Tyrone Ladies face Farney next up

AN improved second half showing against newly-promoted Roscommon will give Tyrone plenty to build on ahead of Sunday’s eagerly anticipated Lidl National League Division Two clash at Monaghan. The Farney side will be keen to bounce back from a heavy loss at Laois a week earlier so the Red Hands will have to be at their best to see off what is sure to be a resurgent home side.

Chloe McBride scored an early Monaghan goal on their first day out this season but they found themselves seven points down at the break and despite a brief revival from Kieran Kearns’ side they suffered a fourteen point loss in the end.

The Farney side are currently a work in progress under Kearns, but with former Tyrone minor manager and Leitrim boss Hugh Donnelly now part of the set-up, improvement would appear to be just around the corner.

But Tyrone will be hoping any resurgence from the home side is delayed for at least another week as they look to build on their victory over Roscommon.

The Red Hand girls were slow to get on the boil at Omagh last weekend, guilty of giving away a few scorable frees to trail before drawing level at the break.

And Tyrone skipper, Aoibheann McHugh wasn’t overly happy with the opening. “I felt we hadn’t really got started and wouldn’t be too happy with the performance but we had a fair idea once we got settled we could put in a better performance than that,” she said.

“It was a case of a few nerves and getting a few mistakes out of the system but I suppose that had to be expected in the first game of the league.”

Grainne Rafferty had hit four points and the introduction of Errigal’s Maria Canavan was a boost through the second half, her sweet left foot delivering four more points and her presence gave Tyrone the edge through a much improved second period.

Hughes, Niamh McElduff, Joanne Barrett and of course Canavan all impressed, the old cliché of youth and experience evident in Sean O’Kane’s side. That fact was not lost on Aghyaran’s McHugh.

“There’s a great mix, a nice wee mix of players in the squad,” she beamed. “Niamh Hughes had a great outing, she has great pace and it’s great to have several of the older players there to look up to as well. Iit was a good second half.”

Tyrone make the short hop to Monaghan this Sunday with O’Kane still hopeful that several players will be slowly returning to the squad after injury. The veteran manager is hopeful to have the treatment room less crowded but Sinead McVey is still carrying a knock from an extended club season with Moortown, Chloe McCaffrey, last year’s player of the year, Sasha Byrne and Nicole Murphy carried injuries into the league opener, while Emma Mulgrew remains out.