Fermanagh Ladies will get their championship campaign under way this Saturday when they take on Antrim in the Ulster Junior Championship semi-final in Silverbridge, and when Ulster is over it will then be into the All Ireland Junior series for the Erne side.

And Manager James Daly says that he has his eyes on silverware for his young charges between now and the end of the season.

“I expect us to win every game from now until July 31, and that’s not being unrealistic. We think we are good enough,” said Daly, who feels that his side have shown already that they can match the so-called best teams in the championship.

“The two best teams in the championship are Antrim and Limerick, and we have beaten Antrim already at the Bawnacre, so it means we are as good as them on any given day.

“Limerick beat us in the league semi-finals and again, it is a game we could say that we should have won, but we didn’t, so hopefully we can take lessons from that, moving forward. It is a championship we think that we can win,” he added.

That Limerick defeat cost Fermanagh a league final spot, but while disappointed to have missed out on promotion, Daly does feel that another season in Division Four will benefit Fermanagh.

“ I look at this season as a big learning curve, and as disappointed as I was in losing the league semi-final, it was probably the right thing for this team to be in Division Four for another year.

‘Leadership’

“I have seen so much growth in so many girls who in that first game down in Ballinamore were quiet, but now I’m hearing plenty of leadership and talking on the pitch, and you can’t ask for any more than that.”

And he is pleased with the progress that the players have made since the start of the year.

“That first day in the league down in Ballinamore against Leitrim, we were naive, and Leitrim probably played their best game, to date, on that day.

“We played them again in a challenge match a couple of weeks ago, and it was a very tight affair, so we are happy with the way things have gone, and we are happy that the girls are much more in tune with the way we want them to play.

“They are a great bunch of girls who have worked so hard, and they are hungry for success.”

He is hoping that success will come this year with an Ulster Championship first up. Fermanagh will play Antrim, with the winner progressing to the Ulster final and the loser will then take on Derry for the other final spot.

“If we win on Saturday, brilliant, we are into the Ulster final – and if we don’t, then we play Derry. We are looking forward to it,” said Daly.

Fermanagh and Antrim need no introduction to each other, having met regularly in recent times, but Daly feels that Fermanagh are in a good place, coming into the game.

“We are happy with where we are at. I think we have a strong team but we’ll know all about it on Saturday as we know how good Antrim are.

“These teams have played each other so much, and that’s probably not a good thing, although we have avoided each other in the All Ireland series.

“They would know plenty about us and our dangers, and we know who their best players are, so it should be a good match.”

Daly is keen for his side to succeed in Ulster and he also knows that the games are great preparations for the All Ireland series which commences at the end of May.

“It is one of those things where it is another couple of games playing together, and then, as you push on into the All Ireland series, you have another three games in it before you hopefully get to the semi-final,” said Daly.

The Fermanagh Manager though does admit that he has been hindered by the loss of some fringe players from the squad who have opted to go back to their clubs, and it is something he is keen to address ahead of next year with the county board.

“We have lost a few off the panel, due to this players league they have in the county.

“We took six of the Minors up, but only one of them stayed because they wanted to go back to their clubs and play in the club league, so that has been frustrating.

“I’m hoping that I can talk to the county board next year about letting the girls play in the league and also be part of the county panel,” he stated.

But, he stresses that in general, preparations for the championship have gone well.

“In terms of preparation, it has been good. We had a training weekend in Armagh a few weeks ago and it went really well. We played three matches and the girls are fit and going well,” he said.