Captain Briody savours historic Ulster win

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Cavan Gaels captain Niamh Briody stood at the edge the pitch in Roslea, beaming in disbelief as she tried to take in the scale of what her team had just achieved. For the first time, the Gaels are Ulster Ladies Junior Football champions, the culmination of years of quiet graft, building and belief, and Briody’s smile said everything.

“I still can’t believe it, Ulster champion… I still can’t believe it,” she said, shaking her head as if trying to convince herself.

“We worked so hard for it and we’re deserving winners today. Everyone put in 100%, and you couldn’t ask for more out of anybody. We really wanted it. We went out to win it, and that was it.”

The Gaels’ performance saw power, composure and hunger all come together at exactly the right moment. While the Gaels attacking flair took much of the attention, Briody was adamant that the victory belonged to far more than the players who hit the scoreboard.

“Yeah, the girls up front did the business, but it’s everyone on the pitch,” she stressed. “From number one to whoever comes on, everyone works so hard. We really play as a team, everyone supporting each other, everyone working for each other. That’s what gets you over the line on a day like today.”

One of the defining features of the Gaels’ display was how they handled Killeevan’s towering full-forward, McGinn, who had been one of the standout performers of this year’s Ulster series. Briody was glowing in her praise of the defensive unit.

“The turnovers, the blocks, the tackles, the whole back line were immense,” she said. “They were up against a serious talent in there and dealt with her together.”

The intensity of the defensive pressure, combined with disciplined tackling and smart covering lines, ensured Killeevan never found a rhythm in attack. Every loose ball became a Gaels ball. Every 50–50 contest felt like a 70–30. And that, Briody insisted, was no accident.

“Everyone just worked for each other,” she said.

“That’s what got us here.”

In her winning speech after the game, Briody delivered a heartfelt message, directed not at the adults in the stand, but at the young girls scattered around the perimeter of the pitch, many of them wearing Gaels colours and looking up at the women who now lead their club.

The point, she said afterwards, was intentional. “It’s close to home for me,” she said.

“Cavan Gaels wasn’t always a club that had a ladies team. It only developed as girls got older and we finally had numbers for a senior team.”

Many of the girls who lined the pitch to cheer them on had been part of the club’s first proper underage wave, the generation that made having a senior ladies team possible. And now, those younger players are watching their role models win Ulster. Briody wanted them to feel part of it.

“This team has been built from underage girls growing up,” she said.

“They’re all here today, and I’m just delighted to do them proud. Hopefully they’re as excited to get up to training, excited to play senior football. That’s what it’s all about for me.”

With the trophy secured and the cameras finally disappearing, the Cavan Gaels captain’s mind turned to the celebrations, and to the route that cup would travel through the town.

“Ah, it’s all about taking that cup up the Barrack Hill, up to Terry Coyle, bunting everywhere, flags out,” she laughed, the grin widening again.

“And then maybe down to the Rossa for one or two...”