"It's everything you dream of"- Scoring star Hurley revels in All-Ireland victory

While Johnstownbridge will be heaving tonight with the celebrations of the town's camogie team's achievement, it was likely a quiet place this afternoon. It seemed as if nearly every member of the community had made their way south to Birr to cheer on a superb team that was aiming to win back-to-back All-Ireland camogie titles, with green and blue beanie hats populating the vast majority of the stand.

That support has helped them on a fabulous run over the last two years, with the ladies from west Kildare having not lost a championship match since 2014.

The level of interest in a sport that so often falls down the agenda of the average sports fan has shot up in the area over the last two years, and it was fully evident as a large gathering of people filed into St Brendan's Park to will their side on against Scariff/Ogonnelloe of Clare. The level of support they receive is not lost on Siobhán Hurley, who couldn't hide her excitement as she embraced her young son Óran after the full time whistle.

"The support we get from Johnstown and everything, the community and the kids are all out at our training sessions. Camogie is cool again and it's just brilliant to see the effect that it has on the community, but on a personal level it's absolutely amazing. It's everything you dream of," she told KildareNow.

It was a fabulous team performance, with everyone putting their shoulder to the wheel to seal the title, but Hurley was a cut above most of her teammates. She score all but 1-2 of her side's tally, and it was her shot that led to Roisin O'Connell's all important goal, while she also laid on the pass to set up her cousin Claire for a point. An extremely modest Hurley opted to heap the praise on her colleagues however.

"Most of them were from frees, and the girls out the pitch did humongous work to actually get those frees," she said of her eight-point haul.

"It's easy for the free-taker to take all the credit when they just have to tap over balls that others have fought for, but I think it was a brilliant team performance today. The backs were immense, they just held them. That team scored 6-22 last time out, and this week I don't know what they scored but it wasn't even close. It was just brilliant to put in a great team performance in the final."

It looked like Johnstownbridge were home and hosed when their sharp shooting centre-forward pushed them four points clear as the game ticked towards injury time, but her counterpart, Mairéad Scanlan, scored a late goal to ensure a frenetic finish.

"To be honest with you, I was worried, but this team I have so much trust in. I never get the feeling that we're going to lose, like I'm always afraid that we're going to lose; we're never complacent. But I just trust every girl so much, like the block Eimear got in at the end was unreal, that's what Johnstown is made of," exclaimed Hurley.

Having secured two All-Ireland titles in a row at the junior grade, Johnstownbridge will now compete in the Intermediate Championship. The step up should prove to be a significant challenge for the six-in-a-row county champions, but it's a challenge to be excited about, not feared according to Hurley.

"I'm really looking forward to it because Myshall beat us in the Leinster final three or four years ago and they won the Leinster Intermediate Championship this year so it'll be great to get to test ourselves against them once again," she concluded.