Clíona Gibbons has just qualified as a pharmacist – and got just what the doctor ordered last weekend!
Full-back Gibbons captained Carndonagh to win the Donegal Senior Camogie Championship title as they defeated Burt 3-8 to 1-10 after extra-time in a gripping tie at The Scarvey in Buncrana.
The Inishowen side will now face the Cavan champions in the Ulster Junior Championship next month.
Gibbons completed her pharmacy studies at Ulster University, Coleraine, after four years in college and one year of training. Gibbons is working in Derry now as a locum for a medicare group.
It has been difficult to juggle everything, between playing camogie and football as well as studying. Gibbons has juggled it to perfection, though, and led her team to a famous win on Saturday.
“It has been hard to prioritise everything and I have needed to sacrifice some things, but Tricia (Lafferty, manager) and the boys have been very understanding,” Gibbons said.
“It has been hard to prioritise everything and I have needed to sacrifice some things, but Tricia (Lafferty, manager) and the boys have been very understanding,” Gibbons said.
Victory seemed as if it would elude Carndonagh for long spells and they had to endure a gripping finale to normal time. Roisin Toland’s goal looked like it might win it for Carn, who were behind for much of the tie, but when Aoibhinn Wallace netted for Burt the pendulum swung back to the Hibernian Park outfit.
The clock was well into red time and Burt had their fingers almost on the silverware when Brónagh Butler, who scored six points, arrowed over the leveller to take the game to extra time.
Gibbons said: “We were just on an adrenaline rush at that point. We knew that we weren’t done. We were actually buzzing for extra time. The mood was much more positive than it was at half-time. It wasn’t that we felt defeated at half-time, but the first half was tough.
“There were a few doubts hanging over us in the last few minutes until Brónagh got the free. We were in the trenches. Burt gave us a great game.
“When Burt got that goal, we just knew that we needed to get something out of the game. I didn’t know how long was left and didn’t want to look at the scoreboard. I was just praying that there were a few minutes left. The equalising point was in the 62nd minute so we didn’t have long to go.
“We just didn’t want to get nothing after all the hard work we put in.”
“We just didn’t want to get nothing after all the hard work we put in.”
In extra time, Carn took command with an early goal by the captain’s sister, Ciara, blasting home from close range at the outset of the extra period,. That laid the platform for Carn’s hour of glory.
It didn’t come without Gibbons and co in the full-back line having to dig deep.
“The goal early in the extra period set us up nicely, but Burt were hammering balls in at us. We felt under siege. Brónagh dropped into defence. We just defended as much as we could and then we were trying to score too so we were a bit stretched.
“We were just buzzing when the whistle went. Everyone was just bouncing about in the middle of the pitch.”
Carndonagh had to navigate a tough semi-final, too. They ended the three-in-a-row quest of Markievicz, who had been a recent dominant force. Carndonagh triumphed 4-6 to 2-6 in a game also played in Buncrana.
“The fact that we had a hard, tough semi-final definitely stood to us. That was a tough weekend. We had a football match the next morning too, but it was a great win to get.
“That was the first time since Markievicz had a senior team that they didn’t get to the final.”
After winning the title, Carndonagh took the Mary Rose Newman Doherty Cup back home. The prize is named after a woman who played camogie for Carndonagh in the 1950s and who was a real pioneer of the sport.
“She actually lived just up the road from us. Tricia was telling us beforehand to bring Mary Rose back where she belongs so that was special.”
There was a particularly familial feel to the victory with a staggering SEVEN sets of siblings in the team, which is drawn from players from Carndonagh, Muff, Malin, Buncrana and Urris.
Carndonagh is a thriving hub for camogie these days and the senior ranks have plenty of survivors from their 2023 group that also won the Donegal crown.
Carndonagh is a thriving hub for camogie these days and the senior ranks have plenty of survivors from their 2023 group that also won the Donegal crown.
“I’ve been playing since I was five. We have all been playing since that age. At underage, Nuala Lafferty took us and she is still out, starting from the very start with teams and has my niece and nephew now. The club U16s are in a final next week against Burt as well.
“We did win a lot in the young ages and there was a younger group that was at the Féile in 2015. They have done so well winning U16s and minors. They have just been so used to winning.”
Gibbons’ father, John, works as a GAA coach and his daughter began in the Cúl Camps, “maybe getting slipped in a wee bit early!”
While Carndonagh are on a real high, so too is camogie in general across Donegal. This year, the county fielded a senior team at Centra National League and Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Championship level for the first time. Gibbons played camogie for Donegal at U16 and U14 levels and has also represented her county at U16 and minor levels in Gaelic football.
“There are teams in Donegal now where there weren’t teams before. It’s much more competitive. The League and Championship could have both gone anyway this year so it’s great to have that competition.
“We’re still playing football for the next few weeks and it’ll be nice to get a chance to play for Carndonagh in Ulster. It’s a bit of an unknown for us, but we’ll just take this match-by-match. We have a squad of 25 now and it’s growing. Younger girls are stepping up now all the time and the girls are all just great to play with.”
