Tyrone Ladies aim for improvement for Down semi showdown

IT’S nine years since Omagh’s Cara McCrossan tasted Ulster Championship football in the Northern hemisphere but on Sunday she endured the full wrath of emotions as Tyrone got out of Kinawley by the skin of their teeth.

Fermanagh led the Ulster Intermediate quarter-final tie by six points at one stage but in the end captain Aoibhinn McHugh crafted out a goal and the Red Hands eventually won by two points.

McCrossan, who played Aussie Rules for a spell in her sports career down under with the Casey Demons, recently got married. But in terms of being tossed back into the cut and thrust of Championship football Cara admitted that the honeymoon period for herself and Tyrone didn’t last too long at the weekend.

“It was tough work, we made hard work of it especially in the first half and I found it difficult, much faster, resetting after scores. I am just getting used to the game again.”

Tyrone knew to expect a stiff test against against a well organised Erne outfit who were last year’s All-Ireland junior champions. McCrossan admitted that Fermanagh lived up to expectations with Tyrone eventually edging the verdict 4-10 to 3-11.

“ We talked about it ahead of the game. We knew Fermanagh were not going to be easy and we had to dig deep to get over the line,” stated the relieved Omagh attacker who hit a brace of points. She added that it took a fine second half to get them over the line.

“It was just good that we showed some fight in the second half. I think we lacked that in the first half so thankfully we found that as the game progressed. We could easily have been out of the Championship.”

Tyrone have little recuperation time as they are thrust straight into semi-final action this Sunday at O’Neill Park Dungannon against Down. Cara said they will have a few issues to address if they are to overcome the Mourne girls.

“ We need to fix the things that didn’t go right and of course we know we need to start the game stronger against Down. There’s no easy teams, none of them will hand you a game and it will be very difficult.”

Tyrone manager Darren McCann will have to assess the fitness of several of his players this week ahead of the home encounter with Down. Meabh Corrigan was withdrawn early on in the game against Fermanagh, while Sorcha Gormley was heavily strapped. On the plus side Chloe McCaffrey made quite the impact when introduced off the bench.

McCrossan came through the contest unscathed but admitted the game has changed quite a bit since her last involvement in top flight inter-county Championship action.

“It has got far faster and there’s a lot more emphasis on defenders and that’s something I found this year. It makes life harder for forwards that’s for sure but I’m getting used to it.”

Cara has yet to return to club football with Omagh and while she is looking forward to lining out in the white and black again she does have a few club colleagues beside her in the Tyrone fold at the minute.

“ I didn’t play in the (Ulster) Final in 2016 against Down but it is great to have the other Omagh girls with me now. I am looking forward to the rest of the year. I got married recently, got back home at the end of the year, back playing football and I’m looking forward to getting plenty of game time.”

Meanwhile Fermanagh manager CJ Mc Gourty, no stranger to Tyrone football, felt they had done enough to get over the line last Sunday although he was left annoyed by some of the referee’s calls.

“ It wasn’t just us, he gave us and them decisions that had an affect on the game. It was frustrating for both teams.

“ I probably thought we deserved to win it if I’m being honest with you albeit only slightly as there wasn’t much in it. Niamh O’Neill hit a cracking shot off the post at one end and at the other we missed two one on ones at the start of the second half that would have left eight points in it. They could have lost confidence, we could have gained confidence, it was a big moment and that was a big swing.”