DONEGAL’S U14 County girls footballers will be bidding for Ulster title glory when they take on Cavan in the A final in Fermanagh this Sunday.
The county landed the Ulster B title last year before missing out in a replay on the All-Ireland B title.
Sunday’s opponents Cavan won the A title last year, before winning the All-Ireland A title and will be favourites to retain their crown at St Joseph’s GAA club Ederney on Sunday (throw-in 2pm).
Donegal saw off Derry, Tyrone and Armagh on the way to the final while Cavan defeated Monaghan, Antrim and Down.
“We’ve had a great season so far,” said Donegal manager Greg Harkin.
“There are girls from 18 clubs on the panel and they’ve shown a huge amount of dedication and commitment, most of them from last October.
“Cavan are always tough opponents and Sunday will be no different but I have every confidence in my group of girls.
“We’re hoping for a good turn-out of supporters. That could make all the difference. It’s a different panel from last year – both panels were excellent and in many ways we were unlucky in 2015.
“I have a very strong panel to choose from and to be honest it’s going to be tough picking the starting 15 and the girls know that because they know each other so well by this stage.
“The U13 autumn club league and the development academies have played a crucial role in getting us this far and I hope now we can go one step further this year.”
Harkin thanked the county clubs who have postponed games over the past 10 days to allow the girls the chance of competing for the Ulster A title this Sunday.
He also thanked Coláiste Ailigh Letterkenny and men’s county chairman Sean Dunnion for providing training facilities over the past few months.
“They’ve really helped us out when we had nowhere else to go,” added Harkin.
“Na Dunaibh and Milford have also helped us when we needed it and the combination of all that support has helped us get to this stage.
“I’ve a great team of mentors and coaches too – Dermott Foy has been here before as manager and I’ve had great coaches like Maura McCrudden (Red Hughs) Gabrielle Gallagher and Aine Reilly from St Mary’s Convoy and excellent medical back-up from Gary Ryan (Milford), Maggie Foy and Gerard Faulkner (Moville).
“It’s a real team effort and really only the girls and their parents see all the work that goes into this. We’re all looking forward to Sunday.”
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