Ulster Junior LGFA Championship
Antrim Senior Ladies 1-19
Derry Senior Ladies 2-8 
At Ballymaguigan

Antrim senior ladies got their Ulster championship campaign up and running with a victory on Saturday when they overcame the hosts Derry with an eight-point victory at Ballymaguigan Park.

The Saffrons hoped to make it a league and championship double following promotion back to Division Two of the LGFA County leagues following a fantastic campaign in the third tier.

It was a far from perfect performance from the Saffron ladies who struggled to get out of first gear in the opening half of play with Derry making their early possession count as they Oak-Leaf county raced into a four-point lead after ten minutes, but a goal from Cliodhna Logan brought Antrim back in touch with their opposition.

Although, it was Derry who rallied and seized the tie and scored a second goal after some poor defensive play from the Antrim allowed the hosts space to find the net and give concern that an upset could be on the cards.

Antrim at this stage were beginning to toil and only for a timely intervention from Emily Kearns, who prevented a certain goal, they'd have found themselves seven points to the detriment in Ballymaguigan.

The away side were on the back foot, but the early Derry dominance would begin to fade and Antrim started to rally in their comeback.

To the Saffrons credit they played some excellent football in the last ten minutes of the first half with Maria O'Neill and Aoibheann Monaghan striking some beautiful scores before Theresa Mellon chipped in with a few points.

And just before the short whistle, Laura Agnew scored a wonderful point to send the Antrim girls in one score to the good after a slow start and the worry of a defeat was soon put behind them.

As the second-half began Antrim stepped it up in a major way, getting off the mark and beginning to take control of the game and started to play the free flowing football that they are capable, reminiscing of their All-Ireland run last season.

Great scores then came their way as captain Bronagh Devlin led by example striking the opening two scores of the half, both after great driving runs as she lifted her team to kick on and win the game.

Devlin then found another great score from play and would turn provider for her team-mates Caitlin Taggart and Aine Lynch who both raised white flags as the half wore on. The captain continued and got her fourth point of the day, striking off the inside right and splitting the uprights.

Hanna Donaghy then hit both posts, before eventually slotting the ball over the black spot to get her name on the score sheet for the Saffrons. 

Boss Mickey Devlin spoke after the game and said the heat was a factor at the start of the game.

“We took a while to get going out there today, it was very warm and humid and it took quite a lot out of the girls," he said.

"There was a few things in the first half that myself and Chris probably were not best pleased with but the girls, as they always do, responded well and they worked hard and stood up to the challenge that Derry offered us."

Micky believes that he and co-manager Chris Scullion's work with the ladies' team in training paid off when it came to the scoring tally.

"Myself and Chris worked hard this week on coaching our forward play which we feel payed dividends as we hit 20 scores and also our turnover rate was high as we focused on that part of our game also.

"But, ultimately it’s all about the players and not us," said Micky.

"These girls work hard and all the credit goes to them here today as they all put a massive shift in out there and our bench again proved they can make a difference when entering the game.

"The girls all have club games over the weekend which are very important so we will get together again on Tuesday night and prepare for our game at home to London next Saturday.” 

Antrim will face London in the second fixture of their Junior Ulster Championship round-robin group phase.