Our U14 Girls are All-Ireland (AICC) Champions !

Liffey Celtics U14 girls team made it a memorable weekend for Liffey Celtics, when they won the All Ireland Division A, Club Championship which took place in Kerry on weekend of 12th and 13th April.

The Celtics girls headed for Kerry with confidence on Friday afternoon, and settled into their Tralee base with a pre-match training session at the John Mitchells GAA complex in the town.

On Saturday morning they travelled the short distance to Castleisland, to take on the local team and Kerry champions, St. Marys, on their home patch. As expected this was a tight encounter with the Castleisland girls playing very well on their home turf. At half-time there was three points between the sides, with Celtics leading 18 points to 15. Celtics managed to keep in front and despite it being a close call, they pushed on to a 47 points to 33 points win, with Meadbh O’Hanlon and Mariah Stewart getting key scores. Next team to play was Longford Falcons, later on Saturday afternoon. Celtics with many of the team getting on the score sheet, were too strong and went on to win their pool stage.

Having won out their group, the Liffey Celtics girls had now qualified for the Division A semi-finals, where they would go on to play Waterford Wildcats on Sunday morning. These sides met earlier in the year in a challenge game in Cois Life, with Liffey Celtics winning by one point.  This was a different Liffey Celtics team that emerged for this semi-final, as they dominated the Wildcats team from start to finish and score a commanding 36 points to 22 victory. Niamh Masterson for Liffey Celtics was the top player on show with an impressive 17 points tally.

Maree Basketball from Galway, was the opposition in the final. Celtics started better and established a 9 points to 3 lead at the end of the first quarter. Maree turned it around in the second quarter and went into half time leading 18 points to 14. A strong second half saw Celtics draw the game level, and then moving to a leading position to win this All Ireland Club Championship final on a score line of 39 points to 30. Again Masterson was supreme with another winning 17 points in the final. Amid great celebrations, the cup was accepted by joint captains Ciara Bracken and Niamh Masterson for Liffey Celtics. A super achievement for the team, the girls and their mentors Yvonne, Alana and Liz. Also a brilliant first for Liffey Celtics as they are the first team from the club to win an underage National title.