Tyrone and Down to do it all again in Ballyholland

Following Tyrone and Down’s draw on Sunday in the NWP Recycling Ulster Intermediate Championship the two sides will face off on Wednesday 28 ^th May to secure a place in this Sundays final against Cavan at Pairc Esler.

Tyrone captain Julie Lagan is hoping that her side will be to secure a final spot at the second attempt and expects a stronger Tyrone side to take the field on Wednesday

‘We have a changed squad from the National League to championship. We beat Down quite well last year and Sunday was a really tight game. We weren’t sure what to expect following last year’s game but they were much improved and showed they have been working more together. We performed well and the new girls came in and done well. We’ll have a few more players available for the game on Wednesday night so we should be back to full strength.  We hope to be able to raise our game in Ballyholland. Down however could be on the same boat and look forward to another tough challenge.

Karen Gribben made a return to county action for Down following a lengthy layoff due to a knee injury and hopes that her young side can gel together to ensure that Down will have two sides in Sundays finals in front of their own supporters in Pairc Esler.

‘That was the first time we have played together but now a replay should bring us on as a team. We had a good first half but in the second half we stopped getting the ball into our full forward line. We hit 8 wides in the first half so it’s probably coming back to haunt us. We have a young team bar myself and hopefully we can get the ball moving in Ballyholland and the young girls can show their speed and we can come away with a win’.

Down have trained with large numbers this year due to both teams coming under the one management set up. Gribben believes the extra couple of games will prepare her for the rest of the Championship campaign as she has her eyes set on a return to the first XV.

‘We have a large senior squad and we have mostly all been training away together so it has stood by us that we have a lot of work done. There are plenty of girls who are hoping to be in the senior squad so we are hoping that we can use another game tomorrow to push ourselves into contention for a place on the senior team. I’ve been injured for a long time and these games are vital for me because its game time that I need to bring me on. To have these extra games will hopefully push me back in to the senior team’.

Down v Tyrone-

NWP Recycling Ulster Intermediate Championship Semi-Final Replay

Wednesday 28th May

Ballyholland 7.15pm