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HEC FINALS - Ella's brother Darragh and sister Aoife joined the ATU Sligo squad on the MTU Cork pitch in celebration. In a touching moment that went viral in the aftermath of the game, they all combined together for a rendition of Ella's favourite song - Travelin' Soldier by The Chicks (the female American country band formerly known as The Dixie Chicks). Having met them in Clashmore, Water- ford at her funeral mass just a few days earlier, Rodgers was delighted to see Ella's family in attendance for the duration of their time at the HEC weekend. "We decided to put the white ribbons in our hairs for Ella and we wrote our initials on our wrists, so that we had them there with us. If we ever needed it during the game, to remember who we were doing it for and why we were doing it, and why we kept going," Rodgers remarked. "It definitely got me through a couple of purple patches whenever we needed it, so it was just a nice way that we thought we could represent Ella with her on the pitch with us. "We had met them [Ella's brother and sister] on Tuesday as well and it was very emotional seeing them there. We were down at the competition on Friday and on the Saturday, they had followed us the whole way through. We wanted to give the family Ella's jersey. To see them with us there, coming down celebrating the win with us with Ella's jersey on, there's really no words for it to be honest. "It still makes me speechless to this day, thinking back on it. It was one of those moments that you'll never forget. They stood by us and we wanted to make sure we stood by them throughout the whole thing. They're a credit to themselves and to Ella, and her whole family." Although it was a bittersweet feeling for all those involved with ATU Sligo, this will go down as a significant victory for ladies football in the college on a number of counts. In addition to honouring O'Neill's memory amidst incredibly tough circumstances, it was also the first ladies title for ATU Sligo since their HEC O'Connor Cup success back in 2000 (when they were still known as IT Sligo). Substantial progress has been made in recent years on the LGFA side of things thanks in no small part to the work of team manager Gavin Cawley and the college's Games Development Officer Michael Harte, and McGourty is hopeful that O'Neill and her team-mates have left a strong legacy that future generations of ATU Sligo foot- ballers can now build upon. "That's what we've been trying to work towards getting back to. The level of Giles and O'Connor Cup, where we probably had been for a number of years. It was a significant win for the college in terms of ladies football and ladies sport in general," McGourty added. "It's 24 years since we won a ladies title. That's a credit to the girls and the management team to get over the line and hopefully start climbing back up the ladder again towards some of the higher levels of ladies football." "IT DEFINITELY GOT ME THROUGH A COUPLE OF PURPLE PATCHES WHENEVER WE NEEDED IT, SO IT WAS JUST A NICE WAY THAT WE THOUGHT WE COULD REPRESENT ELLA WITH HER ON THE PITCH WITH US." Images from left to right: 1. ATU Sligo captain Róisín Rodgers, centre, and her teammates celebrate with the cup after the 2024 Ladies HEC Moynihan Cup final match between ATU Sligo and Mary Immaculate College Limerick at MTU Cork. 2. Róisín Rodgers of ATU Sligo celebrates at the final whistle. 3. Róisín Rodgers of ATU Sligo in action against Andrea O'Connell of MICL during the 2024 Ladies HEC Moynihan Cup final match between ATU Sligo and Mary Immaculate College Limerick at MTU Cork. www.ladiesgaelic.ie | SPRING 2024 | 27