Gaelic Games

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Tyrone U20 coach Stephen O'Neill hailed his side's character as they made it three Ulster titles on the spin.

The Red Hands recovered from a slow start to the campaign with defeats by Cavan and Armagh leaving them third in Group B, but recovered superbly in the knockout phase to account for Derry and Donegal before finishing the job against Monaghan in Wednesday's final.

It is the fourth provincial title at the U20 grade in five years for Paul Devlin's side who have also won the last two All-Ireland titles and O'Neill is proud of their latest journey.

"It's been some journey and the learnings we've had, the ups and downs, the boys have responded," O'Neill, a three-time All-Ireland winner as a player, told BBC Sport NI.

"It's great for the character they've had their knock-backs and learned from their defeats. All of that hard work has paid off as they got two massive results in the quarter-final and semi-final, then tonight they put on a really good performance."

While O'Neill is in his first year working with his native county's U20s, for team captain Conor Devlin, it is a third Ulster medal.

Devlin scored 1-2 in Wednesday's victory over the Farney men, saying "I don't think I've scored as much in a game in my life" but took greater satisfaction from Tyrone's collective effort.

Noting they made some "tweaks" to their game-plan after two defeats from three in the group phase, he was happy to see them pay off.

With Ulster now secured, Tyrone's sights will now turn to an All-Ireland semi-final on 13 May against either Kildare or Louth who are through to the Leinster final.

"We've ticked off eight games, so they are in the past and we'll move on to the Leinster champions," man of the match Devlin said.

"We played a few of them [Leinster counties] in challenge matches and they were brilliant sides, so it's not going to be easy."

Odhran Crumley
BBC Sport NI Journalist

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Donegal manager Jim McGuinness acknowledged "the road is hard now" after his side's shock 3-21 to 1-21 Ulster SFC quarter-final defeat by Down at O'Donnell Park.

The Tir Chonaill men came into the game as heavy favourites after claiming the Division One league title by hammering All-Ireland champions Kerry, while Down needed extra-time to eventually see off Wexford to take the Division Three crown.

"A difficult, difficult day at the office I suppose, but it's one we are going to have to take on the chin," McGuinness told BBC Sport NI.

"There was a lot written about Down during the week and a lot of things said in the media about them, which I would say was pure fuel for them in many respects. They came with a game-plan and they nailed it."

Depending on the draw, Donegal will now have to wait four or five weeks before their first All-Ireland opener, where they will have to travel away to one of the provincial finalists.

"The road is hard now, there's no doubt that the road is hard, we just have to get ready for that," McGuinness added.

"We now have four or five weeks to get ready for the All-Ireland series and we will.

"We weren't one percent off today and that's the problem, we had a lot of things that were off today, our normal levels weren't there for some reason, we had had injuries and all of that, but we'll have to take it on the chin."

The big news ahead of throw-in was that Donegal would be without the services of the influential Michael Langan, who was not togged out as part of the match-day panel, but was still sitting amongst the rest of the extended panel.

"Michael (Langan) rolled his ankle in training and he hopefully will be okay in the next week or so."

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Armagh started their Ulster Ladies Senior Football Championship campaign with a 0-10 to 1-4 win over Donegal at the Athletic Grounds.

In a repeat of last year's final, which Armagh comfortably won, the holders were pushed by a late Donegal fightback.

The Orchard County led by seven points at the break with a commanding 0-8 to 0-1 advantage.

Sisters Aimee and Blaitin Mackin scored either side of a Caroline O'Hanlon point, while Evelyn McGinley got Donegal on the board with what would be their only point of the half.

Susanne White and Ciara McGarvey hit the post for Donegal as two goal chances went abegging, before Armagh raced clear as Blaithin Mackin bookended scores from Aoife McCoy and Catherine Marley.

Aimee Mackin extended Armagh's lead after the restart, but Donegal hit back through Eva Gallagher's point.

The hosts were dominant in possession and Niamh Reel landed a point after White had pulled another back for Donegal.

Armagh maintained their seven point lead but there was late pressure as Mia Bennett's point and Mia Rodgers' goal set up a one-score finale, but Donegal could not build on that momentum and the holders held on to win their opening game.

John McGovern
BBC Sport NI Contributor at Brewster Park

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Armagh manager Kieran McGeeney admitted his side had endured a "tough week" but praised their response as they powered past Fermanagh to reach the Ulster Championship semi-finals.

The Orchardmen were without a number of key players due to injury, including midfielders Ben Crealey and Callum O'Neill, but still produced a dominant display at Brewster Park, scoring 2-32 in a comprehensive victory.

McGeeney said the circumstances made the performance all the more satisfying.

"We had a tough week with injuries and lost a fair chunk of players," McGeeney said after.

"But the boys came out and performed. We went to sleep a bit in the second half and had to protect some players too, but they stuck to their task, and we got the victory."

Despite Armagh's control, McGeeney acknowledged there were aspects of the performance that will need improvement, particularly after a dip following the break.

"We stepped off, and we were very slack. We were scoring points and they were scoring two-pointers.

"We weren't as dominant around the middle as we normally are, but the injuries were a big part of that. But if somebody told me before we were going to win by 11 points and score 38 points, I would have said thank you very much."

The Orchard boss also welcomed the return and impact of several players, including Andrew Murnin, who made his first appearance since the National League clash with Roscommon.

"It was good to get a few boys back out there and get minutes into them, with Andrew, Barry [McCambridge] and Ciaran Mackin back on the pitch," he added.

"Overall, there are some things to work on, but some great things as well."

Looking ahead to the semi-final, McGeeney expects another stern test regardless of the opposition, particularly given Armagh's current injury situation.

"It's going to be tough no matter who we face," he said.

"We've had a big turnover of players; it's not ideal. But it was good to get a few boys back today, so it can't all be bad."

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Armagh's Jarlath Og Burns and Fermanagh's Darragh McGurn - whose 1-12 saw him named man of the match - speak to GAA+ after the Orchardmen's 2-32 to 1-24 win to move into the Ulster SFC semi-finals:

Burns on Armagh's flying start: "Early on we put in a good shift to take away their confidence. That was something we talked about: not giving them belief early on and keep them out of the game.

"At half-time it [challenge] was about playing to our standards but I wouldn't be very happy with the last 15 minutes.

"They got on top of us, were kicking two-pointers for fun and there wasn't a lot of pressure put on them.

"It's still a good place to be with improvements to make going into a semi-final."

McGurn on Fermanagh's improved second half performance after a poor shooting return early on: "It [mood] was low [at half-itime]. We were gutted we couldn't stay in the game longer. At 16 points down [at half-time] the game is over, so it's easier to come out [in the second half] and start shooting from all kind of places.

"It was just about trying to put a bit of respect on the Fermanagh jersey.

"That was probably the story of our season: creating a lot of chances, doing well on kick-outs but not capitalising.

"They [shots] were in the scoring zone and we just weren't executing. When you take those chances, it gives the crowd energy, gives you energy but when you don't, it saps the life out of you."

David Mohan
BBC Sport NI journalist

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With eight minutes to go in last year's Ulster Senior Football Championship quarter-final, it seemed Fermanagh were on course to defy the odds against Down.

Leading by seven, it appeared the Ernesiders were set to move into a semi-final meeting with Donegal when it all unravelled.

Daniel Guinness kicked a two-pointer and then found the net for Conor Laverty's side and after a pair of frees from Pat Havern tied it up, a Ryan McEvoy goal would break Fermanagh hearts.

They go into this Saturday's quarter-final against Armagh at Brewster Park [17:30 BST] as outsiders once again and while expectations outside of the camp are not overly high, full-forward Darragh McGurn feels they can draw inspiration from last year's performance against the Mournemen.

"We should have had that game home and hosed with 10 minutes to go and didn't get over the line," the 27-year-old told BBC Sport NI.

"We know there are big performances in us and we have quality with a few players to come back, so we're ready to put in a big performance."

Last year, Fermanagh entered the championship after a league campaign that saw them narrowly miss out on promotion from Division Three.

The background is much different this time around as one win from their seven games means they will ply their trade in the fourth division next year.

Going up against 2024 All-Ireland champions Armagh this week, a side that are firmly in the top tier, ensures their season "doesn't get any easier" but McGurn feels there are some caveats.

Undoubtedly, the quality of opposition in the league was high this year, evidenced by Westmeath - a team that missed out on promotion - stunning Meath in a Leinster quarter-final last weekend.

Of course, finishing bottom of the pile is not where McGurn and his Fermanagh team-mates "expected to be" but Declan Bonner's side will dust themselves off for Saturday's shot at springing the latest surprise in this year's provincial championships.

"At the start of the year, the goal was promotion but we got off to a bad start, picked up a few defeats early and it was hard to regain momentum," he reflects.

"The quality in Division Three this year was the highest I've ever seen, no easy games at all, but it's still disappointing to be going into Division Four.

"We'll be getting players back now and are looking for a big response now going into the championship."

David Mohan
BBC Sport NI journalist

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A first provincial three in a row may be on offer for Donegal this year, but midfielder Hugh McFadden is not looking past the challenge of Down in Letterkenny this Sunday [15:00 BST].

Jim McGuinness' side came through epic Ulster finals against Armagh in both 2024 and 2025, and while many predict the pair will meet at the semi-final stage this year, McFadden insists he and his team-mates are not taking their eye off the ball.

The 32-year-old from Killybegs has been around the block enough times to know there are no givens in the Ulster Senior Football Championship and experienced as much in 2023 when Down won a quarter-final meeting between the pair.

Undoubtedly, both are better sides now than three years ago, and with that in mind, there is no looking past the challenge posed by Conor Laverty's side this week.

"There's a lot to fight for over the next few weeks," McFadden told BBC Sport NI.

"It would be great to have a home game to start the All-Ireland series [as reward for reaching the Ulster final], but our focus is on Down.

"We know the ins and outs of the Ulster Championship, and if you look too far ahead you'll get stung.

"Down comprehensively beat us in the first round of the Ulster Championship in 2023, so it will be a very competitive battle."

Donegal enter this year's championship with silverware already secured in the form of the Division One league title.

That emphatic victory over Kerry in the final at the end of March has fulled expectations that 2026 may be the year that Donegal can win a first All-Ireland title since 2014.

However, despite the manner of the victory over the Kingdom last month, McFadden says "we're not going to read into it too extensively" and referenced Dublin in 2023 and Armagh the following year as evidence that it takes more than league success to translate into championship glory.

"We know what we want to do this year, what we have to work on and improve on," he said.

"There's some amount of very good teams around the country, teams who have won an All-Ireland over the past few years from Division Two, so we're not getting carried away.

"There's a lot of top teams on our side of the draw, but there's a lot of top teams throughout Ulster and no game is handy won.

"Over the past few years we've had titanic battles with everybody, so it will take every inch of our being to get over the line."