East Belfast GAA: 'A test of how far we've come' - county final the next stop for ever-growing camogs

It's funny how sporting stories can be cyclical sometimes.

In July 2020, East Belfast GAA's camogs etched themselves into the history books by taking part in the first-ever camogie match involving a team from that part of the city.

The club itself wasn't even two months old when the camogie team took on Kilclief.

And while the team with 120 years of history ran out comfortable winners on the shores of Strangford Lough, for East Belfast it was still a day to savour; the first chapter of a journey they hoped would soon bring much gladder tidings.

As it turns out, that's exactly what's happened.

Now, 15 months on from that sobering introduction to their code, the East Belfast camogs are readying themselves for a Down Junior Championship final.

Their opponents? Kilclief, of course.

The teams may be the same, but East Belfast's trajectory has been altered dramatically since they last met thanks to their recent form.

Unbeaten in the league, unbeaten in the championship, they will rock up to Drumaness for Sunday's Halloween decider (13:00 GMT) emboldened by an ever-growing belief and with reason to be confident after having discovered a handy knack for winning.

"At the start of the year, you dream about being in the county final so it's great that we're here," says Aine Moynan, East Belfast's Laois-born captain.

"The team we're playing is the team we played in our first-ever match, so it's a nice wee test of how far we've come."

It has been a whirlwind year or so for East Belfast, but one they have spent building friendships and developing their players as nomads.

While they have been playing home matches at the Dub in south Belfast, they are still looking for a permanent base.

In the meantime, the camogs have been training on hockey pitches, rugby pitches and on astro turf surfaces, while on Thursday evening they were put through their paces at Falls Park as a nearby fireworks display lit up the west Belfast sky.

Setting up shop anywhere with posts is hardly ideal preparation, but it has failed to impinge on this team's journey to becoming county finalists.

"We've gone a good part of the year without even seeing hurling posts," explained Moynan.

"We have to train at nine o'clock at night just to get a pitch so having a base would be great for our preparation moving forward."

'I think we would have laughed at you'

The aim on Sunday will be get one over on old foes Kilclief, but regardless of the outcome, East Belfast's latest match represents another significant signpost for a club still navigating the embryonic stages of its existence.

"We had three goals for this year," said Kimberly Robertson, East Belfast's vice-chair.

"One of them was to win a home match - a match at home in east Belfast - to win a league match and to win a championship match.

"We crushed those goals. Those goals were beaten so quickly. We've won every game we've played, we're undefeated in the league and championship so I think anything over our goals was a bonus, an extra."

When East Belfast founding member Daithi MacRaibhaigh pushed send on a tweet to gauge interest in the new club in May 2020, he never could have predicted the response.

Now the club has 400 adult playing members across four codes, including 86 registered camogs and youth programmes for under-fives, under-sevens and under-nines, with plans for expansion in the new year.

"I don't think we could ever have imagined these numbers," admitted Robertson, who was born in Boston, Massachusetts.

"Last year, we had about 40 or 50 registered camogs so we've doubled the size of the squad.

"These girls are my world. I'm so proud of them and everything this club has accomplished. Not just the camogs, the hurlers are in the championship on Saturday against Kilclief.

"The men's footballers unfortunately got knocked out of their championship last week, the ladies footballers won the Junior Plate in their division.

"If you had asked us last year would we all be in championship and that we'd be winning trophies and medals and continuing on to finals, I think we would have laughed at you."