National Ladies' Football League Division Two final: Armagh v Donegal (Saturday, 2pm, Parnell Park, live on TG4)
“IT’S going to be a battle,” was the prediction of Donegal manager Davy McLaughlin after his side’s semi-final victory over Westmeath set up a Division Two decider with Armagh. And that is exactly what two sets of players and management teams, supporters and neutrals are expecting when the two Ulster sides meet on Saturday afternoon in Dublin’s Parnell Park.
The battle takes on greater importance because it is not only silverware at stake but, more importantly, league football at the top table next season, and only the winner gets that prize.
Donegal are unbeaten this year as they blazed a trail to the final, seeing off Cavan in a play-off to top the table before getting past a stubborn Westmeath side in the semi-final. Armagh, although they would have preferred to remain unbeaten as well, lost only to Cavan and Donegal - and could afford to do so and still qualify for the semi-finals, where they disposed of the Breffni ladies in military fashion, laying down their intent to win back-to-back league titles and achieve their target of becoming a Division One team.
It is hard to call a favourite for the Division Two title and promotion, but Armagh possibly shade it to carry that tag. They are, after-all, the Ulster Senior champions, All-Ireland semi-finalists and, although Donegal deservedly won the earlier league encounter between the sides by the minimum of margins, Armagh were without a number of key figures that day, which possibly had a bearing on the result.
Ten years ago, these counties met in the Division Two final, in which Armagh triumphed by a single point, 1-8 to 1-7, coming from behind at half-time. A 20-year-old Caroline O’Hanlon won the player-of-the-match award that day as Armagh won promotion to the top section for the first time. Both teams dropped out of Division One over the years, Donegal making their reappearance in 2011 after winning this very piece of silverware in 2010. However, 12 months ago they hit one of their lowest points, dropping back into this division, but clearly intent on getting straight back again at the first attempt.
Armagh’s wait for a return to the top has been much longer. They fell into Division Three and took a few years to get out of it, successfully doing so at the second attempt, putting the 2013 final defeat to neighbours Down behind them by seeing off Waterford in last year’s final. Now, for the third year in-a-row, they find themselves in a league final.
Victory would be a perfect way to celebrate manager James Daly’s 50 competitive game in charge of the Orchard county. And who would count against it with a decent record that boasts just eight defeats, four of them by the minimum margin and another by just two points? But Donegal are a tough side to overcome on any day, and how much of a shock would it really be if they were to take the plaudits come the final whistle? Not really.
With the likes of Aoife McDonnell, Yvonne McMonagle and Niamh Hegarty returning to the inter-county scene after time in Australia, Milford star Amber Barrett beginning to shine and ably filling the previously injured Geraldine McLaughlin’s boots, whose return to action has been timed perfectly, there are some serious match winners in the Tír Chonaill side.
“This game is massive for us,” said captain Katy Herron earlier this week.
“We have been unbeaten so far but, at the end of the day, it comes down to this game and losing this game now will be heartbreaking. It’s a big day for us, but we have been preparing for it for a long time and hopefully things will go in our favour.”
Manager Davy McLaughlin and his backroom team took over the reigns of a struggling Donegal side in the middle of the league just over 12 months ago and the turnaround in the team’s fortunes has been remarkable, but as the Moville man says, that ability was always there and it’s been about having everything come together at the right time.
“Last year was tough on the team, they lost every game they played and they were much, much better than that and, although we are down a division this year, I think people can see from some of the football they have played this year that they deserve to be in this final along with Armagh,” McLaughlin said after his team’s semi-final victory.
“We came in middle of the league last year and always said ’14 was about building for ’15. We played Armagh in first game of the season in Glenfin and beat them by a point, but I wouldn’t read anything into that. Armagh are an in-form team and James Daly has done a tremendous job. I think the two best teams in the division are in the final and it will be some battle on the day.”
His counterpart James Daly said getting to the league final has been their target all year and, if they want to be serious All-Ireland senior title contenders, they have to win on Saturday.
“We have been on a momentum the past four years and every year we have improved,” Daly said.
"We want to be in top tier football. We need to be playing there every week so that we can compete for the senior championship. We are in a league final now, we set out at the start of the year to be there and that’s where we are now.”
Armagh captain Caroline O’Hanlon wholeheartedly agrees and is relishing the showdown with Donegal.
“Getting into Division One is probably the biggest thing,” O'Hanlon said.
“Last year in the Championship, all the teams we played were Division One teams and it was a great disadvantage to us going into those games having played in Division Three all year. So, very much for the future of Armagh football, it’s very important to be up among the best teams in the country.
“They (Donegal) are the in form team at the minute and they have shown their form throughout the league and I am looking forward to getting a crack at them,” she added.
The Division Three final between Sligo and Waterford gets Saturday's action at Parnell Park under way at 12.15pm, with the Division One final between defending champions Cork and Galway, a repeat of the 2010 final, taking place at 3.45pm. For Cork, it’s an eighth successive Division One final and their 13th overall. The Rebels are aiming for their third win on the trot, while Galway are seeking their first ever title.
