​Down Ladies ready to defend their Ulster Intermediate title

After a breath-taking nail-biter against Tyrone in the Ulster Intermediate Championship semi-final a couple of weeks ago Down Senior Ladies ​are more than battle-ready for a final showdown with Cavan this Sunday at Healy Park.

Burren ace Eimear Fitzpatrick was the hero of the hour against Tyrone in Dungannon, scoring 1-5 including the crucial winning point in extra-time, which secured the 2-10 to 1-12 victory.

Meanwhile Cavan beat Monaghan 2-15 to 3-8 coming back from five a five-point deficit at the break to win by four, setting up a mouth-watering final between two sides who have plenty of history.

Their most recent meeting was in the second round of the Division 3 National League in Burren that ended with a disappointing 3-15 1-8 defeat for the Mourne ladies.

Cavan had been relegated from Division 2 the previous season and went straight back up, by winning the league as they defeated Wexford 2-10 to 0-9 in the final.

Down were disappointed to finish fourth in the league as the main goal for the season set by Manager Colm Donnelly was promotion.

It wasn’t a bad campaign for Down who finished fourth in the table, but a mixed bag of results just wasn’t enough.

A win in the first round away to Limerick was followed by that defeat to Cavan and then a 4-3 to 2-11 loss to Laois in Pairc Esler. A two-point victory away to Louth in Round 3 kept Down in the hunt but a draw with Wexford sealed their fate and a 3-12 to 1-7 win against Offaly and a massive 8-14 to 1-7 win over Carlow in Newry just weren’t enough as Cavan only lost one game in their campaign - against Louth in the first round.

Cavan had five players named in the Lidl Division 3 Team of the league: Goalkeeper Evelyn Baugh, half-back Sinéad Greene, centre-forward Lauren McVeety, half-forward Catherine Dolan, full forward Aishling Sheridan and corner forward Aisling Gilsenan, but Down have plenty of star players of their own as was witnessed in the Ulster semi-final with former captain Meghan Doherty immense in midfield, current captain Clara Mulvenna leading by example and a terrific team effort getting Down over the line including goalkeeper Catherine Byrne who pulled off a terrific point blank save late on and sub Shauna Fettes who scored Down’s second goal.

Reigning champions Down have a winning record against Cavan from last season with a comprehensive 3-10 to 0-6 victory in their Ulster Intermediate opener in Parc Esler.

The Mourne ladies were under the management of Caoimhe Sloan and Peter Lynch back then when they went on to win the title and when the successful and respected management duo stepped down Donnelly - who was part of the backroom staff – took the reins along with Mark Poland as coach, Conor McKeown goalkeeping coach and Amy Davis strength and conditioning.T

he goal now is defending their Ulster crown and is something that this group will fight hard on Sunday to do.