By Niall Gartland

A CHANCE to play in a second national final at Croke Park this season is an undoubted motivating factor for Tyrone ladies captain Aoibhinn McHugh, speaking ahead of Sunday’s All-Ireland Intermediate semi-final against Down in Clones.

The Tyrone ladies lost out in their Division Two final against Kildare at GAA Headquarters back in April, but with promotion to the top flight secured in advance, they still had cause to enjoy their day out at Croke Park.

They now find themselves one step away from a first All-Ireland Intermediate final berth since winning the competition outright back in 2018 with a six-goal hammering of Meath.

Aghyaran clubwoman Aoibhinn McHugh was a young squad member that day, but she’s risen up the pecking order and was appointed captain of the team at the outset of this season, and she’s determined to make it back to another final.

“The Division Two final obviously didn’t go our way but playing in Croke Park is still a really nice experience and I suppose that’s the goal for this Sunday, to get ourselves back in that position again. We really did enjoy the experience of playing in Croke Park, it’s what we all dream of growing up and it’s nice that we’ve given ourselves another shot of getting there.”

Their path to the last four hasn’t always been smooth-sailing – they fell to a surprise defeat against Leitrim in the first round of the Intermediate Championship group stages, a result that defied their respective league rankings, but they’ve shown plenty of resolve in the meantime, carving out a one-point victory over Clare in their recent quarter-final clash.

On the whole it’s been a very positive season for the flagship Tyrone team and their return to Division One football in 2025 is an important marker of their progress.

McHugh said: “We’ve had some really good performances in the league in particular, we had a good run of results and starting the season on that positive note really helped us.

“It helped bring confidence into the panel and we’ve a few new girls who’ve really helped freshen things up, there’s some really talented footballers coming through at the moment.”

Standing in their way of a place in the final are last year’s All-Ireland Junior champions Down, a team that have largely plied their trade in the Intermediate ranks over the course of the last decade. They haven’t lost a single game in their championship campaign to date so they have the ability to pose plenty of questions of the Red Hands, as McHugh acknowledges.

“Down are a big challenge. I played a good bit of football with Down girls at university and I know how talented they are. They’ve done really well this year and fair play to them, they’ve picked up momentum so they’re definitely a big challenge for us.”