Fermanagh manager Emmett Curry was delighted to see his young charges book their place in the Ulster Junior Championship final with a comprehensive victory over Derry in Greencastle on Saturday evening.

Curry’s side took control from the outset and will now play the winners of this weekend’s Antrim v Derry encounter in the final.

Goals in the opening 15 minutes from Joanne Doonan (2) and Aine McGovern set Fermanagh on their way and Curry feels that the start his side made was crucial in the overall outcome.

“We got off to a great start and that was very important,” he said.

“Eimear Smyth got the first ball and ran at them and we continued to do that and it caused them a lot of trouble.

“We were against the breeze in the first half but we got in for three early goals and that really set us up and settled everybody down,” added Curry.

And Fermanagh were to go on and control the contest throughout as they never looked like relinquishing their grip on proceedings.

“I thought it was a good all round performance, we would be very pleased with how the girls played. It is great to be through to an Ulster final.”

If they are to win an Ulster title though it will have to be without top scorer Doonan who is leaving for the USA prior to the final.

Curry says he has known about Doonan’s decision for a while and feels that Fermanagh have the squad to deal with her absence.

“Joanne Doonan is away to the States so she will be a loss but we have a good strong squad of players and there is a number of girls who can come in and do a job in Joanne’s place,” he commented.

Fermanagh have been making steady progress since the start of the season and after a difficult 2016, a good league campaign has provided them with confidence moving into the championship.

“This was a team that never won a game last year but have come back this year and have played well. The young girls and the older girls are really starting to blend together, the likes of Eimear Smyth and Blaithin Bogue are both very young but there is a good mix there with the likes of the experienced Shauna Hamilton.

“You can see that they are improving with every game. They are learning to keep the ball better which is what we want them to do, where last year they would have been kicking the ball away. We’re happy with how things are progressing,” he stated.

And Curry has no preference as to who Fermanagh meet in the final.

“ It doesn’t really matter to us, you have to beat whoever wins if you want to win the final. We’ll just concentrate on getting our own game right,” he said.