Football

Injury-hit Donegal meet Armagh in potential semi-final thriller

Donegal manager Michael Naughton leads his side into Ulster Senior Ladies' Football Championship semi-final action against Armagh on Saturday evening
Donegal manager Michael Naughton leads his side into Ulster Senior Ladies' Football Championship semi-final action against Armagh on Saturday evening Donegal manager Michael Naughton leads his side into Ulster Senior Ladies' Football Championship semi-final action against Armagh on Saturday evening

Ulster Senior Championship semi-final: Armagh v Donegal (today, Sperrin Og, Greencastle, 7pm)

CHAMPIONSHIP football hits full throttle this weekend with the first of two eagerly anticipated Ulster Senior Championship semi-finals taking place this evening.

2015 champions Donegal take on 2014 champions Armagh in Greencastle for a place in the final on, with reigning champions Monaghan getting their defence under way in seven days’ time against Cavan, in a repeat of last year’s final.

Micheal Naughton’s Donegal side are many people’s favourites for senior honours this year after their impressive league campaign that saw them narrowly miss out on a first ever Division One title, losing by the narrowest of margins to champions Cork.

But the Sligo native is not concerned about what other people think as he focusses solely on plotting to overcome the challenge of Armagh. The Orchard side are managed by former Donegal mentor Sean O’Kane, who was part of Davy McLaughlin’s management team when Donegal won their first ever senior provincial title two years ago.

“We don’t worry about what other people think, our focus in on ourselves and our ability,” said Naughton.

“The championship is a different ball game from the league. It is winner-takes-all on the day and we will be taking nothing for granted, all you have to do is look at Cork and Waterford last weekend.

“We had a good run in the league with our objective to consolidate our Division One status but we maybe punched above our weight and got to a league final. A bit of luck on the day with taking chances, we might have won. But we are looking forward now and we need to be at the top of our game for Armagh.

“People will look at Donegal as on the up and teams will be wanting to beat us but I know if we can give the performance we are capable of, we can get over Armagh. They are not a team to be taken lightly having beaten Cork and Dublin. They will be looking at this game as their Ulster final and so will know it’s all to play for.”

Both sides are not without injury concerns, but Donegal are particularly plagued. Kate Keaney is out for the season after suffering a cruciate injury in the opening minutes of the league final; Shannon McGroddy was injured at training, while Laura Gallagher and Niamh Mailey are both in the running for the goalkeeping jersey as regular number one Aoife McColgan is unavailable due to the Leaving Certificate. They will also be without forward Amber Barrett.

Armagh must battle on without captain Caoimhe Morgan, who also is out with a cruciate injury, but will be shouting loudly from the sidelines as her team-mates go to battle.

“It’s a big day for us. We were disappointed with the league having beaten the likes of Cork and Dublin but not doing enough to stay up,” said manager Sean O’Kane.

“We have prepared well since for the championship. It has been a case of moving on and not dwelling on what we cannot change. Donegal will be a tough ask. They are the in-form team and probably one of the best in the country at the minute, but this is what championship football is all about; playing against the best teams and you have to be able to beat the best teams along the way and if you play to your potential on the day and put in the performance, who knows what will happen.

“It is poised to be a very interesting game and we are going in very positive having put in a lot of hard work over the weeks and knowing that we can put in a good performance.”

THE provincial junior competition actually gets the Ulster Championship up and running beforehand in the first of a double-header at the County Tyrone venue (5pm).

For the first time in many years, three teams will compete for this year’s junior honours - defending champions Antrim and Derry are joined in this tier this year by Fermanagh, with the Oak Leaf and the Erne counties battling it out for a place in the Sunday, July 2 final.

There will be little time to dwell for the losing side as they are straight back into action next Saturday in Galbally with a second chance but this time it will be against the champions, Antrim, which will be the curtain-raiser to the second senior semi-final.

Fermanagh and Derry have already met in competitive action this year, in an earlier Division Four league game, with the former claiming victory and then narrowly missing out on a Division Four final spot to Wicklow in the semi-finals.

Having played intermediate championship football for the past number of years and retaining a good nucleus of their players with the likes of goalkeeper Roisin Gleeson, defenders Marita McDonald and Shauna Hamilton, midfielder and captain Aine McHugh and forwards Sharon Murphy (formerly Little) and Joanne Doonan, Emmet Curry’s Fermanagh side will edge their opponents on that favourites tag, but in the Oak Leaf county, who are now under Paul Hasson, Paul Crozier and Sean Laverty, things have been looking more promising than in recent years and they have been training hard in preparation for the championship.