AIB Ulster Club Ladies’ SFC quarter-finals
(Sunday, 2pm unless stated, first-named teams at home)
St Ergnat’s, Moneyglass (Antrim) v Bredagh (Down)
TWO experienced provincial campaigners meet in the tie of the weekend.
At least one of the two have featured in the last three Ulster deciders, Bredagh losing to Clann Eireann last year and Donaghmoyne in 2021, while the Antrim champs were also victims of the Monaghan side in 2022.
Bredagh won their county final almost a month ago, defeating Carryduff 5-12 to 2-4, so they have been patiently waiting for this since Moneyglass beat St Brigid’s by 3-16 to 1-7 in the Antrim final.
“We’ve had a nice break, but it’s also quite a bit of a gap since, so it’ll be really good to finally get Ulster football underway,” says Bredagh captain Eilish Ward.
The two teams have met a couple of times over the last few years, including in the 2021 semi-final, which Bredagh won, and the 2022 quarter-final, which Moneyglass won. They have also met in challenge games, so the two teams know each other well enough and with that comes a mutual respect according to Ward.
“Any team that’s left at this stage of the competition will be looking to win Ulster. We want to go on as long a run as we can. But look, once you get to the stage of the season, all the teams that you’re playing against are county winners; everybody’s in the habit of winning, and fortunately for us, we’re in the habit of winning as well.
“We want to go as far as we can, but for us, we’re really focused on our performance level. And I think that will be the aim for the Sunday, just going out and giving as good a performance as we can. It’s a very different stage of the season compared to playing those county championship during the summer.
“We’re definitely familiar with each other, but I think that brings a huge amount of mutual respect. We are well aware of how good they are and all their threats, and we’re under no illusions of how difficult the game will be on Sunday.
“But equally, we’re a really good team as well, and I’m sure that Sunday’s match will be incredibly close. It’ll be a tense game and it could go down to the wire, and I think that’s what we are fully expecting.
“Sunday is definitely going to be a challenge, but I think that it is a challenge that hopefully we can relish. We want to be playing in these types of games at the stage of the season.”
Cathy Carey captained Moneyglass to a fourth successive county title and after the disappointment of their performance and result against Clann Eireann in the semi-final last year, they are hoping to learn from those mistakes against an experienced Bredagh side.
“It’s the best time of year; training at this time - darker, colder evenings - means Ulster is around the corner, and that’s always something to look forward to,” said Carey.
“Every time you step foot into Ulster you learn something from all the ups and downs, and last year was no different.
“Bredagh are an excellent team with plenty of experience in Ulster championship, so no doubt Sunday’s game will be a massive challenge for us.
“Following last year’s final defeat, I would imagine they’ll be hungry to get back to that stage this year, so we’ll have to put everything we have into the game to get over the line.”
Lurgan (Cavan) v Ballymaguigan (Derry) (12.30pm)
BALLYMAGUIGAN will make the journey to Virginia to take on Cavan champions Lurgan full of confidence after their first Derry senior championship title just over a week ago.
The south Derry girls dethroned reigning champions Steelstown, hitting six goals, to cause a huge upset against their city counterparts.
The Cavan side defeated Crosserlough by the narrowest of margins, 0-13 to 0-12, in the county final at the end of last month, Kacey McDermott with six points.
This is very new territory for Ballymagugian and they will have tried to do as much homework on the opposition as possible, but they will be aware the experience of their county players in goalkeeper Evelyn Baugh, Aoife Brady, who scored in the decisive goal in their 2022 final win, Ciara Brady, Caoimhe Halpin and Roisin Dolan, while Catherine Dolan is a former Cavan player.
Similarly, though, Lurgan will have been trying to find out as much as possible about Ballymaguigan, who have as much experience with Erin Doherty and Joanne Corr, Nicole Nugent, Anna Martin and Lauren and Annie Crozier.
Both sides will feel they have a great chance of reaching the semi-finals.
Kinawley (Fermanagh) v Clann Eireann (Armagh) (1pm)
KINAWLEY welcome Ulster champions Clann Eireann hoping they can cause an upset and book a place in the last four.
They know, though, they will have their work cut out for them, especially with how their opposition eased past Emyvale in the preliminary round last weekend.
They were impressive, hitting the ground running, finding the back of the net in the very first minute, with the game effectively over within five minutes of the second half when they hit their sixth goal.
That win will have given them some momentum as they travel for the second time in seven days and Gregory McGonigle will want the same start again.
Kinawley clinched their seventh consecutive Fermanagh title earlier this month with victory over Derrygonnelly. They have a lot of experience behind them and will look to players like Danielle and Lisa Maguire, Joanne Doonan, captain Courteney Murphy, Niamh McManus, Roisin O’Reilly, Aine McGovern and Eimear Keenan. They know they have nothing to lose but it might be a step too far against an in-form Clann Eireann side.
Termon (Donegal) v St Macartan’s (Tyrone)
LAST year, Errigal Ciaran ended Termon’s participation in the Ulster championship and the Burn Road girls will hope that history does not repeat itself when they face the current Tyrone champions, St Macartan’s, in the last eight.
Termon were without sharp-shooter Geraldine McLaughlin for the championship last year but her presence again this year gives them an added threat and she was as influential as always in their Donegal final win over Glenfin, as they made it a hat-trick of successive titles, the former Allstar helping herself to a hat-trick.
St Macartan’s won their 14th Tyrone title just a few weeks ago, but needed extra-time to see off Carrickmore. They came from five points down at one stage in the second half before almost winning it in normal time, Carrickmore with a late equalising point, but in extra-time Ryan McMenamin’s charges pulled away.
Both sides are littered with county stars, former and current, and this has all the makings of mouth-watering clash. It could well come down to home advantage, which Termon will be hoping to make count.
FIXTURES
Saturday (2pm, first named at home)
AIB Ulster Club Ladies’ IFC preliminary round Derrynoose (Armagh) v Mullahoran (Cavan)
AIB Ulster Club Ladies’ JFC preliminary round Eoghan Rua Coleraine (Derry) v Knockninny Gaels (Fermanagh)
