Annaghdown women one hour away from All-Ireland glory

With no injuries to report, Annaghdown boss Thomas Murphy and his management team of coach Richard McNicholas and selectors Claire Coen and Fiona Wynne, who is expected to line out in the defence, have a full squad of 31 to choose from.

“In fairness, we had a lucky spell this year with injuries. Nothing major. Just the usual knocks and niggles. So, everyone is 100% and ready to go,” confirmed Murphy to Tribune Sport this week.

Given the impressive manner of their win over Padraig Pearses of Roscommon in the Connacht final and the gritty nature of their victory over Abbeyside in the All-Ireland semi-final, it would be a surprise if Annaghdown deviated too much from the script when it comes to lining out their side on Sunday.

Goalkeeper Mary Kate Killilea has been solid between the posts – especially in her distribution from kickouts and open play – while Jemma Burke, Bronagh Quinn and Chloe Crowe have been outstanding at the heart of the defence.

In midfield, Erin Coyle and Niamh Duggan have complemented each other to great effect while, up front, the hardworking trio of Nicola Burke, Rachel King and Grainne Barrett have led the charge with great aplomb.

While young, they also have some depth on the bench, with Ciara McCarthy, who just turned 16 on the weekend of the semi-final, showing very well when coming off the bench against Pearses and Abbeyside. Regina Naughton and Kelsey Forde are among the other young players to show promise.

However, in Shane O’Neill’s of Armagh, they meet a team who dumped the competition favourites and 2012 All-Ireland intermediate champions Parnell’s of London out of the competition at the penultimate stage on a scoreline of 3-7 to 1-10.

To the fore for the Ulster champions was 2015 All-Star Aimee Mackin, who tallied a whopping 3-6, 3-5 from play. She will take watching. “Yeah, from what we are hearing, she is a good player,” acknowledged Murphy.

Full preview in this week's Connacht Tribune