By Shaun Casey

EMYVALE are the only team participating in this years Ulster JFC that has actually won the competition before and they are hoping to build on what has been a hugely successful 2025 season, says joint manager Owen Lennon.

They have already achieved a domestic league and championship double, defeating Eire Og in last week’s league final by three points, just six days after defeating Sean McDermott’s in the championship decider with 11 to spare.

It’s a quick turnaround into the provincial series and Emyvale take on Donegal representatives Carndonagh in the quarter-final, at St Tiernach’s Park, this weekend.

“It’s been a hectic couple of weeks with the championship final and the league final so we haven’t had much time to focus on the Ulster campaign but we’re looking forward to it and excited by it,” said Lennon, who manages the team alongside Brendan Lennon.

“The turnaround probably isn’t a bad thing. It hasn’t affected our training schedule at all so we’ve continued to train on Tuesday and Friday night’s so we’re happy that the matches are coming thick and fast and the more matches the better, it means you’re being successful.”

“Unfortunately we picked up a few injuries in the league final so we’ll probably be down a few men this weekend coming but that’s part and parcel of it. We have a big panel of players with boys itching to play.”

Monaghan star Ryan McAnespie is back competing for a starting jersey while Emyvale can also call upon Karl Gallagher and Lennon, who led the Farney County to their first Ulster title in 25 years back in 2013, is delighted to have a strong panel to pick from.

“We have good young lads coming in. Matthew Finn and a couple of those boys were county u17 so we have a mixture of young lads and older lads there,” Lennon continued.

“We were unfortunate last year because we picked up a few injuries, Karl Gallagher headed to Australia two years ago, we lost a few men and it really shook the club but we have them in a good place at the minute.

“We’re training well, the commitment is good and it’s great to see what you can do when you actually have the boys signing off the one hymn sheet.”