PEIL HEC FINALS
AN EMOTIONAL VICTORY
ATU TEAM CAPTAIN ROISIN RODGERS SPOKE TO DAIRE WALSH ABOUT HER TEAM’S EMOTIONAL WEEKEND COMPETING IN THE MOYNIHAN CUP JUST DAYS AFTER THE PASSING OF DEFENDER ELLA O’NEILL
By Daire Walsh
There were emotional scenes at MTU Cork on Saturday, March 9 when ATU Sligo held off a strong challenge from Mary Immaculate College, Limerick to lift the HEC Moynihan Cup title.
Just eight days before this game took place during the Ladies HEC Championship Finals weekend on the Leeside, news came through of the sad passing of ATU Sligo defender Ella O’Neill. A former underage star with her native Waterford, O’Neill had been studying teaching at the ATU St Angela’s campus that is located a short distance from Sligo Town.
A Drum Rangers club footballer who also excelled as a camogie player with Modeligo, O’Neill appeared as a substitute when ATU Sligo lost out narrowly to Dundalk IT in the 2023 Moynihan Cup showpiece. Team captain Roisin Rodgers acknowledged it was a very difficult lead-in to the HEC weekend for the squad, but they ultimately came together as a collective down in Cork.
After getting the better of SETU Waterford on a scoreline of 4-7 to 1-6 a day earlier, Sligo finished with two points to spare (1-10 to 1-8) over MIC, Limerick in the Moynihan Cup final.
“We weren’t really sure how being down in Cork would work, if we’d be able to play to our standards that we wanted to. I think the girls really stood up and we stood together. I think that was really the main message that we got out of it all. Being there for each other, regardless if we’d won or lost,” Rodgers explained.
“Just making sure that we’re there for each other and making sure that everyone was okay in their own little way. It was definitely a tough tournament going into it and the competition was tough on us, but credit to the girls. They really stood tall and stood together throughout it.”
Before, during and after the game, ATU Sligo honoured O’Neill’s memory in a number of different ways. In the programme for the HEC weekend, she was listed in the number two position in the team’s line-up for the Moynihan Cup and ATU Sligo Club Chairperson Padraig McGourty believes it was only fitting that she did feature in their official squad list.
“Obviously she was in everyone’s thoughts throughout the weekend and the girls marked her presence within the group, in terms of the couple of little things that they did themselves as a group of players to remember Ella over the course of the weekend. It was fitting that her name was included there,” McGourty said.
For the game itself, Rodgers and her team-mates all wore white ribbons in their hair and had initials written on their wrists to symbolise that Ella was going to be there with them in spirit throughout the on-field action.
Following the end of the contest – after Donegal footballer Rodgers had accepted the Moynihan Cup title on behalf of the team – Ella’s brother Darragh and sister Aoife joined the ATU Sligo squad on the MTU Cork pitch in celebration.
In a touching moment that went viral in the aftermath of the game, they all combined together for a rendition of Ella’s favourite song – Travelin’ Soldier by The Chicks (the female American country band formerly known as The Dixie Chicks).
Having met them in Clashmore, Waterford at her funeral mass just a few days earlier, Rodgers was delighted to see Ella’s family in attendance for the duration of their time at the HEC weekend.
“We decided to put the white ribbons in our hairs for Ella and we wrote our initials on our wrists, so that we had them there with us. If we ever needed it during the game, to remember who we were doing it for and why we were doing it, and why we kept going,” Rodgers remarked.
“It definitely got me through a couple of purple patches whenever we needed it, so it was just a nice way that we thought we could represent Ella with her on the pitch with us.
“We had met them [Ella’s brother and sister] on Tuesday as well and it was very emotional seeing them there. We were down at the competition on Friday and on the Saturday, they had followed us the whole way through. We wanted to give the family Ella’s jersey. To see them with us there, coming down celebrating the win with us with Ella’s jersey on, there’s really no words for it to be honest.
“It still makes me speechless to this day, thinking back on it. It was one of those moments that you’ll never forget. They stood by us and we wanted to make sure we stood by them throughout the whole thing. They’re a credit to themselves and to Ella, and her whole family.”
Although it was a bittersweet feeling for all those involved with ATU Sligo, this will go down as a significant victory for ladies football in the college on a number of counts. In addition to honouring O’Neill’s memory amidst incredibly tough circumstances, it was also the first ladies title for ATU Sligo since their HEC O’Connor Cup success back in 2000 (when they were still known as IT Sligo).
Substantial progress has been made in recent years on the LGFA side of things thanks in no small part to the work of team manager Gavin Cawley and the college’s Games Development Officer Michael Harte, and McGourty is hopeful that O’Neill and her team-mates have left a strong legacy that future generations of ATU Sligo footballers can now build upon.
“That’s what we’ve been trying to work towards getting back to. The level of Giles and O’Connor Cup, where we probably had been for a number of years. It was a significant win for the college in terms of ladies football and ladies sport in general,” McGourty added.
“It’s 24 years since we won a ladies title. That’s a credit to the girls and the management team to get over the line and hopefully start climbing back up the ladder again towards some of the higher levels of ladies football.”