TG4 Ulster Intermediate Championship Final: Antrim v Tyrone (holders) (Sunday, Owenbeg, 1.30pm)
THIS is a novel championship pairing between Antrim and Tyrone with the sides meeting in a provincial final for the first time.
They played out a dress rehearsal two weeks ago in the final round-robin game that saw Tyrone emerge two points winners, 2-15 to 4-7, a late Grainne Rafferty penalty sealing victory for Sean O’Kane’s side.
Coming into that game, both sides had already qualified for this final thanks to wins over Monaghan in the three team competition and although the result did not matter, they played out a hugely entertaining, high-scoring game and hopefully that it will something similar this afternoon.
Tyrone are the defending champions and coupled with that recent win over Antrim means the Red Hands will start as favourites. However, Antrim are flying high on the back of successes that include a Division Four league title last month and their All-Ireland Junior triumph last August, that one earning them this step up into intermediate football.
Both sides fielded very different sides that day as they looked to give players a run out and try different things and it will have proved a very valuable exercise. Given how the game went that day, Saffrons manager Emma Kelly will be quietly confident, especially playing their full-hand, that they have a fair chance of a first Ulster Intermediate Championship title.
For Tyrone manager Sean O’Kane, the game will have served as a good reminder not to let complacency set in, giving his players a chance to see the fight that Antrim will bring to this game, knowing that they will have to battle hard to retain their title.
This is just Antrim’s second ever Ulster Intermediate final – their first and only appearance prior to today ending in defeat to Fermanagh in 2015. For Tyrone, it’s a fifth provincial final at this level since 2016 and to date they have a 100 per cent record in their previous four finals including last year’s victory over Down.
Both sides have some very experienced players, despite their age, and it will be these players that both managers will look to, to gain the fine margins that will be the difference between victory and defeat.
Antrim captain Cathy Carey, goalkeeper Anna McCann and midfielder Aine Tubridy have been throught thic and thin with Antrim and they are the leaders who the younger players will look to when the going gets tough. They are not short of match-winners either not least Orlaith Prenter but they also have the likes of Maria O’Neill, Grainne McLaughlin, Theresa Mellon and Lara Dahunsi to call on to get the scores.
Tyrone’s experience may just be enough to see them through this one. They have vast game experience in forwards Maria Canavan, Niamh Hughes and Grainne Rafferty and that could prove crucial with the likes of Aoife Horisk, Sasha Byrne and Aoife McGahan excelling and learning alongside that trio. In midfield, Emma Jane Gervin and captain Aoibhinn McHugh will hope to win the midfield battle.
Defensively, they will have their hands full against Antrim’s lively forwards as Emma Hegarty and Caoimhe Magee look to keep their opponents out.
