'Don't stay in the pubs' - player's plea before Ulster Ladies Final
Donegal ladies full-back Abigail Temple Asokuh wants the early-arrival fans at Clones on Saturday to attend their Ulster Final contest with holders Armagh rather than being tempted to stay in the town's bars in advance of men's senior provincial decider between the two same counties.The ladies decider will throw-in at 15:00 BST at St Tiernach's Park and is live on the BBC iPlayer with the much-anticipated men's final following at 17:25.Clones' access issues means many Donegal and Armagh fans will arrive in the Monaghan market town hours before the men's throw-in and Temple Asokuh, 19, is appealing to supporters not to ignore the women's decider."Hopefully, the Donegal fans turn up for our game too and don't leave it late to get out of the pubs. The tickets are for both games," said the Ballybofey woman.Armagh and Donegal have dominated the Ulster Ladies Championship since 2017 with both counties securing four titles over the last eight seasons.Last year's decider between the two counties went to extra-time with the Orchard women eventually earning a 0-17 to 1-12 triumph."It's great opening for the men. It's great coverage for us. And what better team to go up against than Armagh. That's where you want to be. So it'll be a great occasion," added the Dublin City University student.
Armagh's star forward Aimee Mackin sustained a cruciate ligament injury in last year's provincial decider which is still keeping her out of action although she is fulfilling water carrier duties for joint bosses Darnell Parkinson and Joe Feeney.Mackin's sister Blaithin missed last year's provincial final because of injury but will play this weekend while their brother Connaire has been named in the Armagh men's squad.Their other footballing sibling Ciaran is sadly out injured again after suffering a recurrence of the knee trouble which saw him missing out on the closing stages of last year's victorious All-Ireland campaign."It will be a painful one [for Aimee] when you are itching to play and you're part of a team," Blaithin told BBC Sport NI."She's been doing the water girl role for the majority of the games during the league and just been really good support and a really good voice even from the sidelines but it will be tough for her definitely."Aimee suffered the injury in last year's decider after an innocuous looking challenge in what was the second time she had sustained ACL damage after previous misfortune in 2019."I remember seeing it myself and I was like 'surely not, like it couldn't happen again'," added Blaithin."But unfortunately that was the outcome and it's been a long and tough year for her but she's dealt with her really well and obviously having Ciaran for the most part to support her through it. They have been very good to each other."
Mackin's mixes GAA with AFLW career
All four Mackin siblings still live under the same roof with mum and dad so it's not a surprise that football is often a topic of discussion in the household."It's any sports really 24-7 in the house and dad will be out with the sweets and making matches and showing us his tactics doing the match-ups," laughs Blaithin, who is mixing her Armagh career with also playing for Melbourne Demons in the Women's Australian Football League.Macken adds that Connaire and Ciaran, and indeed all the Armagh men's squad are very supportive of the ladies team."We're very very lucky in Armagh, the men's players take a real interest in how we are doing."They genuinely know and care about how we are doing so I think the double-header is great. We don't have to say [this weekend] 'oh we're missing yours or you are missing ours'."
With Donegal this year having operated in Division Two of the Ladies National Football League where they missed out on promotion, the sides have not met this season.Armagh's fast start in Division One saw them clinching a place in the final with two games to spare but they were unable to retain their title as All-Ireland champions Kerry won the league decider 4-14 to 0-11."We probably felt we dominated the first 15 minutes in the league final and had a lot of chances but didn't convert any of them and they carried straight down the field and got a goal and as any player knows, that just completely drains you," added Mackin.Temple Asokuh says Donegal were content to retain their Division Two status as they attempted to bed in several new players following a number of retirements. The Sean MacCumhaills player missed most of the league campaign because of an ankle injury picked up in the early contest against Roscommon but is now back to full fitness."We're in a good position. We didn't make it out of Division Two, but at the same time, I think we were happy with where we are," added Mackin, whose Nigerian father Eloka Asokuh came to Donegal in the early noughties to play for Finn Harps and has remained there ever since with his family.Donegal boss James Daly has lost the services of experienced campaigners such as Niamh McLaughlin, Katy Herron, Tara Hegarty and Amy Boyle Carr but is still able to call upon the likes of skipper Roisin Rodgers, Evelyn McGinley, Niamh Boyle and Susanne White.Youngsters who have been introduced into the Donegal squad include Rhiana McColgan, Ciara McGarvey, Ava Walsh and Laoise Ryan.
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