TG4 Ulster Finals Preview

The
closest championship in years reaches its climax tomorrow
when reigning champions Monaghan take on Tyrone in
Clones. Monaghan will be aiming to win back to back
titles while the Red Hand manager and Farney native
John Mc Aleer will be aiming to become the first ever
manager to win Ulster titles with different counties
having led Monaghan to victory last year.

After
the round robin stages Monaghan, Tyrone and Donegal
all had two victories each. Monaghan’s eighteen point
win over Down gave them the best score difference
and a place in the final. Tyrone needed an injury
time point from Captain Eilish Gormley to beat Donegal
in last Tuesday’s play-off.

When
the sides met a month ago, the Farney girls won by
a single point. Tyrone substitute Katrina Daly shocked
Monaghan with two second half goals in the space of
three minutes. The Farney side that are appearing
in their sixth consecutive final looked to be on their
way out of the championship, but then deep in injury
time Niamh Kindlon took a quick 45m kick to Jenny
Greenan and the Aghabog ace fired to the top to break
Tyrone hearts and keep her sides campaign on track.
In that game Tyrone only managed to hit the target
eight times however they did find the net on three
occasions.

Neither
county have released their team however little change
is expected from their last outings. Eilish Gormley
played on Tuesday night despite having a stomach bug.
While it is likely that she will be fully fit John
Mc Aleer will be hoping that no other members of his
squad pick up the bug. Gormley is crucial to Tyrone’s
success. She is the team’s captain and top scorer.
In the four games to date she has notched 1-17. One
other worry Mc Aleer has surrounds centre forward
Cathy Donnelly. She received a cut to her eye against
Donegal. It closed completely midweek and again Mc
Aleer will be hoping that she has recovered sufficiently
to start.

Monaghan
have an injury free squad to pick from. Pauric Treanor
will name his team later tonight. The only likely
change to the team that beat Down is the return of
Brenda Mc Anespie who missed the game due to holiday
commitments. The 39 year old took up ladies football
back in 1991 and has been playing for her county for
the last 14 years. Indeed this season she has been
as good as ever.

So
who will win? Tyrone has had a good campaign so far
and is currently on a roll. They have had two excellent
wins in the last fortnight. Monaghan haven’t had a
game for three weeks but by all accounts the squad
are flying at training. To be honest it’s too close
to call and I expect that at the end of the sixty
minutes there will only be a kick of a ball between
the sides.

In the junior decider reigning champions Armagh take
on Fermanagh. The Orchard girls have been in devastating
form this season. They are currently unbeaten and
will be hoping to add the Hugh Meehan cup to the Division
2 title they won back in May. They did have the easier
side of the draw in the round robin stages but nevertheless
scored massive victories over Derry, Antrim and Cavan.
In the three games they scored 17-49 while only conceding
12 points. Full forward Aileen Matthews has hit a
personal tally of 3-20. The only real concern that
the Orchard management have is that their defence
has never really been tested. Josie Boyle will be
hoping that her young Fermanagh side can test the
Armagh defence. The Erne girls secured their first
final spot with good wins over Cavan and Monaghan.
Their preparation for the final was far from ideal
when Derry withdrew from the competition leaving the
Ernesiders with no competitive action in the last
three weeks. Fermanagh have improved dramatically
this year however they may just be a step or two behind
Armagh. I would expect Armagh to win and also be in
with a good chance of All Ireland honours in October.
With that said Fermanagh have absolutely nothing to
loose. This year’s beaten provincial finalists will
have a second bite at the cherry as they will be allowed
into All Ireland quarter finals for the first time.

Tomorrow’s
action kicks of at 1-45pm with the junior decider.
The senior game is scheduled for 3-30pm. The countdown
clock will be in use in both games. Paul Swift – Ulster
PRO