Ulster Senior Championship semi-final: Donegal v Cavan (Sunday, St Tiernach’s Park, Clones, 1.45pm)
DONEGAL and Cavan will battle it out for the remaining place in the Ulster Senior Championship final when they meet in Sunday’s semi-final at Clones.
Champions Armagh will have a keen eye on this fixture as they await the winners in the decider which is set for later this month.
This game was originally scheduled for last Sunday, but for the second successive weekend the ladies senior semi-final will be played before a men’s senior championship game, this one involving the same two counties.
Donegal will be favourites to book their place in a fifth Ulster final in six years but they know Cavan can and will ask plenty of questions of them just as they have done during previous championship meetings in recent years.
Last year the Tir Chonaill girls found themselves seven points down early and a point adrift as half-time approached before a 1-2 haul from Geraldine McLaughlin tipped the game in Donegal’s favour at the break and they went on to win 6-16 to 2-17. Two years earlier, in 2019, they needed extra-time to see off Cavan, coming back from being five points down to draw level late on in injury time.
Cavan will have no fear of Donegal and it will be no different this year. They know they will be underdogs going into the game with all eyes on Donegal but that will suit Gerry Moane and his players down to the ground.
They will call on all their experience in the likes of Geraldine Sheridan and Mona Sheridan, Rachel Doonan, Sinead Greene, Shauna Lynch, Neasa Byrd, Laura Fitzpatrick and Lauren McVeety but they know there will be little room for error and they are up against one of the strongest attacking teams in the country with Geraldine McLaughlin, Karen Guthrie, Yvonne Bonner and Donegal captain Niamh McLaughlin.
Cavan have yet to see their season light up but there is no time like the present to do that. They did enough in their Division Two league group to ensure their status in the second tier for next season. They have only had three competitive games that resulted in defeats to Monaghan and Armagh but a crucial win over Tyrone, however, that was back at the beginning of March, two months ago.
Cavan are looking for their first final appearance since 2016 while Donegal have featured in four of the last five finals but looking for their first title since 2019 when they achieved three-in-a-row.
Donegal in Division One, as well as having top flight league football, have had two extra games having reached the knockout stages of the league that culminated in a two-point loss to Meath in the final in Croke Park less than a month ago.
It has been a good year so far for Donegal and they came within touching distance of an historic first Division One title. However, reaching the Division One final was a bonus, with the championship their real aim from the offset. First target is to reach the provincial final and then try to reclaim back the Ulster title they gave up after not featuring in the 2020 Covid delayed competition and losing out to Armagh by a point in last year's final. The excellent run in the league is optimum preparation for the championship as he blooded new players and saw the return of Niamh Hegarty and Tanya Kennedy, both of whom came on as substitutes against Meath.
