Tyrone test

Tyrone test

3 July 2024

DOWN senior ladies footballer Laoise Duffy is eagerly anticipating her team’s All-Ireland intermediate semi-final clash with Tyrone after a fantastic result at Páirc Esler on Sunday.

The Mourne ladies booked their place in the last four of the competition following a hard-fought back and forth affair with Monaghan, with Down eventually winning 2-12 to 2-9.

The Mourne green flags were raised by Sarah Dougherty and Castlewellan’s Niamh King which proved crucial especially after Monaghan found the net after just 60 seconds.

Down forward and Bredagh clubwoman Laoise battled with her team-mates right until the final whistle and also chipped in with a late point to help secure the result.

“It felt amazing,” she said. 

“It was such a tough game and every player had to fight to the end to get over the line. That made the victory even sweeter and we were delighted with our work rate. 

“Composure has been a big buzz word for us on the pitch. Whenever things start turning against us or even whenever we need to close out games, keeping composure on the ball has been what’s helped us through the close games.”

The result now sets up an All-Ireland semi-final tie with Ulster neighbours Tyrone, who caused an upset at the weekend by recording a one-point victory over competition favourites Clare.

“I’m excited,” said Laoise. 

“It’s been a few years since we’ve played Tyrone in a competitive game and we feel like we’ve came on a lot as a team in that time. 

“It will be interesting to see how we measure up now. There’s been a few surprises so far in the championship which just goes to show how competitive intermediate is, this is the kind of knock-out football we all want to be playing.”

Due to Down winning the junior version of the competition last year, not many would have suspected them to get into the latter stages of the intermediate.

However, according to Laoise, the team pays little attention to any underdogs or favourites tags.

“To be honest that isn’t something that us as a team would spend much time thinking about,” she said. 

“We’ll just focus on ourselves.”

Down will take on Tyrone on Sunday, July 14 with Leitrim facing Wexford in the other semi-final.