McCann on guard ahead of Erne sequel

By Niall Gartland

THE Tyrone ladies have hit form ahead of their All-Ireland Intermediate Championship quarter-final clash against Fermanagh – but their manager Darren McCann doesn’t have to look far in the rear-view mirror to know not to take anything for granted this coming weekend.

Tyrone topped their group so have been afforded home advantage for Sunday’s tie against the Ernesiders, with the game scheduled for Kildress Wolfe Tones.

An unblemished record of three straight victories ensured top spot for the Red Hands, their group stage campaign rounded off with two particularly impressive wins against Down and Westmeath.

Their trickiest encounter of their championship campaign to date happened to come against Fermanagh in the first round, a late surge proving enough to secure a nail-biting 4-10 to 3-11 victory, so their manager Darren McCann is understandably wary of what may lay in store in their sequel clash this Sunday.

The Errigal Ciaran man said: “You’re never going to get it easy against Fermanagh – when we met in the first-round they’d built up a head of steam, they’d got to a national league final and they won last year’s All-Ireland Junior title at a canter.

“Their manager CJ McGourty has them very well set-up, and he knows Tyrone football inside out, as he took Ardboe ladies for a couple of years as well.

“I expect nothing different from the day we played them up in Kinawley. It’ll be a high-intensity game, it’ll be hard-hitting and there’ll be no quarter given by either team.”

Tyrone entered their All-Ireland championship campaign on the back of an extra-time defeat to Down in an Ulster Championship semi-final clash. The team took stock of that defeat, learnt the necessary lessons, and that was very much in evidence in their win over the Mourne County just a few weeks back, which was followed by a six-goal rout of Westmeath.

McCann said: “In the last couple of games, a lot of things have clicked for us. Girls have really stepped up to the plate.

“We worked on quite a lot in that five-week break after our Ulster semi-final against Down. I think we were forcing things that day, but it was a learning experience in the sense we went back to the drawing board the following Wednesday night and worked on things that needed worked on in the last six or seven weeks and our performances against Down and Westmeath in the championship were really promising.

“One swallow doesn’t make a summer so we just have to keep plugging away at the things that we can prove on because this match against Fermanagh is going to be an extremely difficult task.”

Their form has been all the more impressive as they’ve had to operate without a number of injured players at various stages of their championship campaign, including their vice-captains Meabh Corrigan and Chloe McCaffrey. The team manager says the overall strength of their panel has helped compensate for those losses.

“It’s tested the strength of our panel – there’s 34 girls and any one of them could come in at any given stage.

“Everyone who has been given their chance has taken it with both hands, so we’re blessed to have such a strong panel.

“We’ve had quite a few injuries but that’s part and parcel of championship footblal and this year there’s been a lot of football between club and county, so I suppose you’re going to pick up injuries and it gives the opportunity for other girls to step up.”