Kells club bid for national FAI title

Eureka, Kells will be seeking to add a another national title to a long list of triumphs when they take on Lagan Harps in the FAI Women's All-Ireland Intermediate Cup final at Letterkenny on Sunday, 3.30. The club earned their place in the final when they defeated fierce rivals Benfica, Waterford in the last four a few weeks ago at the Regional Sports Centre, home of League of Ireland side Waterford Utd. The Meath side had to put in a big effort before they emerged with a narrow 2-1 win the goals scored by Louise McKeever and Laura Connolly. While Eureka have garnered a number of national titles in the past they, have found themselves out of the limelight in recent years and now they have an opportunity to assert themselves once more under the guidance of coach Leonard Noone. The Kells side won the All-Ireland senior title in 2005 and since then they have slipped back to the intermediate ranks, but Connolly says they will be approaching Sunday's game with plenty of confidence while wary of threat posed by the opposition. "This should be a great game, we haven't played Lagan Harps in recent years but we know they are a very good side," she said. "We have been training hard and there's a good camraderie among the players. This would be the icing on the cake for us to win this title." Connolly is one of the more experienced players on the team having played with Eureka, at school and club levels, since the early 1990s. She is one of a number of Eureka players who have won Republic of Ireland caps at under-age level. The players Eureka will be looking towards for inspiration against Lagan Harps include McKeever, Lisa Keenan, Joanna Byrne, Paula Murray and Kellie Allen who are among the team's contingent of capped players. Lagan Harps defeated Douglas Hall from Cork 6-1 in the semi-final while in the last eight they overcame Castlebar Celtic who had a big reputation going into the competition. Eureka squad for Sunday's game - Louise Byrne, Joanna Byrne, Jennifer Newman, Sinead Monaghan, Una Murphy, Anna Mullan, Brigetta Lynch, Laura Connolly, Kellie Allen, Amanda O'Reilly, Gillian Farrelly, Lisa Keenan, Paula Murray, Jackie Kavanagh, Aoife Clarke, Olivia Devine, Vivienne McCormack, Orla Duff, Ann Marie Ball, Irene Munnelly. Manager - Leonard Noone; assistant manager - Fr David Brennan.