Friends to rivals in Offaly v Westmeath LGFA Minor final clash

This Saturday's Leinster LGFA Minor C Championship final will see a friends to rivals story as Offaly's Faith McDermott and Westmeath Ladies Minor , Aoife Keegan captain their respective counties.

"We go to school together in Kilbeggan, and believe it or not, last time we were in a Leinster final, we were actually joint captains and we won," said Faith.

However, their close relationship won't get in the way of their end goal, as the girls aim to put aside their friendship while on the pitch.

"We're going on holidays together in July, and we're very close friends. We'll put it all aside on the pitch, and we'll go back to being friends after!" Faith added.

Aoife said: "We're good friends, but I think we both know what's up at the weekend. We'll have to put it aside just for the hour or so on the pitch."

When it comes to leading their teams to success, both Aoife and Faith have similar styles of encouragement.

"We both have similar approaches. We try to encourage the girls, it's really important to keep everyone in good spirits," Aoife said.

"All the girls have great skill, so it's just about keeping everyone confident, keeping the team together, knowing your roles, and just doing your best!"

The Offaly captain plays both junior and senior football for her local club, Ballinamere/Durrow. The club won the junior title in 2024, and Faith now has her sights set on the senior title. "Hopefully, if we get our training right!"

Faith is also a former two-time kickboxing world champion. "I did kick-boxing with my local club in Tullamore, and I won in 2017 and 2019."

The Westmeath captain plays with the Streamstown-based St Joseph's LGFA - a club which has gone from strength to strength in recent years.

"In the last few years, we've gone from junior to senior, and we've managed to stay up which is brilliant," said Aoife.

"We're a young club, and we're growing. We had new managers coming in which completely changed things, and really brought me on coming from junior all the way to senior."