Fermanagh Ladies manager Emmett Curry could not hide his delight after he watched his side clinch the Ulster Junior Championship title with a 4-10 to 1-10 victory over Derry on Sunday in Clones.

Fermanagh got on top early in the contest and never looked like they would relinquish that grip as they pushed on for the win and Curry states that he is over the moon for the young squad.

“I’m absolutely delighted for the girls, they are class,” he said.

Curry had been concerned that the big occasion might have got to the girls and he even had a training session on the Clones pitch last week to get them accustomed to it.

As it turned out though he had no need to be worried with 16 year old Eimear Smyth producing a wonderful performance as she hit 3-04 to lead Fermanagh to the title.

“There was only six of the girls who had ever played in an Ulster final before and the likes of Eimear Smyth and Alannah Leonard hadn’t even played in Clones before so we trained in Clones last Thursday and that helped the younger girls. I was worried that they might be freeze on the day but they didn’t, they were quite comfortable,” he added.

Indeed, Smyth was the coolest player in the ground as she tucked away two penalties as well as a soccer style goal from play.

“We were in the changing rooms at training last week and we spoke about who would take a penalty if we got one. The girls all looked at Eimear when the question arose and she just said ‘that’s fine, I’ll take them’.

“She was unbelievable on the day. She scored 3-04, it was a very impressive performance and you have to remember that she is only 16 years old,” said Curry.

The young attacker though was not the only one to catch the eye with goalkeeper Roisin Gleeson another to come in for praise from the manager.

“Roisin Gleeson pulled off three superb saves and I’m sure if Eimear hadn’t scored 3-04 then she would have got the Player of the Match award,” said Curry, who felt it was an all round good team performance.

“We had great performances all over the field. I thought that defensively we kept things tight although we were disappointed with the goal that we gave away late on. We’ve also been scoring goals and they say that goals wins matches.”

The Fermanagh support made the trip to Clones in good numbers on Sunday and Curry felt that the backing that the side got on the day from the stands was an important factor.

“There was a great atmosphere at the game and we had a brilliant support with us. There was a great cheer after every score and it really drove the girls on,” he commented.

Sunday was Fermanagh’s third meeting with Derry this season with Fermanagh winning all three previous encounters. It is not the last that the sides will see off each other though with the teams to meet again in the group stages of the All Ireland Junior Championship, the duo having been paired with Antrim.

The Derrylin native admits that getting through the group stage and into the All Ireland semi-finals is now the target for his side.

“The focus now is the All Ireland and we will be looking to get out of our group and into the semi-finals. We gave the girls this week off but they will be back training on Monday night and we will be fully focused on our next game against Derry and hopefully getting a win in that one.”

And Curry stresses that there is more to come from his players.

“They are improving with every match and I know that there is still more to come from this side. They were good on Sunday but they can play even better,” he concluded.