Player of the Match award for Louth's Céire Nolan and an All-Ireland medal...there are no better days

Irish Independent

2 days ago

Covering every blade of grass, from one end of Croke Park to the other, defending when it mattered, involved in so much of Louth's attacks and getting on the scoresheet herself for good measure, the St Fechins club player was outstanding in the final, from first whistle to the final hooter – no other player came near her on the day.
'This is what dreams are made of,' Nolan told Louth local journalists after the game.
'We come to Croke Park and every day in Croke Park is an unbelievable day but this just tops it off. After the work we've put in all year, this group of girls, we've worked so hard and we are so happy that we got to showcase what we have been working on all year.'
It certainly wasn't easy for Louth who gave away an early goal, got their way back into the game, built up a five-point lead, when Antrim went a long time without a score before they finished strongly and Louth had to defend like Trojans in the last couple of minutes, but they were deserved winners in the end.
'We know things can go wrong, that's Gaelic football, but we've talked all year about being resilient and not letting things get to us, so we just stick to the plan, work hard,' said the St Fechins club player.
'Credit where credit is due though, our defenders, our midfield, forward line, everyone, everyone got back to help.
'We're a team and we work for each other and we're not saying you have to do this, it's everyone works together and for each other and I think it showed out there come the end of the match that we really did.'
And her own role within this team…Nolan was everywhere. Listed to start at corner-forward, she likes dropping back, running forward, starting and getting on the end of moves, is she possibly Louth most versatile player?
'I like to run a bit,' Nolan laughed before continuing, 'But look, it's different. Last year I was defending so this is a different type of role but I'm really enjoying it.
'Just being able to contribute more to the kind of forward play, attacking play experiment with what I can do.'
When Louth got a run on Antrim in the second half and they struggled to create chances while Louth opened up a five-point point lead, did Nolan think at that stage that it was a done deal?
'I didn't think at any point it was over,' she said.
'We had a period there near the end when we were struggling to get the kickouts away and I think, you try not to look up at the clock because the time nearly goes slower as you look up at it, but, we're confident in our system.
'We know how to play our system and once we stick with that, we knew we could get over the line.'
In terms of Nolan's own game and herself, the St Fechins player has been on a personal journey in terms of injuries. With two ACL (Anterior cruciate ligament) injuries Nolan has fought her way back on what was a difficult journey.
'One ACL is bad enough but both legs is worse,' she laughed.
'Look, it's hard, it is, but I always knew that I always wanted to get back playing with Louth and that was kind of the end goal.
"So I just worked through it and I was lucky enough the management always let me stick around with the girls and the support from all the girls was great.
"We had Mia Duffy come back (from an ACL), Eilish (Hand) came back from an ACL as well so look, it's a terrible injury but when you have a group of girls like our girls surrounding you it's made that much easier.'
And today makes it all worthwhile?
'Oh absolutely, days like this are the best days, you never forget them.'