The early morning gym sessions paid off for Gailltir attacker Aoife Fitzgerald.
The 2020 All Ireland club winner dug deep this year to shrug off a back injury and help her club to county senior camogie glory. She missed the two final losses to De La Salle in 2022 and 2023 but came off the bench in injury time last weekend to shoot the lead point for the blue and navy.
"Two years ago, a disc in my back was out of place and it was leaning on nerves in my back," Fitzgerald told WLR's Lár Na Páirce show. "I tried to play through it and put off MRIs just in case it went away. It just didn't. I got sent to Santry then after the MRI. In fairness to Santry, they were outstanding. They tried injections and they didn't work. I went up for the operation and it was a massive setback. I started to put on a bit of weight. Last year, I was on the sideline and I was in no shape to play. That really did kill me, not being able to get a run."
Gailltir manager Róisín Hartley got her back on track. "At the start of this year, I met up with Róisín. I was coming and going. I was like 'do I give it another go or do I stay the way I am.' Thankfully, Róisín met me and she said 'Aoife, we need you to keep going, I would do anything to bring you on in a county final.' I got in touch with our strength and conditioning coach Jimmy Payne and I couldn't ask for a better man to be beside me through all the hard work throughout the year. Early morning sessions, whatever I could do, I did it. I got the results on Saturday afternoon."
Aoife's younger sister Emma rattled the net just a minute before she entered the fray. "While the goal was scored, I was waiting on the line to come on. We've been talking, throughout the year, about that extra one per cent. There was only one shot for me at the end and thankfully it went between the two posts."
Listen back to the full piece with Aoife Fitzgerald and Maeve Sheridan from Friday's Lár Na Páirce.
