Fermanagh star Eimear Smyth spoke of her joy after scoring the early goal which laid the foundation for their All-Ireland Ladies junior title success at Croke Park.
Smyth starred for the Ulster side with a remarkable 1-9 tally in the 1-11 to 0-12 victory over Louth in Sunday’s decider.
This Derrygonnelly attacker fired into an empty net for the only goal of the game after 10 minutes.
“It’s unbelievable – I’m glad to get over the line,” said Smyth.
“The ball thankfully landed into my hands and I couldn’t believe it was an empty net. That gave us a good boost and settled us well into the match.
“It gave us a good platform to go on and attack for the rest of the game.”
Fermanagh led 1-5 to 0-5 at the break and held firm to win the junior crown for the third time and first since 2020 despite a battling effort from Louth.
There was a special family moment for Smyth when she raised the cup with her sister Bronagh at the home of GAA.
“It’s something you dream about as a kid and to lift the cup with my sister was really special. We’ve been in Croke Park a few times and not got over the line but we got over with a good Fermanagh crowd cheering us on and it was an unbelievable feeling.
“It was nice to contribute to the team like that and the frees went well. Louth weren’t just going to lie down and let us have it. They were resurgent in the second half and I think we did well to weather the storm and ground it out.”
