HISTORY beckons on the Mona By-pass as Gort na Móna Ladies have the chance of Intermediate glory for the first time in their history when they face Glenravel on Saturday afternoon in their first ever Antrim intermediate final.
The West Belfast club are celebrating their tenth birthday and have seen the fastest rise from any club in the Saffron county in the past decade having won their first championship title in 2020 when they blitzed Glenavy by nine points in the Junior final at Musgrave Park.
Gort na Mona won the Junior Championship in 2020
Gort na Móna have established themselves as seasoned campaigners in the Antrim top flight competing in Division One last season.
The maroon and gold side battled well in the top-flight recording victories over St Gall's and Glenavy but will be hoping that they can repeat June's hefty victory over Saturday's opponents which saw the West Belfast ladies thump their opponents by 35 points.
Gorta have enjoyed a strong campaign so far after defeating Aldergrove in the semi-final of this year's intermediate competition.
The West Belfast side got off to a flying start when Ciara Maguire, Broghan Crossan and Niamh Nic Ionnrachtaigh struck early points to give their side a healthy lead in the first 10 minutes of the game.
Aldergrove led by the Taggart twins, Aoife and Caitlin, and fought back giving Gort na Mona's defence a serious challenge as the first half slowly ended with the Mona By-pass ladies holding on to a half-time lead.
Weathering an early Aldergrove storm in the second half gave Gort na Mona the platform to allow Casey Meighan and Chloe Boyd-Munce to inflict damage on the attacking front as they racked up 5-15 on the scoreboard, whilst limiting St James' to just the 11 points.
Con Magees await Gorts in the intermediate championship final after pulling off a famous win over the Johnnies at Corrigan Park.
The Gort ladies are no strangers to the task ahead and will be playing a strong and defensively resolute Glenravel team who have just returned to the intermediate fold having played in the senior competition in 2023 and 2024.
But with the recent success of the Junior title just a few years ago, the club remain justifiably optimistic as they head into their huge game this weekend.
Gort na Móna Female Liason Officer and current squad member Katie Irvine spoke to the Andersonstown News about the club's recent success and why she believes they can take that huge step up in competition.
"It’s been a really enjoyable season with the girls – we’ve built up a lot of momentum and the work everyone has put in is really starting to show especially at the tail end of the season.
"We have really come together this year as a team, and we’re going into the final with a lot of belief in each other. The semi-final showed all aspects of our game and we believe that we can go and take that step up and win the championship."
Tickets for Saturday's double-header at Glenavy are available on the Antrim LGFA website.
The action begins with Gort na Moóna as they take on Glenravel at 1pm, whilst the Senior Championship final between Moneyglass and St Paul's is set to headline at 4pm this Sunday.
