40 2012 was a year of mixed fortunes for Davitt’s with the Senior Team losing out to Sarsfields in the County Semi Final and the U13s losing the County A Final to Ardrahan. The undoubted highlight of the year was the performance of the panel of girls who won both the county Féile and U14A Championship titles and reached the Division 1 Féile Final in Croke Park. They began the Féile Championship on April 4th in Tynagh and beat Carnmore and as all games were on a knockout basis they had to always give a top performance each time. They played Athenry on April 26 in Ballinasloe and Athenry were favourites so it gave the Davitt’s girls great confidence when they won by 0-3 to 0-0. They beat Oranmore in the Semi final by 1-7 to 0-1. They were crowned Féile champions on May 10th in Duggan Park by beating Sarsfields 1-2 to 02 in a nail biting contest. Preparations began for the trip to Dublin where St Vincents were the hosts. The build up to the National Finals led to a great buzz in the locality and despite the recession club officers were heartened by the response of local businesses and individuals to the request for sponsorship. Both Club members and parents of the Féile girls put in a great effort in the inevitable fundraising. In the run up to the National finals they managed to qualify from their Group in the U14 A Championship with the only hiccup being a one point defeat to their arch rivals Sarsfields. They managed to squeeze past a very good Craughwell side by just two points in the semi final the week before the trip to Dublin. Finally, the day arrived to board Noel Gardiner’s bus to Dublin with a stop at Confrey GAA grounds for a puck around followed by a hearty breakfast in the Springfield Hotel, Leixlip. As the girls took the field to take on their host team St Vincent's the sun shone on one of the few pleasant days this summer and there was a good crowd of supporters from Galway to cheer them on. The well prepared Westerners got off to a flying start beating St Vincent's by 2-6 to 0-3 and then headed off to Croke Park to line up for the Féile parade down the nation’s principal street. As always the Féile Parade is one of the highlights of the weekend and O’Connell St was the perfect setting for the colourful event. Friday dawned grey and very wet and then news filtered through that the team bus had being destroyed in an arson attack with some of the team’s gear lost. The St Vincent’s Club came up trumps in making sure the Davitt’s team were able to continue in the competition supplying missing equipment, etc. Davitt’s beat Na Fianna of Dublin 2-2 to 1-0 and the Limerick champions Crecora Manister by 2-4 to 1-0 in wet and windy conditions. A very tired band of players headed to Portmarnock to take on Aghabullogue of Cork but were ready to push themselves to the limit to achieve their goal of playing in the Division 1 Final in Croke Park. Aghabullogue had a play off in their group and requested a postponement of the semi final. When this was refused by the Féile Officials they conceded and the semi final was awarded to Davitt’s. The sun made a reappearance for the finals on Saturday. After saying their goodbyes to their generous hosts in St Vincent's the team headed to Croke Park. The drama did not end there as fifteen minutes before taking the pitch for their 1. 00 final Davitt’s manager Tom Breheny was informed by the Féile organisers that Aghabullogue had lodged an objection and the game would be postponed and may go ahead at the end of the other scheduled games or be deferred and played at an alternative venue at a later date after the semi final. After a couple of anxious hours the final went ahead at 4. 30 and though Davitt’s started well going 0-2 to 0-0 up early on, Newport/Ballinahinch of Tipperary finished stronger and though Davitt’s managed to stay in touch for most of the game the Munster side scored two late goals to leave the final score 3-3 to 0-2 in their favour. Despite the drama and the disappointment it was still a great day for the club and especially for all the girls, who got to achieve what many only dream of, and play on the hallowed turf of Croke Park. The welcome home the team and management received when they returned to Tynagh that evening also eased the pain of losing a little. The training continued as there was still a County U14 Final to be played. The match between Davitt’s and Sarsfields on July 18 was another epic encounter and indeed this time there was no separating the sides as they finished level at the final whistle. The replay wasn’t fixed until August 28 so the training dragged on another month. It was worth it though when they finished the season on a high note with a sweet one point victory over the New Inn/Bullaun outfit after another enjoyable battle for their supporters. Great credit was due to the Manager Tom Breheny and his management team of Ollie O’Brien, Louise Moloney, Annette Breheny and Bridie O’ Rourke as well as the entire panel of girls who put in such a gigantic effort and achieved so much in 2012. CAMOGIE DAVITTS FÉILE CHAMPIONSHIP DAVITTS FÉILE CAMOGIE PLAYERS TAKEN IN CROKE PARK BEFORE NATIONAL DIVISION 1 FINAL Back row left to right: Emer Donnellan, Roisin Dervan, Courtney Shalvey, Zoe Connors, Elizabeth Burke, Hannah McHugo, Leah Hodgins, Katie Larkin, Emma O'Rourke, Katie Flynn, Ciara Lyons. Front Row left to right: Sarah Breheny, Joanne Glynn, Rebecca Dolan, Taragh Moloney, Leanne Cormican, Megan O'Byrne, Ciara Gardiner, Ashling McHugh, Maria Mitchell, Anita Conroy.
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