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www.ladiesgaelic.ie | SUMMER 2023 | 39 "IT WAS BALL FOR BALL AND I THINK ANYONE WOULD HAVE DESERVED TO COME AWAY WITH THE WIN TODAY, BUT WE'RE LUCKY WE WERE JUST ON THAT END OF IT." Images clockwise from top: 1 Neasa Dooley of Kildare reacts after a missed chance during the 2023 Lidl Ladies National Football League Division 3 Final match between Clare and Kildare at Parnell Park in Dublin. 2 Kildare captain Grace Clifford, 8, lifts the cup as she celebrates with teammates after their victory. 3 Kildare captain Grace Clifford lifts the cup after her side's victory in the 2023 Lidl Ladies National Football League Division 3 Final match between Clare and Kildare at Parnell Park in Dublin.. 4 Neasa Dooley of Kildare scores her side's first goal, from a penalty, past Clare goalkeeper Amy Lenihan. INTERVIEW claimed their first Division 3 crown on a final score of 2-11 to 2-10. Even though the Lilywhites had four players sin-binned over the course of 80 tension-filled minutes, their character shone through in the face of adversity. "I was one of those girls who got a yellow card unfortunately. The first one [with less than two minutes played], we just talked amongst each other and decided 'look, we need to start holding this ball now for the next 10 minutes'," Dooley said. "I think we did very well, but we knew coming into this game that Clare were going to be an absolutely excellent team and they proved that there today. It was ball for ball and I think anyone would have deserved to come away with the win today, but we're lucky we were just on that end of it." After working alongside her predecessor Sean Finnegan for the 2022 season, this year has seen former Mayo footballer Diane O'Hora stepping up to the Kildare managerial hot seat. She has established a strong coaching pedigree since hanging up her playing boots with a number of different roles across the club and inter-county games. Dooley views Ballina native O'Hora as a dream manager for this Kildare team, though she credits the entire backroom team for helping them to secure Division 2 football for 2024. "She was in the set-up there last year and she was fantastic then. This year obviously she's playing a different role in a managerial role and she has just been fantastic since day one. To have her experience there when she was with Mayo back then and winning All- Irelands with them. To have that experience in her with this team, it has proven really crucial. "In all in one with the management there. The whole backroom team, they're really pushed on with us and they've put in so much work with us. It's paying off on days like this, so hopefully we can keep driving on now and win more." Given she just missed out on their TG4 All- Ireland intermediate football championship final win back in 2016 - which was also against Clare in a nail-biting affair - Dooley is now looking forward to what the summer might bring for this Kildare side. The league final victory has also left the 23-year-old student with boundless optimism for what the future will hold for ladies football within the county. "We're looking forward to championship now. Those are days you're living for. We're really looking forward to it now come summer. To look around here now at the minute, we've so many younger girls in the Kildare jersey and we heard them from the very first whistle to the very last," Dooley added. "To be honest, I think that was a huge push on for us, when we heard them chanting in the stadium. It's fantastic to see. I'd hope to see them all in a Kildare jersey some day, in a few years' time."