Kyla McManus shields the ball from the Down girl.
Fermanagh…. 4-08
Down …..0-14
Fermanagh ladies lifted the Ulster Intermediate Championship as their ability to find the net was the difference against a gritty and hard working Down side.
The Little sisters, Caroline and Sharon hit a hat-trick of goals between them with the introduction of the later as a first half sub proving the catalyst for victory.
Sharon Little had missed the semi final with a broken wrist but came off the bench to drive a dagger to the hear of the Mourne girls with a combination of creative play and deadly finishing.
Down played their part to the full in what was an absorbing encounter and five points in a row in the second half had the deficit trimmed to just four points but Fermanagh rallied again to outscore Down six points to four in the final quarter to secure the Ulster title.
The first half was all about the Erne girls ability to find the net and after early points were traded it was Fermanagh’s scorer in cheif, Caroline Little, who raised the first green flag of the day.
This goal had come after Down had squandered two good goal chances and the ladies in red and black would rue those missed chances as a mean Fermanagh defence shut up shop for the rest of the game to deny another three point opportunity.
Instead, all the goal mouth action was at the other end with Sharon Little netting with her first touch before turning provider for her sister, Caroline to claim her second and Fermanagh’s third goal. Down were reeling at this stage and although they came back with a few points it was Fermanagh who hit the net again this time through Noelle Connolly.
The Newtownbutler lady was in great form at full forward throughout for Fermanagh offering a target for her team-mates out the field and showing great ability to bring others into the game.
At the break Fermanagh were 4-2 to 0-5 to the good but even though that nine point lead was of the most healthy variety the simple truth was that the game was far from over. Down had demonstrated in previous encounters that they were well able to come back from big deficits.
With this in mind the Fermanagh defence set about stopping goals and in a full back line of Tara Hughes-Little, Kyla McManus and 16 year old Tempo starlet Shannon McQuaid they had three markers who refused to give an inch.
The Down girls never threw the towel in however and although they never looked like breaking through for that all important goal they did manage to cut the deficit to four points by hitting the first five points of the second half. But there is plenty of experience in this Fermanagh team and they never panicked and outscored their opponents 0-06 to 0-04 for the last 15 minutes of the game. Sharon and Caroline Little both on target with impressive wing half back Shauna Hamilton also getting forward to split the posts.
Fermanagh now have a date in the All Ireland quarter finals but must wait to see who their opponents will be as provincial losers must now go through the qualifier system.