Ulster Senior Ladies Football Championship final: Monaghan (holders) v Donegal (Sunday, St Tiernach’s Park, Clones, 3.45pm)
IT is the final we have all been patiently waiting for the past few weeks. Monaghan – the reigning champions, appearing in their 17th final in 18 years, going for their 10th title. In their way is Donegal – first time senior provincial winners in 2015 and very much the in-form team in the country and many people’s favourites for a second Ulster title in three years.
Calling favourites for this 2017 title is a hard one. Why wouldn’t you say Monaghan are the favourites? They are the champions after all and they have set the benchmark for the rest of the county teams in Ulster over the past two decades.
Under Paula Cunningham, they have an experienced and accomplished manager. The plethora of experienced and exciting young players they have at their disposal mean they have every right to be carry the favourites tag.
However, they come up against a Donegal side that were just a whisker away from a first ever Division One title only for Cork to hold out for victory.
And while Michéal Naughton’s side were gunning for league glory, Monaghan were fighting for survival at the other end, needing a relegation play-off victory over Armagh to ensure their 20 plus year Division One status.
It is a different kettle of fish when it comes to championship football and neither side will care who is viewed as favourites as they focus solely on winning the game.
There will be epic battles all over the pitch with top class defenders on both sides aiming to thwart scoring chances from the top class forwards in Geraldine McLaughlin, Eilish Ward and Yvonne McMonagle for Donegal and Caoimhe Mohan, Ciara McAnespie and Cathriona McConnell for Monaghan.
If the forwards produce the same kind of scores from the semi-final – some of which were right out of the top drawer – then the crowd in Clones are in for a real treat.
“It’s great to be back in an Ulster final,” said Monaghan co-captain Laura McEnaney, who will lead her team-mates out along with Ciara McAnespie, hoping to get their hands on the silverware for the second year running.
“Anytime you put the Monaghan jersey on there is expectation and pressure to perform.
We know how tough a task it will be against Donegal. But that’s championship finals. Nothing is going to be easy, it will go down to the wire.”
Both semi-finals – Donegal’s against Armagh and Monaghan’s against Cavan – saw the victors turn in impressive second half performances.
Donegal went from scoring nothing in the first half and facing an 11-point half-time deficit to hitting 1-14 in the second half to defeat Armagh by four points.
Monaghan found themselves trailing Cavan by six points early on but going in level at half-time before blowing their opponents away in the second half with some exhibitionist football.
However, playing just for one half will not be enough tomorrow and Donegal and Monaghan know that.
McEnaney says they have had plenty to work on since the semi-final but getting the result was at the forefront of their minds.
“Against Cavan the most important thing was the result,” she added.
“We came away from the game with plenty to work on. We will need to put in a good 60 minute performance against Donegal and if we do we will be there or thereabouts.
“We played them [Donegal] two years ago in an Ulster final and they have developed since then and we are under no illusions that they are one of, if not the, in-form team at the minute.
“They also beat us in the league this year so we have a massive task ahead of us on Sunday.”
Equally weighing up the massive task ahead of them is Donegal captain Geraldine McLaughlin (below), who hopes that character they showed in their 11-point comeback against Armagh will be on display once again.
“The wind was very bad that day, but we didn’t start to play until the second half. We knew if we got a score that it would settle us but that won’t be good enough on Sunday if we want to beat Monaghan,” she said.
“Monaghan are one of the best teams in Ulster and they have experience from playing in so many finals and excellent players that will do damage if we don’t stop them.
“It’s always a tough game when we play them and we saw that in the league it was an excellent game and could have gone either way. If we were to beat Monaghan we will have to play to our potential. Anything less won’t be good enough.”
Ulster Junior Ladies' Football Championship final: Derry v Fermanagh (Sunday, St Tiernach’s Park, Clones, 1.45pm)
WHOEVER emerges triumphant from the Ulster Junior Championship final between Fermanagh and Derry will treasure the silverware as much as the winners of the senior contest a couple of hours later.
For these two teams, who have been going through a tough rebuilding process over the last few years, the chance of success is very much within both their reaches.
Derry last won the provincial title in 2009. Since then they have contested only two more finals, both against Antrim in 2012 and 2016. But since 2009, there have only been two finals as, with Antrim at intermediate level, Derry were the sole junior team in Ulster. Having won it in 2016, Antrim were favourites to retain their title in 2017 but Derry had other ideas in the semi-final a fortnight ago. They lost heavily to Fermanagh in the first semi-final, but the Oak Leaf county had another bite at the cherry to reach the final and they shocked the Saffrons, winning by six points after extra-time.
They did need a late 1-1 from talisman Emma Doherty in the dying minutes to send the game into extra-time, but it was no less than they deserved over the 60 minutes as they rose to the occasion and took the game to Antrim.
In the first game, it was very much all one-way traffic for Fermanagh with three first half goals, and two of those within a minute of one another, paving the way for a 3-12 to 0-9 win over Derry.
They certainly will not get it as easy this time around when the sides meet in the first of the double-header in Clones. And if Derry can produce the same smart type of football that saw them see off Antrim, then this really is anyone’s game.
Fermanagh will carry the favourites tag – they have come down to junior from intermediate level this year and they have been able to retain a good nucleus of players led by captain Aine McGovern with Sharon Little (inset) one of the key scorers.
The Erne county have also played, until this year, their league football over the past handful of seasons in Divisions Two and Three. Unfortunately they found themselves in the bottom tier for 2017 after relegation last year. They did, however, make the Division Four semi-finals this year, missing out on a place in the final to eventual winners Longford, and that all bodes well for Emmet Curry’s side as they continue their development.
They will also be hoping to have a good run in the All-Ireland series, but for now Ulster is their only target and Derry their only focus.
Derry are a very young side but they do still retain some experience in Ciara Moore, Danielle Kivlehan, Ciara McGurk, Dania Donnelly and captain Cait Glass. They will be key to settling early nerves and providing the link between defence and attack. Under Paul Hassan, Paul Crozier and Sean Laverty this year, Derry are in a settled place and making the Ulster final and winning it will be a big step forward in the county’s development.
The pressure, as Derry boss Hassan sees it, is all on Fermanagh and this final gives Derry the chance to lay down their marker for the All-Ireland series.
“There will certainly not be 12 points between the teams this time around,” he said.
“Perhaps we were a bit over-hyped and over-thought things for the first game, but against Antrim, when you saw the heart and the bottle those players put in to turn that game around from a five-point deficit to a six-point win, you see we have earned the right to be in this final.
“All the pressure is on Fermanagh – they have been the intermediate side. Everyone will be expecting Fermanagh to beat Derry but we are certainly not there to make up the numbers.”
Fermanagh manager Emmet Curry knows that it will be a very different Derry team that turns up tomorrow.
“I watched them against Antrim and I would very wary of Derry. They are a good side,” he said.
“We are very much looking forward to the final and going up against them again. We didn’t win a match last year so to be preparing for a final and ready to play in one is great. No Ulster title is easily won.”
