Caroline Little will be hoping to add a fourth Ulster championship medal to her collection, on Sunday afternoon. The 30 year-old from Lisnaskea Emmetts has been playing county football since she was 14 years old. Now, under her own brother Aidy’s management, she will look to add to her success of the past.

“It would be great to win. There are a lot of girls who have never won one and for me it would be even better to win one when Aidy and the boys (Colum Monahan and Kevin O’Rourke) are taking us. I think they’ll enjoy it more and we will as well. I think this one would mean a lot to the whole team,” says the 2014 Intermediate Player of the Year.

After the uncertainty that surrounded Caroline’s inter-county career only months ago, when she walked away along with a few other players after a “difference of opinions” with the then manager Lisa Woods, there would certainly be a great sense of achievement if they could salvage their season, following a dismal league campaign, wherein they failed to win a single match.

Over three months have elapsed since their last game and Caroline admits it’s not ideal preparation: “It’s hard to know where we’re at because we haven’t played a game since our last league match. This is our first championship match and there’s a lot of anticipation around it, especially because we have a new manager in place. We’ve had challenge matches but it’s still not the same as when players are giving it their all, in competitive games.” However, the talented centre half-forward says training has been going well since her brother and the backroom team took charge and no special treatment is given to either her or her sister Sharon.

“Training has been great! Everyone is really fighting for their place and they’ve really brought new life to it. There’s a bit more of a buzz and it can be light-hearted but serious when it needs to be.” “He (Aide) probably goes harder on me and Sharon than anyone else because he knows we can’t answer back. It’s good though and we see the effort he is putting in away from training too. It makes us want to do well for him as well and make him and the team successful.” The competition for places has been heightened by the return of Marcella Connolly, Danica Beattie, Aileen Moane and Aine McBrien, something Caroline welcomes; “They’re all girls who have experience and they have the talent as well. When it comes to championship football, you need wise heads as well as young legs. It’s a matter of getting the right balance on the day.” The balance didn’t fall in Fermanagh’s favour in last year’s Ulster final against Down and Antrim ran them close for 50 minutes of the 2014 semi-final, so Caroline is expecting another tough encounter on Sunday: “We’ll not be underestimating Antrim. In last year’s semi-final we only pulled away in the last ten minutes. They’re a young, fast team and I don’t expect us to run away with it.” The disappointment of losing the final last year is not far away from Caroline’s thoughts and she says they’ll be hoping to make amends for it: “Last year we went into the game hoping we would win because we had played Down in a few matches previously and we had run them tight. It was very disappointing and was a bit of a reality check as to where we were. I think everyone is ready for Sunday though and I just hope everyone can play the way we want to play and get the result.” Caroline is probably one of the most well-known Fermanagh players. She tends to kick most of their scores but this doesn’t weigh heavily on her mind: “I don’t think about it! I go out there and play and if it’s me or Sharon or whoever who get the scores, it doesn’t matter. Everyone knows the job we have to do and whether it’s me or some of the others that get them, it doesn’t matter!” It’s a big day for the Little household but it’s what makes all the pre-season training worthwhile, concludes Caroline: “When you’re out on cold winter nights, you’re thinking, what am I doing here? But at this end of the season, it’s all good craic and it’s what you want to be doing.” Ulster Intermediate Championship final Sunday, July 26, Clones, 1.15 p.m.

Antrim v Fermanagh Referee: G. Corrigan, Down