Eureka Secondary School in Kells is proud of its sporting achievements and its Gaelic footballers added to the list in 2010 when a wonderful campaign was capped with the annexation of the All-Ireland Girls' JFC B title.

Winning national honours doesn't just happen by chance and a great deal of hard work went into the preparations which yielded the sort of success which is sure to provide another boost to the promotion of the game in the school. Along the way the girls picked up the Leinster Championship title and when it came to the greater demands of the All-Ireland series they rose to the challenge admirably by completing the job in style.
That provincial success came courtesy of a minimum margin victory over Mountmellick from Laois in the final which was played at St Loman's, Mullingar, in late March. It was achieved with a combination of attacking prowess in the first half and into the early stages of the second and a courageous and wholehearted defensive performance when the pressure was really on in the latter stages of the contest.
The Eureka girls would have had their minds set firmly on making a positive start and they got it when talented midfielder Megan O'Brien, who was later chosen as 'player of the match', demonstrated her importance to the team by slotting over three early points which helped to settle her colleagues into the final.
Emma Somerville, Jacqueline Kavanagh and O'Brien, with her fourth point of the contest, added to Eureka's first half tally as they opened up a 0-6 to 0-2 lead at the change of ends, but it could have been very different but for the outstanding form of their goalkeeper Jennifer Newman.
Mountmellick were a considerable threat up front and Eureka were thankful to Newman for producing two brilliant saves which enabled them to be in a reasonably strong position at the end of that opening period. With the advantage of the strong wind to come in the second half the Laois girls were still very much in the hunt for the provincial title and it would take a Trojan effort from the Kells team to keep them at bay once they got into their stride.
However, just as they had done in the first half Eureka started the second impressively as they increased their lead to a very healthy eight points. Aine Bennett scored an early point and after Mountmellick had hit back with one of their own, Bennett split the uprights again to leave Eureka five clear.
It got a great deal better soon after when half forward Somerville raced through and fired home a great goal and with a 1-8 to 0-3 lead the girls from the Royal County were looking good. But after that it was all about tenacious defending in a bid to hold onto their advantage as Mountmellick stages a valiant recovery.
Eureka didn't score again and Mountmellick reeled off seven points to cut the deficit to the minimum, but when the final whistle eventually sounded the Kells girls were ahead by 1-8 to 0-10 and were Leinster champions.
The team in the Leinster final was - J Newman; L Henry, F Drew, C Browne; D Reilly, G Macken, R O'Brien; R Carry, M O'Brien (0-4); E Somerville (1-1), L Lynch, J Kavanagh (0-1); S Walsh, A Bennett (0-2), S Reilly. Subs - O Duff for Walsh, C Hayes, E Lynch, J Arkins, N Fagan, S Kenny, M Reilly.
St Mary's, Ballina, provided the All-Ireland semi-final opposition at Mullahoran and first half goals from Megan O'Brien and Aine Bennett (penalty) helped Eureka to a 2-8 to 2-5 interval lead after Leanne Lynch (three), Bennett (two), Kavanagh, O'Brien and Sinead Walsh had scored the points.
O'Brien and Kavanagh added goals in the second period which helped Eureka to win by 4-9 to 2-10, but again they were thankful to goalkeeper Newman who produced some great saves, including one from a penalty.
Eureka completed a memorable campaign when they defeated St Paul's of Bessbrook by 4-10 to 2-8 in the All-Ireland final which was played at the Gaelic Grounds, Drogheda, where they led all the way in a very entertaining match. They took their scores superbly and goals early in each half proved vital to the thoroughly merited success.
They made a dream start to the big day when Megan O'Brien goaled after only four minutes following a great move involving Ruth Carry, Sinead Reilly, Leanne Lynch and Somerville and they added a second on 19 minutes when Kavanagh found the net after a Somerville pass.
Those goals helped them to a 2-4 to 0-7 lead at the break and when Bennett added another early in the second half they were well on their way to victory. A fourth goal from Lynch helped to copper-fasten their position of supremacy. Amy Mulholland scored two second half goals for the Armagh girls who never stopped trying when they were behind, but there was no denying Eureka's supremacy.
They possessed a superb half-forward line made up of Somerville, Lynch and Kavanagh, while they defended very well, particularly when St Paul's put them under strong pressure as they tried valiantly to resurrect their title ambitions in the third quarter. Captain Grainne Macken and her colleagues worked tirelessly in this regard and it was a happy and proud moment for Macken and Megan O'Brien when they received the cup from Ladies' GAA president Pat Quill.
The players deserve the highest praise for the great effort they put into a campaign which yielded provincial and national titles and gave the sport of Gaelic football in the school another boost. Praise must also go to their coach David Wright who was ably assisted by Mary Foley and Aideen Mimnagh.
The team in the All-Ireland final was - J Newman; L Henry, F Drew, C Browne; D Reilly, G Macken, R O'Brien; R Carry, M O'Brien (1-2); E Somerville (0-1), L Lynch (1-0), J Kavanagh (1-4); S Walsh, A Bennett (1-3), S Reilly. Sub - O Duff for Walsh. 
 
 
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