Stars talk the talk, then walk the walk

‘SHE said I want a goal out of you and I said, I want a goal out of you as well.’

Those were prophetic words of encouragement exchanged by Louth stars Lauren Boyle and Niamh Rice before claiming the All-Ireland in Croke Park on Sunday.

The Cooley Kickhams teammates would go on to nail 1-2 apiece with their second half goals lighting up the Junior decider and pushing Louth all the way to victory.

‘We did each other justice,’ Boyle said. ‘I thought it was never going to happen, but eventually I got my scoring boots on. I wasn’t expecting to score a goal, but there is no better feeling than scoring a goal at Croke Park. You just see it dipping into the back of the net. It’s unreal.’

The win, 12 months on from last years crushing disappointment is a dream come true for the 18 year old Boyle in her fledging career.

‘There’s no words to describe it,’ she said. ‘It’s just something you dream of from when you were three years old, kicking a ball around the pitch and in your back garden, never knowing that 15 years later you’d be lifting a cup in Croke Park.

‘The hard work we put in since November last year, we just couldn’t leave here without a win, especially after last year. You can’t lose two years in a row and we made sure that didn’t happen.’

Boyle very nearly missed out on the entire season through a workplace injury when a forklift ran over her foot. She had to work tirelessly to overcome that adversity and it made Sunday’s success all the sweeter.

‘I hurt my foot very badly. The physios and doctors were saying that it was the end of the line for the year. But I was like, ‘no’, as long as I try my best to get back I know I’ll be able to.

‘I tried my hardest and it worked in the end. I couldn’t walk for nearly three weeks, but as soon as I got back on my feet I knew rightly I’d get football back into me. I trained and worked so hard, down at the beach at 11 o’clock at night every night, gradually getting back into training. My physio, Laura (Grills), I couldn’t have done it without her.’

‘I thought last year winning a county championship was unreal, but this is just something else.

‘We’ve worked hard and we’ll work hard next year in the intermediate as well.’