6-10 to 1-11 victory by Ulster over Munster

A stunning 6-10 to 1-11 victory by Ulster over Munster in last weekend’s Inter Provincial Tournament will have given county teams across the country hope that Cork’s recent dominance of the TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Senior Football Championship can be stemmed.

The mouth-watering Munster panel was dominated by Rebelettes, but Tyrone’s All Star forward Gemma Begley spearheaded Ulster to victory with a performance that won her the player of the tournament award to boot. To many it was a surprise victory, but Ulster and Down manager Gregory McGonagle had higher expectations of his team. “The win wasn’t really a surprise to us. I knew we had the ability and talent in Ulster and that if we took our strongest players we would have a good chance. The players trained hard and we had a game plan that worked on the weaknesses of the Munster players,” he said.

The result comes as the All-Ireland Championship prepares to kick off this weekend, with Cork aiming for their fourth competition win in a row. This year, a new All-Ireland Championship format is being implemented which will see 16 teams facing each other at Provincial level, with the first round losers being offered an alternative route through the back door.

The eight losing teams from the Provincial Championships (2 from Connacht, 1 from Munster, 3 from Ulster and 2 from Leinster) will play one another and the four winners will go on to play the losers of the Provincial Finals for a place in the quarter finals. The four losing teams will enter into a relegation battle, which was lost last year by Roscommon. Their Connacht neighbours, Leitrim, will replace them in the senior competition as winners of the 2007 Intermediate Championship.

All eyes will be firmly back on Ulster this Sunday, though, as inter county rivalries resume and Armagh prepare to face Donegal in the Ulster Championship.

Donegal had a nervous 2007, facing Roscommon in the relegation final but victory ensured their position in the Senior Championship this year. Armagh, for their part, will be looking to go one better than their quarter final defeat by Tyrone last year and on paper, Armagh look the stronger team but McGonagle believes that Donegal have the potential to throw a spanner in the works. “Donegal are going very well under their current management and are putting a lot of work in. If Armagh don’t give them enough respect they could easily cause an upset.” The winner of the tie will go on to play Monaghan for a place in the final.