BENNEKERRY/TINRYLAND - Outstanding Achievement Award

When Clíodhna Ní Shé scored four points and Lauren Dwyer came off the bench to add three more in the Carlow senior football championship final win (0-12 to 1-6) over Old Leighlin, no-one was looking any further ahead at the time.

Then something happened. The Carlow side were convincing winners over Carnew Emmets and Coralstown Kinnegad in the first and second round of the Leinster Intermediate Championship.

Was it time to start dreaming? When they beat St Patricks from Louth in the semi-final, Bennekerry/Tinryland were in a Leinster decider.

A first half penalty from Ní Shé was a huge settler for the Carlow side in Kinnegad. It was a tough encounter with nothing asked or given. The spirit in the side was massive and when Dwyer added a second goal in the final quarter, the Carlow side were within touching distance of creating history. They made no mistake and Maeve O’Neill’s three-pointer was the icing on the cake for a side whose entire panel was cemented together as one.

And so it was off to Breffni Park in Cavan for a date with destiny for one side. An early first half goal through Ní Shé was followed by two more from Dwyer in the opening half. The home side were always going to come back but the Carlow club side’s defence was superb. In the end, Elaine Ware’s strike to the corner of the net was the final nail in the Mullahoran coffin. And so the Field of Dreams on Jones Road awaited the Carlow side where they faced the experienced Galway champions, Annaghdown, in the final.

Contributing 2-4, Ní Shé was only one of an entire panel of heroines. The 2-10 to 1-7 victory meant they joined only a handful of Carlow teams who have won All-Ireland titles in Croke Park.

The players and the team were given a tumultuous welcome at the homecoming that night. It was an event to remember, a day to remember, a match to remember for a team who dared to dream and were rewarded.