Preview of tonight’s Gala All Ireland junior championship

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It’s an all Ulster affair in tonight’s Gala Junior Championship æNancy Murray Cup’ as Tyrone take on Armagh.

The æRed Hand’ girls have been in impressive form in the Championship so far recording a win over Roscommon and a draw against Westmeath.

Manager Brenainn Brunton is confident that his side will be able to compete against what he believes will be Tyrone’s toughest opposition to date: “”We’re well aware of the task ahead Armagh have some great players like Bernie Murray and Laura Gribben and I’ve worked with some of them at Queen’s you know Colette (McSorley) and Niamh (McGeown) so we’re fully aware of what they’re capable of.

Armagh on the other hand have regained some confidence thanks to a fine win over Carlow and despite suffering a defeat at the hands of Roscommon, Brunton considers tonight’s match the perfect test ahead of the Ulster Final.

“”This will without doubt be the toughest match of our season but it will be a good test for us ahead of the Ulster Final. It’s always good to get a game against teams that are stronger than you, they have the experience of winning the æNancy Murray Cup’ so will be hard to beat. From our point of view we’ll be looking to compete with them as best we can and who knows anything can happen at this stage of the competition.

“”It would probably suited us better if the game wasn’t so close to the final as we don’t have the luxury of resting players because we have a small panel and a number of players that have injuries so we’ll be giving them every opportunity to make Saturday,”” Brunton added.

Armagh‘s Pasty MaGee believes that Tyrone will be difficult opposition given their current form: “”They’ve had a great Leauge campaign and have been going well in the Nancy Murray so will be difficult to overcome. A lot of the girls know there players through university and know that they have players that can do damage. We’ll be under no illusions and will have the utmost respect for Tyrone it’s the first time in many a year that the two sides have met so prides at stake. We’ll be looking to put in a similar performance to Saturday’s and hope that this time we get the result.””

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