CLONAKILTY goalkeeper Róisín Duggan, Mourneabbey’s Laura Walsh and Erin’s Own’s Megan Barrett played vital roles in Cork’s All-Ireland U18A championship final victory.

The young Rebels’ 0-11 to 0-7 win over Roscommon was as hard earned as it was deserved.

‘We knew what Roscommon were going to bring because they are just a brilliant side,’ Cork goalkeeper Róisín Duggan told The Southern Star shortly after full-time.

‘They defended so well and it was really hard to break them down.

‘We knew that we just had to keep going and eventually we’d get the scores. I am really proud of all the girls as they put in some shifts.

‘We have a brilliant sport psychologist and we’ve all done a lot of work with him. I definitely worked on my concentration and just learned a lot from him.’

Mourneabbey and Cork forward Laura Walsh was elated with the outcome.

‘Oh, it's just unreal to be honest, to finally get over the line,’ the Cork captain said.

‘Obviously, winning Munster was great but the big focus was the All-Ireland and we knew how good Roscommon were going to be. They gave us a big battle out there today.

‘We had a lot of misses in the first half, myself included. I think we kind of just stayed calm, tipped away, drew a few fouls and got over the line, thank God.’

Vice-captain Megan Barrett from Erin’s Own missed out on last year’s All-Ireland final win due to injury. She was thrilled to play her part in overcoming Roscommon and echoed her captain’s sentiments.

‘It was really important that we remained patient,’ Barrett said.

‘We had a good talk at half time because in that first half, we didn’t play our best. We had the talk, got rid of the nerves and went and played how we normally play. It was so important that we remained calm though.

‘We know we were a good team and knew we could get over the line. We just had to back ourselves and have confidence.’