GAA: Coleraine side see off Ballinderry in Senior Final

Passmore said: "Last year we took a bad beating in the championship from Lavey who went on to win the Derry, Ulster and All Ireland titles," said Joe.

"We had beaten them twice last year so we knew the players were good enough. But rather than sit about feeling sorry for ourselves, we set about doing everything we could to put that right this season. The players have their reward now."

Joe praised the efforts of the Shamrocks side who were managed by a former Eoghan Rua footballer Chris Heaney.

He said: "Full credit to Ballinderry, they are a better side maybe than we saw today but we had watched them and we had our homework done on them so we knew what to expect."

He was also rightly fulsome in his praise of the Eoghan Rua outfit.

"Our girls are dedicated; they look after themselves really well and train hard," said Joe.

"We have a group of thirty players who have been training three times a week since the end of January with the aim of winning the Derry Championship.

"Anything they are asked to do in training they do it – in the rain, ice and snow, up at the University over many dark winter nights they were put through the wringer time and again. Looking back it was very tough, but there were no complaints."

Joe recalled one particular incident that helped to forge the mentality that brought Eoghan Rua to victory.

"I remember one night in particular all the soccer teams had cancelled their training at the Uni the weather was terrible," he recalled.

"When we arrived we had to go and ask the University to turn the floodlights on - they thought we wouldn't be turning up because the weather was that bad. That's the mentality that brings success."

The success on Sunday had taken more that just the last twelve months as Joe explained.

"The club has grown and grown over the last ten years since Eoghan Rua first fielded a camogie team," he said.

"It means a lot to the people who have been there since the start. Winning a senior championship is down to many, many people doing a lot of work in coaching in the club.

"Young players in the club can look up to this team, and aspire to be an Eoghan Rua senior camogie player. And we have a number of very young players who are a key part of the team and will be for years to come."

Joe also thanked the huge support that travelled to cheer on the victorious Eoghan Rua side.

He said: "It was also great to see the number of supporters who came over to Ballerin to watch the game so a big thank you to them and the club for all its backing."

Despite the euphoria of having just led, along with assistant manager Brendan McLernon, Eoghan Rua to championship glory Joe reflected on the lead up to the final.

"Yesterday we heard the sad news that Annie Kerr, the granny of Megan (who played back) had passed away and that gave the girls another reason to win the game, to honour her memory," he revealed.

"They are a very close group and they pull together for each other really well. There are no big egos and every player knows that the success of the team is the important thing."

Finally when asked what next for this Eoghan Rua side Joe said: "We'll celebrate this together as a team and in a day or two we'll focus on trying to win the league and on giving the Ulster Championship a good rattle - who knows where that might take us."

*More reaction on Page 40