“I’m on cloud nine, I can’t even speak. It was just unbelievable” | Yvonne and Grace Lee reflect on Monagea’s Senior Ladies Football triumph

Monagea picked up a third ever Limerick Ladies Senior Football title on Sunday in the TUS Gaelic Grounds.

After suffering successive losses to St Ailbes in the 2019 and 2020 finals, Monagea made no mistake in the Gaelic Grounds with a 1-9 to 1-6 win.

Reflecting on the win, their first since 2018, captain Yvonne Lee was beaming with delight.

“The girls are just the most dedicated group and it means the world to us, we’ve been through such horror the last few years, the heartbreak that we’ve had and we were just not coming in here and losing it today.

“I’m on cloud nine, I can’t even speak. It was just unbelievable”

Yvonne Lee

In a very physical encounter, Monagea gave as good as they got as both sides put their bodies on the line in pursuit of the Tom Madigan Cup.

Monagea found the first three point of the lead in the third quarter but were pegged back by Bally who grabbed the games first goal.

But in the style of true champions, Monagea responded with one of their own and didn’t look back from here.

“It’s always the same when we play Ballylanders, they’re up for it always like we are and they were just gunning to go.

“They had just gotten a goal before us and it was just how we responded to it, fo us it was winning of it because if we didn’t respond we would be in a lot of trouble.”

And after losing three out of the last four finals, Grace Lee, sister to Yvonne, outlined the importance of the win and also the importance of the venue with the final returning to the Gaelic Grounds for the first time in five years.

“I know a lot of people say ‘you play to be involved’ but we’re playing to win, we’re not playing to win medals but we’re playing for this feeling, to be on cloud nine, to be this happy and to share it with all our teammates.

“With the state that the ground is in, it’s immaculate, it really had that county final buzz. Ladies football deserves to be here, Ballylanders deserve to play here as much as we do… It added to winning to play here.”