3 days ago
Jennifer Duffy and Monaghan on revenge mission against Cavan in All-Ireland intermediate championship after league loss
JENNIFER DUFFY continues to look forward despite defeat the last time she faced Cavan.
And tomorrow, the Monaghan ace has the chance to gain
revenge
when the Ulster
neighbours
square off in Group 3 of the TG4 All-Ireland intermediate
football
championship
.
Regularly used at full-back, centre-back or midfield previously,
Duffy
has added another string to her bow in 2025.
Despite donning the No 6
jersey
for the Farney's TG4 Ulster IFC semi-final against Cavan in Smithborough at the beginning of the month, she was actually stationed on the edge of the square and helped herself to an excellent haul of 2-2.
Even though the O'Neill Shamrocks
star
was handed a similar role in a win over Clare in the
NFL
Division 2 campaign earlier this year — when she bagged 2-1 — Cavan were surprised to see Duffy being deployed as the fulcrum of the Monaghan attack.
But Duffy explained: 'It was something in the league that I was just carrying an injury and they literally said, 'Right, we'll put you inside'. It kind of worked. I'd say Cavan didn't really expect me to be inside.
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'They actually have our ex-goalie coach in with them. I was full-back when he was over us and now I'm full-forward. It probably was a bit of a shock to their system.
'They didn't really know that I was going to be in there, but I play there for club.'
Despite Duffy's haul, the Breffni ladies won that day on a score of 2-15 to 3-8.
But they will have to contend with Duffy's attacking prowess again in the sides' championship opener in Clones tomorrow, a curtain-raiser to the men's All-Ireland group-stage clash of Monaghan and Clare.
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Given she expects their opponents to have a vocal following after winning Division 3 and the Ulster intermediate championship, Duffy is hopeful the Monaghan public will come out to support her team.
She added: 'Cavan always have a good crowd with them, especially now. When teams are winning, you'll always have plenty of support to back them up. Every time we play them it is a derby, so you know you're going to get a good battle.
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'Even people getting in early for the men's game, they'll get the end of our game.
'It might actually start people to think, 'Oh, maybe we'll start supporting them'. It has nearly pushed us to be giving an even better performance, now that you know there is going to be a bigger crowd there.'
Duffy's hopes of evening the score with Cavan should be boosted by the fact she has always been seen as a big-game player — while most footballers are elevated to senior inter-county status in relatively low-key affairs, the polar opposite was the case for her in 2019.
In the same year, she was part of an impressive Monaghan side that made it all the way to an All-Ireland minor 'A' championship final.
Having already overcome a Meath team spearheaded by
future
double senior All-winner Emma Duggan, Duffy lined out at left corner-back when the Farney lost out to
A mere 13 days on, she was drafted straight into the Monaghan senior starting line-up for their crunch TG4 All-Ireland SFC relegation play-off against
And with Duffy being one of three players to rattle the net in a 3-18 to 1-10 victory led by Louise Kerley and Cora Courtney, it was a memorable introduction to the highest level of ladies football.
STEPPING UP
She recalled: 'They were like, 'Right, you're going in midfield', and I was like, 'Oh, OK.'
'A few of us stepped up that day. When you're that young, you're a bit naive to what is going on. You're happy enough to go in and play. I don't think at the time I knew how much the game meant.
'The older girls, there was no way they were going to be relegated. When I think back now, I think there was so much power put into that day, that the girls were just like, 'We need to win this'.
'When I was young, you look up to Cora Courtney and when she tells you to do something, you do it.'
Since then, Duffy has always been learning — and now she is always teaching as well, and hoping to inspire others in the same way she was.
Since graduating from DCU, Duffy has been working steadily as a teacher at her own alma mater, Our Lady's Secondary
School
, Castleblayney.
Fourteen years ago, she was in
teachers
, Nicola Fahy, play in Monaghan's TG4 All-Ireland SFC final defeat to Cork. In 2020, the duo would line up together in defence in championship games against Tipperary and
Duffy smiled: 'She would have taught me in school, so it was nearly nostalgic thinking I was actually getting to play with her then come that late stage.'
1
Jennifer Duffy in action for Monaghan
Credit: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile
