DONEGAL ladies manager John McNulty is under no illusions of the task at hand for his side in the Ulster Ladies Senior final today (Sunday) and accepts the underdog tag.
The Kilcar native will take his side into battle against the high flying Orchard County in Clones (throw-in 3.30pm) with the two teams off the back of different league campaigns.
Donegal were playing their first season in Division 2 since 2016 as they finished third, while Armagh, who won Division 2 last year, were highly impressive as they won six of their seven league games on their way to topping the table before winning the Division 1 final.
“Armagh have probably been building for quite a while and they really set Division 1 alight this year,” McNulty said ahead of the final.
“They got all the way to the league final and they were clear winners in that final against Kerry too. You’re coming up against a team that’s in very good form and are big favourites for the Ulster title and probably one of the favourites for the All-Ireland too.”
While the Donegal team is heavily changed from last year, they can go into the final with confidence after beating the Orchard ladies in the Ulster decider last year to prevent Armagh’s four-in-a-row provincial hopes.
However, six of those experienced players that started last year’s final have not played this year while goal hero Ciara McGarvey is also not in the squad as she completes her physio degree in Coventry.
But McNulty is happy to go in with the tag of underdogs for the second year running.
“You always have to look at it as just being in an Ulster final and you just have to go and try win that game. Donegal were Division 1 until last year and a lot of players would have stepped away from last year so there’s a certain amount that it’ll be a new experience for but I’m quite happy to be going in as underdogs.
“The table doesn’t lie either, they’re Division 1 league champions and we’re in Division 2.”
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