BY MATTHEW WILSON

Gaeil Fhánada manager Shane Keaveney hopes his outfit can cap off the season by doing what they set out to do at the start of the year, winning the Intermediate Championship.

Gaeil Fhánada have had an excellent campaign to date, winning their two group outings before securing a spot in the showpiece with victory over Buncrana in the last four.

Keaveney is pleased with the strength and resilience that his side displayed to get through that battle against Buncrana in the semi-final.

“Buncrana are a good, strong team. To be honest, we weren’t sure how it was going to go but we said that we would play our game and see how it goes and we came out the other end of it.”

“There were times that it was coming close and the girls showed resilience and that’s the main thing to take from it because teams will come back at you and it was good to show that strength towards the end to hold onto it.”

Having faced Ardara three times already this season, Keaveny is aware of the strength of Martin Bennet’s outfit.

The Fanad side have gotten the better of Ardara on each of these occasions, including victory in the Junior Gaeltacht Final following free-kicks.

However, the Gaeil Fhánada boss is expecting a close contest when they meet again at Pairc MacDiarmada in Lifford this Sunday.

“It’s definitely going to be a close one, they’re a very tough team. They definitely gave us a good battle in the Gaeltacht Final so we know there’s no messing around with them.”

“They’re going to come all guns blazing at it so we need to be well switched on. Someone said to me during the week, ‘they’ll throw the kitchen sink at you’ and we’ll plan to throw it back at them.”

With the Donegal Junior Gaeltacht title already in the cabinet for 2025, the Pairc Uí Shiail residents will be seeking to add another cup to their collection in the Intermediate decider this weekend.

It’s a title which Shane Keaveney and his group greatly desire, mentioning that they all sat down at the beginning of the year to discuss their ambitions, that being to land the Intermediate crown.

“At the beginning of the year, we sat down and we discussed what our realistic aims were. The girls said that they wanted the Intermediate.”

“Once the Gaeltacht ended, we sat down and we planned out what we were going to do and everybody bought into it and we’ve been going hard since. That is our overall aim now, to win the county.”