ROSTREVOR ladies footballers secured promotion to Division One with Sunday’s win over Clonduff, and in doing so ended a long period of frustration.
The ladies footballers have been battling to get up to the top tier for years. After suffering repeated disappointments, they earned their place on Sunday.
“The girls have always felt that they were knocking on the door. They had finished second a lot. Only one team was going up. We felt that we had to make a go, and they had to get promoted this year.”
Just before the league started, the rules were changed at the start of the year so that two teams would go up. While that change provided a safety net, the Rostrevor girls remained focused on the goal at hand.
“If you are playing in the senior championship, which is what we are in, then you have to be playing in Division One. No disrespect to teams in Division Two, but if you want to compete with Bredagh and Carryduff then you need to be playing those teams three or four times a season to get to that level.
“That is what Rostrevor want to do. It is not going to be easy, it is going to take a long time to get there, especially to catch Carryduff, but that is the long-term aim for the club.”
Rostrevor defeated Clonduff by 3-12 to 0-9 on Sunday.
“We went in two points up at half time. Clonduff had a strong wind at their back in the first half.
“They were very hard hitting. But that is the new rules, and our girls love them, they love that physicality.
“Against Clonduff Cristin Brown came on and that gave the team a lift. But as the game went on it was getting away from Clonduff and we ran away with it at the end. But the scoreline didn’t really reflect the match. It was a lot tighter.”
