Sport

Rising Cork camogie stars Millie Condon and Fiona Twohig honoured with West Cork Sports Star Youth awards

November 16th, 2021 5:00 PM

By Ger McCarthy

All-Ireland winning Cork U16 camogie captains Millie Condon and Fiona Twohig received Celtic Ross Hotel West Cork Sports Star Youth awards. (Photo: George Maguire)

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CORK Camogie U16 All-Ireland winning co-captains Millie Condon and Fiona Twohig added to their trophy collections when they received Celtic Ross Hotel West Cork Sports Star Youth awards.

Each quarter, an outstanding young local sports star is honoured with an award, and both Millie Condon (Ballinascarthy) and Fiona Twohig (Valley Rovers) were selected after they led the Rebels to Munster and All-Ireland U16A glory during the summer.

Condon and Twohig played leading roles in helping Cork overcome a talented Kilkenny in the All-Ireland decider in July. Dual-player Condon proved one of the Rebels’ most consistent performers throughout 2021. Twohig took home the Player of the Match award in the All-Ireland U16A final after scoring 1-3 of her side’s winning total in their 2-12 to 2-10 triumph over the Cats.

Both were surprised and delighted to receive the quarterly West Cork Sports Star Youth accolade.

‘Looking back, it is still quite hard to believe we won an All-Ireland especially with everything that happened because of Covid,’ Twohig told The Southern Star.

‘We didn’t have much time to prepare. Everything happened so quickly this year. It was just week after week. So, to win an All-Ireland blew us all away and everyone was a bit overwhelmed at the time. The win is only setting in now but we are able to enjoy it.’

Donie Daly and his Cork management team got to work once the all-clear was given to return to the training pitches. Zoom sessions were all well and good but Cork needed to gel a squad of over 30 camogie players shortly before embarking on their All-Ireland campaign.

‘We didn’t know a lot of each other’s names the first night we went back training with Cork,’ Millie Condon said, ‘But there was no stopping us once we got going. Donie Daly was hugely important to us. He was the one that started a lot of the panel off with Cork from day one. This is my second year working with Donie and he has been brilliant to me and all the girls on the Cork panel.’

The Cork U16s were handed a tough opening group including Dublin, Tipperary and Galway. Reaching the All-Ireland U16A final was an achievement in itself but Twohig, Condon and the rest of the Cork panel understood it would take something extra-special to see off Kilkenny. Now, winning this coveted West Cork Sports Star Youth is great end to a memorable year.

‘It is really nice for Fiona and I to get recognition at the end of a long year,’ Condon added.

‘Getting this award repays a lot of the hard work that went in to helping Cork become All-Ireland U16 champions,’ Twohig added.

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