Kinawley ladies welcome Down champions Bredagh to Patrick McManus Park for their Ulster Senior Club quarter Final this afternoon (Sunday, 2pm) and it’s going to be a huge test for the Borus.
Belfast side, Bredagh, claimed their 10th senior title when they beat Kilcoo 5-21 to 1-4 in their county final, just over a week ago, which like Kinawley, was also their sixth successive championship win in a row.
Bredagh have been plying their trade at senior level for all those victories whilst Kinawley only made that step up last season.
It’s a massive game for the Fermanagh champions against a Bredagh side that is littered with county players. They boast Aislinn McFarland from Antrim, and Down Junior All Ireland winning players Orla and Laoise Duffy, Aoife Laverty and Vivienne McCormick.
Bredagh’s captain, former Donegal player Eilish Ward is a big player for the South Belfast team, she scored 2-6 in the county final as they retained the crown. And afterwards, she said;
“I think our hunger is there as much or more than it ever has been”, so they’ll come to Kinawley bidding to make it all the way in Ulster.
In 2021, Bredagh got right to the provincial decider but were well beaten by the massively successful Donnaghmoyne, on a score line of 2-10 to 1-5.
Last year, they were dumped out of the competition at the quarter-final stage by Moneyglass, so they’ll be determined not to slip up this time around.
It’s Kinawley’s second foray into the Ulster Senior Club competition. Last year, they lost to St Macartan’s, Augher but it was only in the final ten minutes that the Tyrone champions pulled away to win it.
Kinawley ladies manager, Mark Cunningham says his team know better what to expect this time around;
“We know it’s another step up, the girls played in the competition last year and that’s the one learning they got from it. Everything happens faster, it’s quicker. You’re coming up against the top clubs in Ulster, so, you need to be ready for it.
“We’ve tried to get a bit better prepared for it this year. It all comes down to the basic skills really. It happens faster, so the skillset has to be better and that’s what we’ve been working on from the start of the year.
“Other than that, we realised that you need a higher level of fitness, so we worked hard on our fitness throughout the summer months. We were probably caught in the last ten minutes of last year, we probably weren’t as fit as we could have been. Those are the two big things, a higher skillset and fitness.”
Kinawley have been training away since the county final and have had one challenge match with Castlerahan. They have a clean bill of health for this crunch and Kinawley will be hoping that home advantage will be worth a few scores on the board as well.
To read more.. Subscribe to current edition
Receive quality journalism wherever you are, on any device. Keep up to date from the comfort of your own home with a digital subscription.
Any time | Any place | Anywhere