loss is “heartbreaking”.
While Kilkerrin-Clonberne landed the senior crown last week, St Judes kickstarted a Dublin double with their All-Ireland junior title win on Saturday.
A 3-9 to 1-8 victory over Mullinahone of Tipperary saw them join fellow capital outfits Foxrock-Cabinteely, Thomas Davis and St Maurs on the roll of honour.
Dual star Hannah Hegarty was named Player of the Match after another towering display.
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Waterford star Caoimhe McGrath, captain Aoife Keyes and Aisling Gannon scored the goals in Balltinglass, with manager Jeff Kane in a celebratory mood afterwards.
“We started the club in 1978,” the Judes boss beamed. “We’ve challenged in senior championships in football and hurling and we’ve a really successful camogie set up. This is heaven, it’s absolute heaven.
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“I’m with the guys four years now. We’ve been through ups and downs, lost a championship final to a really good Ballinteer St John’s team last year. We made a promise to ourselves that we wouldn’t leave anything out there anymore.
“Came together as a unit and we’re All-Ireland champions.”
Mullinahone manager Paul Kelly said his side were “naturally disappointed” after battling all the way, though the border club can take immense pride from their entire year.
“We came across a very good Judes side,” he conceded. “We knew coming here today that we were going to be up against it, given the population of St Judes GAA club in general, plus they have inter-county footballers like Caoimhe McGrath from Waterford.
“At the end of the day, we’re a small rural club and we got six players from Windgap. We always knew it was going to be a tough battle.”
– with reporting from Darren Kelly for the LGFA.