Gort na Móna CLGAntrim LGFA John West Féile A — Champions 2026
Semi-Final: Gort na Móna 4-07 Creggan 2-01
Pics by Ciarán Ó Brolcháin
The young Gort na Móna girls made history by becoming the club’s first ever LGFA Féile A champions! What started out as a mild morning quickly turned into horrendous, windy conditions by the time the girls lined out for their semi-final against Creggan. The wind was blowing across the field, giving Gort na Móna an early advantage.
Play got underway and, after a scrappy opening few minutes, the Gort girls struck first with a well-taken goal from Siana Ward. Winning an early delivery into the forward line, Siana turned her marker and slotted home. The half-forward line of Abbie Lennon, Holly-Mae Magill and captain Kaila Walsh made it extremely difficult for the Creggan goalkeeper to play out from the back, and when Ella Hughes intercepted a pass she released Cadhla Stilges down the left side. Cadhla took on her marker with a strong solo run before slotting the ball over the bar. Siana then brought her tally to 1-1 shortly after as the girls really hit their stride.
Creggan, to their credit, worked tirelessly in their back line and, after a few adjustments, eventually broke out of their half and moved the ball upfield — but a great turnover from Jessie McGeown set Gort up for another attack. Jessie moved the ball on to Alexia Largey, who drove forward and found her midfield partner Niamh Keenan. Niamh hit an early strike from range that dipped under the crossbar past an unlucky goalkeeper.
This was to be Jessie and Cadhla’s last contribution, as the 8-minute rotation rule meant two new players had to be introduced. Whilst we fully understand the reasons behind such rules, it is really hard to make an impact in just eight minutes — but both players did exactly that before giving way to two more fresh faces. Their replacements, Carly Muckian and Hollie McKeaveney, got involved right away, with Hollie going into goals and Carly setting herself up in the forward line alongside Evie Magee-McKenna, who had started the game in goals. Both were involved in the next two phases of play, supporting the strong runs of Seana Fryers breaking from the number six position.
As the half drew to a close, Sophie O’Hanlon added her name to the scoresheet with a well-taken point — the first of what would prove to be an impressive personal tally of 1-4 across the game. That was the final score of the half, with the scoreboard reading Gort na Móna 2-3, Creggan 0-0, though the girls were well aware that the wind would be in their opponents’ favour for the second half.
Second Half
Straight from the throw-in, Alexia Largy knocked the ball down and Niamh Keenan scooped it up, charged forward and set up Sophie O’Hanlon to take a routine point. Creggan, buoyed by the wind, moved the ball up the pitch with some strong running and support play and deservedly scored their first goal with a well-taken strike from inside the 21.
Corner-backs Casey McKeown and Grace Kearney were instrumental in working the ball out of our back line, and when Kearney carried the ball out from goalkeeper Hollie McKeaveney accurate kick-out it created another goal-scoring opportunity, with the support of Ella Hughes and Carly Guckian. Holly-Mae Magill was accurate from a free, slotting the ball between the posts. Creggan didn’t let this faze them though and worked themselves back up the pitch to score a well-worked point. The Loughshore girls began to put pressure on the Gorts kick-outs and hit a number of shots that went just wide before McKeaveney produced a wonderful save to keep the ball out of the net. Eventually the Creggan pressure paid off and they got themselves another goal after McKeaveney made a great stop, only for the rebound to be tapped in by the Creggan corner forward.
This was to be Creggan’s last score of the game, mainly due to the organisation and relentless defending from our full-back line, led by the excellent Meabh Maguire, with Seana Fryers controlling things in front of her. The Gorts introduced Aoife Mackel and Ciara McConnell for the final 12 minutes in place of Siana Ward and Evie Magee-McKenna Gort maintained possession and control throughout, and with the last score of the game being another well-worked goal from the ever-dangerous Sophie O’Hanlon— who clinically beat the Creggan goalkeeper — the final whistle confirmed a place in the final.
Final: Gort na Móna v Erin’s Own Cargin
The final was a replay of last year’s decider, with the girls coming up against familiar foes in Erin’s Own Cargin. The game was moved to Naomh Éanna’s main pitch, which was in impeccable condition. After winning the toss, match captain Seana Fryers chose to play with the wind at our backs. Unlike the semi-final, where the wind had blown across the field, this pitch had the wind blowing end to end — making it an even greater advantage for the team playing with it.
Play got underway with the new midfield duo of Kaila Walsh and Niamh Keenan getting involved right away, making direct runs at Cargin’s defence. After a neat build-up, Holly-Mae opened the scoring with a well-taken point. The full-forward line of Cara Malone, Siana Ward and Holly-Mae Magill closed the space for the Cargin kick-outs, and with the Gorts midfield and half-forwards pushing up they dominated possession and won kick-out after kick-out with relentless pressure assisted by a strong wind. After a few wasteful chances the girls really got into their stride — Sophie O’Hanlon got on the scoresheet with a well-taken point, Kaila knocked over a free from distance, and Holly-Mae then found the net with a beautiful finish.
Cargin were finding the wind a real hindrance but eventually won possession and moved the ball up into our half for the first time in the game. This made for a great counter-attacking opportunity when Seana Fryers turned the ball over and found Ella Hughes with acres of space to run into. She did just that and, when she found herself in range, popped over a great score O’Hanlon added the last point of the half — just as she had done in the semi-final. That was to be the final score of the first half, with the scoreboard reading Gort na Móna 1-5, Cargin 0-1, though the girls were well aware that the wind would now be in Cargin’s favour and the reigning champions would not be giving up their crown without a fight.
Second Half
The Gorts rejigged their lines for the second half and played with one up front, introducing Carly Muckian and Evie Magee-McKenna to give us a more defensive setup. With Muckian’s pace and fitness the Gorts management knew they could rely on her to get us out of trouble when needed. Straight from the throw-in we set about moving the ball up the pitch, but unlike the first half our early delivery was held up in the wind and Cargin countered. Some great defending from the Gorts defence got us out of trouble time and time again, though our attacks fell short on every occasion.
This was to be Siana Ward and Grace Kearney’s last contribution, as the team management introduced Holly Donaghy and Laura Lyons for their well-deserved debuts, giving a rest to two players who had put in a tireless shift. The next few minutes were spent around the middle of the pitch, with both sides turning each other over multiple times, until eventually Cargin broke through our rearguard and found themselves in on goal — only for McKeavenyey to pull off an incredible save, bravely winning the rebound and playing the ball back out of the defence.
A stoppage for injury gave the Gorts just enough time to send instructions onto the pitch: play a possession game and forget about trying to score in the final five minutes — something they had been working on over the past few months. The girls carried out those instructions to the letter. The team moved the ball quickly and found space, while on the far side of the pitch the defence replicated their team-mates by doing exactly the same. The game ended with the Gorts girls in possession, moving, weaving and supporting each other in a superb passage of football — and when the referee blew for full time, they had achieved what seemed impossible. They kept a very good Cargin side scoreless in the second half, and after four A finals in a row and numerous others across their short 11-year history, the girs from Turf Lodge had won their first ever Féile A title!
A lot of credit has to go to both the U16 and U14 coaches, as this group of girls is a mix of both squads. The girls will now go on to represent Antrim in the All-Ireland Féile Peile na nÓg in Derry on 27th June. A massive well done to everyone who took part, supported and assisted us on this journey.
Squad List
- Abbie Lennon
- Alexia Largey
- Aoife Mackel
- Cara Malone
- Carly Muckian
- Casey McKeown
- Cadhla Stilges
- Ciara McConnell
- Clara McKenna
- Ella Hughes
- Eloise McAuley
- Evie Magee-McKenna
- Grace Kearney
- Holly Donaghy
- Hollie McKeaveney
- Holly-Mae Magill
- Jessie McGeown
- Kaila Walsh
- Laura Lyons
- Mayla Thompson
- Meabh Maguire
- Niamh Keenan
- Ruby Manning
- Seana Fryers
- Siana Ward
- Sophie O’Hanlon