Ulster Minor A Championship Final: Donegal v Monaghan (Tomorrow, Killyclogher, 3.30pm)
THERE will be new Ulster champions crowned tomorrow evening when the final whistle is blown in the Minor A final between Monaghan and Donegal at Killyclogher.
Monaghan dethroned defending champions Cavan in the semi-final but Donegal have also defeated the Breffni County in the group stages of the competition. Neither has tasted defeat on route to the decider, coming through with three wins from three to top their groups.
Donegal, managed by James McGinley, defeated Armagh 4-9 to 0-8 in their semi-final played on Monday past while Paula Cunningham’s Monaghan had four points to spare over Cavan 1-10 to 0-9.
A solid first half from the Tir Chonaill girls put them in the driving seat at the break, 2-4 to 0-3 with Donegal senior player Amy Boyle Carr and Eimear Alcorn grabbing first half goals.
Boyle Carr added another one in the second half as did Niamh McDonald while Susanne White finished with six points, five from frees.
Hannah Sherlock’s 13th minute goal proved decisive as Monaghan ended Cavan’s reign in a nip and tuck affair. That edged them into the lead for the first time, 1-1 to 0-3, and they did not relinquish it. They led 1-5 to 0-5 at half-time with Cavan unable to get any closer than two points and a couple of late points from the Farney County securing the victory.
Both sides are littered with talent. Donegal have six players on the senior panel. Amy Boyle Carr and Megan Ryan, who missed the semi-final win over Armagh through injury, have become first team starters on Maxi Curran’s side while Kate McClenaghan, who was also out injured for the semi, and Niamh McDonald made their senior debuts in Donegal’s Division One league semi-final defeat against Galway and Megan Ferry and Lauren Carr were named among the substitutes.
Monaghan, while they have no representation on the senior county team, have the likes of Donaghmoyne stars, twin sisters Lauren and Amy Garland, Aisling McAnespie – another one of from the McAnespie dynasty, Jane Drury, Hannah Sherlock and Jennifer Duffy, who are all rising young stars.
Donegal manager James McGinley is expecting a closely fought battle between the sides.
“Cavan have been the standard bearers in Ulster recently at all the underage levels. Monaghan have some excellent players, they are physically strong and have pace in all the right areas. Their defence is excellent and when they break, they break at speed and it is about seeing how fast they can the ball into the full-forward line,” he said.
““It was a target at the start of the year, to reach the Ulster A final and now that we are here, our target is to win it. We are not in the final to make up the numbers and I think it will be a very evenly contested game. There will not be one runaway winner.”
And Monaghan boss Paula Cunningham believes the Farney carry a lot of confidence going into the final after their victory over Cavan but that hard work will count for little if they don’t produce a match-winning performance tomorrow.
“We are delighted to be in the final and to have come through the test of Cavan in the semi-finals,” said Cunningham. “The girls were on a high after beating Cavan, it was like a final itself, but we haven’t won anything yet and it will only count if we win on Sunday.”
Both managers pointed out the hard work being done at all levels of underage within their respective counties as they look at the bigger picture of developing their talented players for the future.
“It has been eight years since Donegal were in an Ulster Minor A final. Michael [Naughton] and Maxi [Curran] have done a big job with the seniors over the last few years and they are fighting on all fronts,” said McGinley.
“We need our underage to be coming through and stepping up into senior football and there is a lot of working being done at underage level with people Liam Skelly, Donal Sharkey for the development of football in the county.”
Cunningham’s sentiments were similar as Monaghan look to strengthen their underage and help them transition to senior inter-county players.
“It has been a while since Monaghan contested an A final at minor level and it is important to be playing at the highest level possible if you want to build for the future,” she said.
“There is a lot of hard working being done at underage in Monaghan. Our Under 16s, under Darren Greenan and Dermot Lynch, are in the A championship final next weekend and our under 14s who are under Niamh and Fiona Kindlon are progressing well. It is all looking positive at underage and it would be great to finish it off with some silverware.
The Ulster Minor B final between beaten ‘A’ semi-finalists Armagh and Cavan will be the curtain-raiser to tomorrow’s showpiece final at 1.30pm in Killyclogher, while the Ulster Minor C final between Antrim and Down will take place today at Sarsfields, Belfast (3.15pm).
