'Pearse'ing New Territory

HISTORY awaits one of these teams on Sunday afternoon, and Doire Trasna will be hoping it is them who come out on the right side of it.

- Orlagh Mullan

Neither the Derry champions nor their Fermanagh counterparts have ever reached the Ulster junior final, but one of them will contest the trophy if they can get the better of their opponents at Clones.

The ‘neutral’ venue provides a distinct advantage for Belnaleck who face a short trip in comparison to Pearses’ two hour journey, and while that factor has already caused some controversy between the two on social media, come this weekend both will let their football do the talking.

The two teams come into the game brimming with confidence after comfortable wins in their quarter-finals, but with each progressing stage of Ulster the competition gets tougher, and this will be about who has the greater desire.

GOALS GALORE

Doire Trasna netted four times against Ballyhegan last time out, while Gerry Flanagan’s men beat Mark Smith twice in the Dundrum nets in their 2-13 to 2-6 victory.

In that game the Fermanagh champions held their opposition to just a single point in the first half as they led by eight at the break, but let the Down outfit back into it before pulling away in the final quarter.

That will be both encouraging and frightening for Paul Simpson’s team. The fact that in 30 minutes of football Dundrum could only split the McMurroughs’ sticks once shows just how resilient they can be defensively, but complacency was clearly a factor in the opening 15 minutes of the second period and if Flanagan’s squad show that at any stage here then you can be sure that Trasna will punish them.