Quigley wary of Érrigal Ciaran attacking quality

By Shaun Casey

LURGAN are eyeing up a second successive appearance in the Ulster final, but manager Neil Quigley is wary of the quality that Errigal Ciaran possess in their ranks.

The pair will battle it out on Sunday afternoon with the winning team advancing to the decider. Lurgan qualified for the showpiece in 2024 but lost out to Armagh’s Clann Éireann by nine points.

The Cavan champions will have home advantage in their last-four test, just as they did when they overcame Emmet Óg in the quarter-final, and Quigley says his club are
honoured to host such a huge encounter.

“We’re glad to be at the semi-final stage again and we know that Errigal are a team laced with quality all over the pitch,” said the Lurgan boss.

“They have the Corrigans, the Canavans and Aoife Horisk. They have a few county players in there and any team coming out of Tyrone is going to be tough.

“We’re at home and we’re delighted with that because our last game against Emmet Óg was at home as well. It’s a big day for the club in terms of getting the place all set up with plenty of green and white flags. It’s a proud day to get another game of that calibre.”

Home advantage aided their cause the last day out and they proved too strong for the Monaghan representatives. Goals from Edith and Clara Lynch, along with Kacey McDermott, saw them run out two-point victors last weekend.

Lurgan are the only team with two provincial wins under the belt having opened the competition with a preliminary round triumph away to Derry champions Steelstown, running out impressive 19-point winners.

That day, the full-forward line of Aoife Brady, McDermott, and Clara Lynch combined for an eye-catching 1-15 of their 2-18 tally. While the pressure has increased the further the competition runs, Lurgan are taking it all in their stride.

“All year it’s just been one game at a time. Our semi-final in Cavan went to extra-time and free-kicks so all year we’ve just been taking it one game at a time.

“We are where we want to be, it’s just about taking this as another game, it’s another step towards where we want to be.”

After coming through a couple of tough battles, both in Cavan and in Ulster, Quigley is delighted to still have a full hand to pick from and injury prevention is something that the team has focused on all year long.

“At the moment all is looking good,” Quigley confirmed. “This time of the year, every team is probably the same, there’s girls that have slight knocks but there’s nothing too serious so we’re going well that way.

“It’s a credit to Ronan Baxter; he’s our strength and conditioning coach this year and we have worked a lot on that to make sure the players are kept fit and fresh and ready so that’s been really good for us.”