Lidl National Football League Div 2 Cavan V Tyrone

Saturday 25.02.2017

County

After wins over Sligo and Kildare Tyrone ladies suffered a four point loss at home to Westmeath on Sunday last. They head to Breffni Park this weekend and manager Gerry Moane has called on his players to bounce back. Moane has made a couple of changes ahead of the contest and is boosted by the return of Shannon Quinn after her break and Galbally’s Laura Kane returns after injury.

Tyrone were off the boil last week and Gemma Begley and Niamh O’Neill were uncharacteristically quiet. Score chances that on another day would have resulted in rich pickings were not converted but Tyrone didn’t play that badly and Moane was full of praise for his team. His defence had conceded just 1-2 in the second half although there were issues for the management.

“ There was a nervousness about our game there today” admitted Moane. “We played better than we did against Kildare but just didn’t take the chances. I can have no real complaints about the defence. We only conceded 1-2 in the second half , it was frustrating”

An early penalty put Westmeath in the driving seat and they  fired in a rocket past Shannon Lynch courtesy of Ciara Blundell just ahead of half time. Tyrone responded well with Niamh O’Neill getting a late first half goal to leave five points between the teams. Despite creating chances Tyrone were always chasing the game though and could not reel the Midlanders in.

Sunday’s big Ulster derby will provide a stern examination for Tyrone. Facing Cavan will offer manager Moane  a chance to see just where his side really is at this stage in their redevelopment. The Breffni girls beat Kildare by six points last Sunday as they made  it two wins from three following their opening day loss also coming against Westmeath.

Moane knows what to expect as Tyrone face the additional challenge of the Breffni 3G surface.

“They are playing senior championship football and have always provided us with some difficult outings. We have worked hard this week to put things right after last week. The girls have a point to prove to themselves and there is a buzz again. We have no major injuries barring the long term ones so we should be well prepared.”