Sacred Heart Westport senior football team ready for All-Ireland semi-final

They say time is a great healer. Look no further for proof of that than the Westport Sacred Heart football team. Almost a year ago, they saw an All-Ireland Post Primary School’s Senior A title slip from their despairing grasp in a final for the ages against Loreto College of Meath.

“There was devastation,” recalls their manager, John Coyle. However, there wasn’t a sign of it to be seen on the ten giggly heads that rocked up for photos, videos and interviews with two Mayo News hacks on one fine February afternoon this week.

Coyle was right in the thick of the banter – clearly as popular as ever among the Sacred Heart ladies. It’s all so different from the when the career guidance teacher last spoke to The Mayo News after the All-Ireland final. He could barely even bring himself to do the full-time team talk that day.

“I put a message up on Teams. I definitely would have broken down crying if I spoke to them because the effort they put in was so big and I was so disappointed for them, because they gave it absolutely everything. It didn’t work out on the day for us, but I was so proud of them as a group,” he tells The Mayo News during our most recent visit.

Five players have moved on since last year’s campaign; players of no lesser ability than Mayo seniors Aoife Staunton, Sorcha McCarney and Laura Moran. Apart from that, Sacred Heart are as strong as ever heading into their second All-Ireland semi-final in two years. They face a Maynooth Educational Campus who’ll ride into town as reigning All-Ireland B champions.

With the pick of Burrishoole, Kilmeena and Westport to draw from, Sacred Heart are blessed with a wealth of intercounty players. Among the survivors from last year’s rumble in Longford are; team captain Beth Hoban (Carnacon), Sarah Mulroy (Westport), Hannah Sheehy (Burrishoole), Ellie Hyland (Westport), Eabha Carney (Kilmeena) and Christina McEvilly (Westport).

They also have the pick of the school’s recent Connacht title-winning U-16 side, meaning the likes of Grace McDonnell (Burrishoole), Larissa Kelly (Westport), Doireann Guilfoyle (Burrishoole) and Aoife Meaney (Westport) will be firing on all cylinders this Sunday.

The journey back from the pits of despair has been a long one. But the beaming smiles on the young women gathered around the table in the small school office tells us it’s been one they’ve absolutely loved.

“It was difficult at the start of the year to get motivated again, we went so close and a lot of them lost a junior final two years ago as well so it was: ‘Would we be able to again? Would we have the motivation for it?’,” says Coyle.

“The girls are great. They just get on with it and play the games and thankfully win them.”

These cailíns are no stranger to commitment. Many of them are already mainstays on their clubs’ senior teams and have been playing ball with Mayo since the age of 13. Established Carnacon senior and ex-Mayo Minor captain Beth Hoban sees little difference in the standard of schools and county football.

“I think we’re lucky here that such a majority of us have all had county experience. We gel together as a team, it’s not that much different to playing on a county team or a senior team,” says Hoban.

“The talent here is immense. It’s not like a step down or anything like that. I’d even argue that it’s more intense than a senior club because such a variety of clubs come together it’s almost like a smaller county, so it’s similar.”

“When it comes to commitments and stuff it might be a bit more serious at county level,” adds local girl Sarah Mulroy, “whereas we have the opportunity to enjoy ourselves a bit more.”

That’s done when you have a man who’s as easy to get along with as John Coyle. Indeed, the pre-interview joking and laughter among players and gaffers alike was testament to a team that clearly get on well together.

“We are all so close to him,” Mulroy says of Coyle, who had left the room for a moment. "We wouldn’t be scared to go up and talk to him. We can give our own advice and help really. It’s nice to be able to chat to him like that so obviously he puts in a lot of work like that so we really appreciate what he does for us.”

Coyle returns that appreciation in spades: “It’d be brilliant to see the girls get another shot at it,” says the Kilcommon native. “To get another shot at an All-Ireland final but also if they go out and play as well as they can, when they do that, they’re exceptional. That’s what I’m hoping to see.”

The match will kick-off Sunday, March 10 at St Aidan's GAA, Ballyforan, Roscommon, at 2 pm.