Aghyaran Ladies primed for Sunday’s showdown

LADIES DIVISION TWO CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL

By Niall Gartland

AGHYRAN ladies are braced for Sunday’s Division Two Championship Final against the Moy, and team manager Darrell McVitty says it’s the players who deserve their place in the spotlight.

This has been by a distance Aghyaran’s most fruitful championship run since landing the Intermediate title back in 2017, and the entire club is excited about the showdown against Moy at Killyclogher.

Leading the team on the sideline is Darrell McVitty, a native of Enniskillen, alongside Sean Byrne and Donegal’s Donal Foy.

As it happens, that 2017 team was assisted by McVitty’s brother-in-law Kieran McHugh, while their present Tyrone stars Aoibhinn McHugh (Tyrone’s All-Ireland Intermediate winning captain) and Sasha Byrne were in the early stages of their club and county careers.

The question of the hour is whether they can add another title to the roll of honour list this weekend, and McVitty hopes their squad depth pays off against a strong Moy team.

“In the last eight years I don’t think they’ve got past the first round of the championship, but the girls have put in serious amount lot of effort this year and it’s great to see it rewarded.

“We had a meeting at the start of the year and said we’d love to get back into the top four. We’ve two county players who’ve had great success this year.

“We built on that, and we’ve a stronger panel around them now. To be honest, we’ve always had the core of a good team — they won grade one minors many years ago. We’ve that core still, and younger girls coming through, and really it’s all down to the girls.”

Aghyaran will be led out on Sunday by team captain Niamh Gormley against a Moy side that have had the benefit of an extra week’s break. It promises to be a hugely competitive tussle against a Moy team that recorded wins over Beragh, Badoney and Edendork en route to the final.

McVitty said: “I’m not sure what to expect. We played them in the league we had a good win but it was at home in Aghyaran. The championship is always different from league football though. We’re expecting them to be strong — they’ve a few county players themselves, like Emma Conroy.”

St Davog’s have made the final by virtue of successive victories over Fintona, Clonoe and Loughmacrory. They were too strong for Fintona and Clonoe but they were pushed right to the brink by Loughmacrory in a sensational semi-final clash that went the distance last weekend.

“That was our biggest test so far. It was a tight game, went to extra-time, and a goal won it in the end. We were a point down heading into the last couple of minutes and Emma McCrory got the goal.”