Fermanagh Mallards will be hoping to round off a good season with some silverware tonight (Thursday) when they take on Craigavon City in the NIWFA Division Three Cup final at Holm Park, Armagh (7.30pm).

The Mallards may have been denied the league title last week when they lost 4-0 to Comber in the league decider but the young side have secured promotion and now they are hoping to finish the season on a high note by getting their hands on the cup.

Last season was a difficult one for the Mallards when they had to drop down to Division Three after being unable to fulfil fixtures in the top flight.

However, Gareth McGuckin has come in as manager and his decision to go with a core of young players backed up by some more experienced performers has paid off.

“I was appointed late so we didn’t get much time pre-season but the girls have worked hard. We decided to go down the youth road with a few experienced players to help them along and our squad includes ten players who are 17 years or younger. The target for us this year was just to get a team out and get them to enjoy football again. We had no expectations so to have gained promotion was a big plus and now that we are in the final we want to end the season on a high,” said McGuckin.

Indeed, the Fermanagh Mallards only defeat this season came last week against Comber although they were without their two youth internationals, Kathryn Dane and Ellie Rix who are both key players and who will return to the side for the final.

The Mallards saw off Comber in the quarter-final with Louise Thompson scoring an extra time winner while in the semi-final they defeated Shamrock Ladies 6-1 with both Dane and Rix among the goals.

Fermanagh Mallards and Craigavon City have meet twice already this year with the sides drawing 3-3 early in the season before the Mallards claimed a 10-1 win in the second meeting, albeit against an understrength Craigavon City outfit.

“They were short quite a few the second day we meet so I wouldn’t read anything into that. I would expect it to be a very tight game and we seen in the first game of the season that they are a strong, physical side with wide players who have a lot of pace,” added McGuckin.

McGuckin will therefore be looking for big performances from the likes of defenders Louise Thompson, Kai Collins and Lucy Barr in front of goalkeeper Cleona Bogue.

Dane, Rix and Louise Noble are all big players in the middle of the park while up front McGuckin will be hoping that Eimear Keenan and Nicola Hynes can give the Craigavon defence plenty to think about.