Ferns proud of Clough/Ballacolla's remarkable journey despite Leinster final heartbreak

CLOUGH/Ballacolla captain Marian Ferns admitted there was huge disappointment following their Leinster final defeat to Westmeath side Crookedwood on Sunday afternoon, but believes the club has plenty to look forward to after a landmark year.

The Laois champions came up just short in Castletown Geoghegan, losing out by two points in the provincial decider as their bid to add a Leinster title to their first-ever adult championship success came to an end.

Despite the immediate disappointment, Ferns was keen to reflect on what has been a memorable year for the club, particularly given how far the team has progressed in such a short space of time.

“Very disappointed today when you're so close but yet so far. Like someone said there just a few minutes ago, it's been a great year and it has. If someone said to us at the start of the year we'd be here, you'd take their arm and all.

“The aim at the start of the year was to get to a county final first and then to try and win it. We've been there, thereabouts, the last few years and we just wanted to get over the line and we did. Everything was a bonus from that day.

“Totally disappointed at the minute now, just after the game, but listen, we will go in and we'll have a chat and we'll look back. It has been a super year for us to get this far. We will hold our heads up. Disappointed, but we will gather ourselves and look back and be happy with the year we had,” Ferns said.

Clough/Ballacolla only began competing at adult level six years ago, making their maiden county championship success this season an even more significant achievement.

Ferns also highlighted the progress made by the younger players in the squad, who have continued to improve throughout the campaign and made a major contribution to the club's provincial run.

“From the club starting the adult team, there were so many young girls. They came from a club that just started, so losing games and trying to get a team together and then eventually getting the adult team going and winning games.

“The younger girls just got better and better and even this year, I think, getting outside of Laois, there are girls there. I think game by game, including today, the three games we played in Leinster, the girls just got better.

“The younger girls I'm talking about, it's like they just want more and more and they're getting better day by day. It's all experience for them now and there is so much youth and talent coming through that they will be there. They'll hold their own now.

“It's just to hold the step up, to settle themselves, keep together and to stay going as well and they will get the step up again. It's just to stay together now and build and all that.

“A huge experience this year, getting out of Laois and playing teams like that today. Looking at that game today, they had experience; you could tell there near the end and things like that. But our girls will gain all that and they'll learn from all these games and they'll step it up next year,” Ferns said.

While Sunday's defeat was difficult to take, the Clough/Ballacolla captain believes the experience gained from competing outside Laois will stand to the younger members of the panel as they look to build on this year's achievements.

Having secured their first adult championship title and reached a Leinster final, the club will now look to use that progress as a platform for competing in the Laois Intermediate Championship next year.