Tough Challenge Awaits Tyrone Ladies

Saturday 01.04.2017

County

If Tyrone are to secure a place in the semi-finals of the national league they will need to secure a win in Waterford on Sunday afternoon and hope that results elsewhere go in their favour. Tyrone looked on course for three points at the weekend against league leaders Laois.  That was before they leaked four second half goals.  Not the result manager Gerry Moane was after.

“ When you concede four goals in the second half players have to look at themselves, at their own performances and ask themselves questions.  We reshuffled things, we have to give players game time and in turn they have to show us what they can do,  perhaps we got answers on Sunday.  Now we have to look at what went wrong especially in the second half.  There will have to be changes”

The manager is expected to include St Ciaran’s college stars Maria Canavan and Chloe McCaffrey in an attack that laboured last week while at the back Christiane Hunter and Emma Brennan are likely to feature with Shannon Lynch due back in goals.

Tyrone find themselves in a real dogfight for a last four spot. Tyrone face a must win the game against Waterford and even then their place in the last four could well rest with the outcome of other games.  Missing out on promotion in this first year in division two would not be the end of the world as the manager suggested.

“ I have said to the players all through the league that this season is all about the bigger picture, we have to develop players, we need to see where players are at and I have to say while we are making progress there’s lot’s of work  still to be done, we are competitive again but we continue to make silly mistakes , it’s a learning thing , promotion or indeed getting to the last four was always going to be a bonus for us, we are still in with a chance of that in the last round and that is a positive step compared to the past few years when it has all been about avoiding relegation”.

The county Under 16s head to Antrim on Saturday as they aim to build on last weekends opening round win over Armagh.  On that occasion Tyrone edged an eighteen goal thriller.  Locally the county Feile will get underway today at venues throughout the county.