AOIFE Harte doesn’t hesitate when asked what was her favourite moment from Cork’s All-Ireland U14 Platinum title-winning campaign.
‘It was running onto the pitch when the final against Galway was over and we knew we had won,’ smiled Aoife, as she was honoured with a Paudie Palmer West Cork Sports Star Youth award for her role as Cork captain.
‘It was really special, we worked so hard all year long and it was a great feeling to win.’
Ibane Ladies footballer Aoife was thrilled to lift the cup after Cork beat Galway 5-9 to 2-13 in an extra-time epic in Nenagh last month. The young Rebels were pushed all the way, but never doubted they were going to emerge victorious.
Cork captain Aoife Harte raises the cup.‘The main thing we used to say is how do you beat a team that can’t be beaten? You can’t. We never wanted to be beaten so we worked really hard. We really believed we were going to win,’ said Aoife, who felt Cork’s name was on the cup when they took over in extra time. Once Kilmacabea footballer Nell Kinsella blasted home Cork’s fifth goal, Aoife could start getting her acceptance speech ready.
‘I remember in the second half of extra time we got a goal and we were five points up then – and we knew we were going to win,’ Aoife added, as she took centre stage at the Celtic Ross Hotel in Rosscarbery for the recent award presentation. There to support the talented young footballer were several of her Cork team-mates, including the sizeable West Cork contingent that meant this U14 success was celebrated across the region.
Aoife’s Ibane Ladies team-mates, Niamh Doyle, Aoife Walsh, Kate Collins and Aibhlin McCarthy are all on the panel, as were Kilmacabea’s Nell Kinsella, Grace O’Sullivan (Tadhg MacCarthaigh) and the St Colum’s duo of Emily Conlon and Niamh O’Sullivan. The future of West Cork ladies football looks to be in safe hands with Aoife and Co leading the charge.
