Charlestown Ladies secured Senior football for another year after a pulsating dogfight of a game vs Castlebar Mitchels in Bekan.
Heart, desire and a never say die attitude. These are the key attributes shown by the team this season and today in the Centre of Excellence was no different. After a very even contest in the first half Charlestown somehow found themselves 7 points down at half time and you feared that surely that would be too big a mountain to climb against a seasoned Senior team like Castlebar.
Charlestown were having none of it, however, and within 60 seconds of the restart the lead was cut to 4 as they hit the back of the net for their first goal of the game. Little by little, much like in their game earlier in the campaign against Westport, they chipped away at the Castlebar lead. Going into the closing stages Charlestown finally caught Castlebar and leveled the game with 10 minutes of time remaining. What followed was a titanic battle around the middle of the field as both teams turned each other over time and again; the final battle of this war being played out almost entirely between the two 45s. Somehow Charlestown, showing the greater composure under pressure, managed to create one final chance, winning a 30 metre free with the clock in the red. Deirdre Doherty, who was faultless off the tee all day, slotted it over and now Charlestown just had to hold out. Hold out they did. One would imagine their recent experiences of how to see out these types of 1 point wins in last year’s County and Connacht finals were foremost in their minds.
Special mention to Nichola Meehan who finished up her playing career in the green and white by putting in a player of the match performance. Thanks for the memories Nichola!!
So what of Season 2023?
While its seems like a long time ago now Charlestown competed for the first time in Division 1 of the Memorial League. They acquitted themselves really well and managed to stay well clear of the relegation zone. While only a pre-season competition of sorts it does take up a large portion of the season, and knowing they will get to pit themselves against the best teams in the county in division 1 next year can only help them get up to speed for the more serious stuff later in the season.
How they went out in division 2 of the league this year will probably go down as one of the main low points of the year. A last minute goal in the semi final saw them knocked out of a competition they would have had designs on at the start of the year.
As for their first year back in Senior Championship, well, the win today does certainly have a satisfactory feeling of “job done”, even if it was by the narrowest of margins! The Kilmovee game will sting a little in that they will feel they didn’t perform to their optimum on the day, but really, for their 1st year back in with the big guns they can take plenty from pretty much every game they played. Most importantly Charlestown live to fight another day and with a full campaign under their belts they will surely look to go 1 step further next year. Thanks for a great year, ladies.
Half Time Score:
Castlebar: 3-4
Charlestown 0-6
Scorer for Charlestown:
