Ulster Senior Club Championship semi-final: Moneyglass St Ergnats (Antrim) v St Macartan's (Tyrone) (Sunday, Moneyglass, 2pm)
AN exciting semi-final is in prospect as Antrim champions Moneyglass St Ergnat's and their Tyrone counterparts St Macartan's come together in tomorrow’s Ulster Senior Club Championship semi-final at Moneyglass.
It is the first time the sides will have met and Moneyglass will hope to make home advantage count. It could prove crucial as very little may separate these sides come the final whistle. Both teams have a plethora of talent among them and both come into this last four clash on the back of quarter-final wins that they hope will stand them in good stead.
Charlie O’Kane’s Moneyglass are an exciting side to watch and with the likes of Orlaith Prenter, Maria and Sarah O’Neill, Bronagh and Aine Devlin, Eleanor Mallon, Niamh McIntosh, Anna McCann and captain Cathy Carey they are a strong outfit. They have built their experience by playing against St Paul’s over the years, trying to take the Antrim title from their grasp and finally doing so in 2021. They made it back-to-back county titles last month and after a win over Bredagh, last year’s Ulster finalists, in last weekend’s quarter-final, they now find themselves in the last four but want to push and go one step further than last year, to reach the final.
“Macartan's are a well seasoned team. They have won Ulster, they have played a lot in the competition over the years,” said captain Cathy Carey.
“They will have all the experience,But we have never played them and both teams are going in blind to each other but we go out and give it a good crack and it would be lovely to build on what was Sunday past but we know it’s a massive test ahead of us.”
As Carey says, St Macartans are seasoned campaigners in this competition, winning the coveted title in 2017. The backbone of Ryan McMenamin’s team is made up players who have enjoyed huge success with St Macartans like Maura McMenamin, Paula Donnelly, Colleen and Shannon McQuaid, Slaine McCarroll, Chloe McCaffrety, Niamh McGirr and Cathy Maguire.
They defeated Kinawley in the quarter-final, 1-12 to 1-6, and they did not have it all their way, having to come from behind at half-time. Captain Marie Treanor hopes that will stand to them against Moneyglass in what should be a really close contest.
“It took a lot of grit to get over the line last Sunday by the whole team and delighted we did that,” said Treanor. “
Moneyglass is another massive challenge to overcome on Sunday especially away, they have a lot of quality players. If we can go down there with the correct mindset and play to our strengths we won’t be far away.”
