Historic success for Castleknock 
15 Nov 2014

BRIGHT days at Castleknock. And a real sense of family.Eilish Andrews plays for the seniors. She is also a mentor of the Under-15s. Following the Senior 6 final at O’Toole Park, Eilish rushed to the Phoenix Park where her daughter, Aisling, played on the team that lifted the Under-15A Championship crown. It was third time lucky for the side who had been beaten in two previous finals. “It’s a nice feat for a mother and daughter to win a championship medal on the same day,” says Jim Mahony, who manages the seniors with Fergal Quinn. Eimear Stynes and Claire Murray played for the senior team. Their sisters, Meabh Stynes and Ciara Murray, were on the Under-15s.

Sisters
The seniors also had the three Mahony sisters, Louise, Aisling and Amy.And on the same weekend, Castleknock had three other teams in finals – the 13’s, 14’s and 16’s. The 13’s lost the 13B Shield final to Na Fianna. The 14’s were pipped by Naomh Mearnog in the 14B Championship final, while the 16’s were defeated by Faughs/Celtic in the 16B Shield final.

“It was super that we made the finals. Winning was a bonus,” states Jim. “It was wonderful for the club. We are a young club, and in camogie terms younger still.” Castleknock have teams from Under-8 to Under-16, and the Nursery is the foundation of it all. “From the start in the Nursery, we do both camogie and ladies football. That’s better than introducing it later. “Now we have girls who are 19 or so who are coming back to help out with the younger age groups, and that’s very encouraging. “We’ll keep working away. The game is developing, and that’s the main thing.”

The adult panel have only been senior for three years. They have had a memorable season. “We only lost one match all year, and that was to Good Counsel in the Senior 6 League. Counsel won the League. “Winning the Championships was tremendous. Bringing home silverware is a lift for everybody, and it gives the kids something to aspire to.”

Castleknock beat Ballyboden St Enda’s in the Senior 6 final. It was a thriller. Only a point in it at the end.

“We were three points up at half-time, having played with the very strong wind, so things weren’t looking too good. But we defended really well in the second half. Keeping Boden scoreless for 20 minutes was the important bit.”It was a nice reward for the players. They worked hard throughout the year.

“It’s all about playing, but it’s nice to win too.”

Courtesy Herald.ie (http://www.herald.ie/sport/historic-success-for-castleknock-30732643.html)