Last year's Junior final heartbreak spurring Aisling O'Brien's Ernesiders

Having already done it once before with the Erne County, Aisling O'Brien is hopeful Fermanagh can make amends for a disappointing end to 2022 by going all the way in this year’s TG4 All-Ireland Junior Football Championship.

Back in September 2019, O’Brien was selected at corner-forward as the Ulster side lost out to Louth in a JFC decider at Croke Park. Just under 15 months later, however, the Devenish player helped Fermanagh to go a step further against Wicklow at Parnell Park and thus seal their return to the intermediate grade for 2021.

Despite suffering relegation back down to the third tier of ladies football, Fermanagh looked set to claim their third national junior title in the space of six years when they led provincial rivals Antrim by a single point in the closing stages of a compelling showdown at GAA HQ on 31 July of last year.

Yet Saffron attacker Orlaith Prenter subsequently popped up with a late equaliser and following their defeat in a replayed encounter at the Athletic Grounds in Armagh 13 days later, O’Brien and her Fermanagh team-mates, who are in Ulster Junior Football Championship action against Derry at Celtic Park this weekend, were highly motivated coming into 2023.

"Losing out to Antrim in the replay was hard to take when we were so close to winning the first time around. In saying that, Antrim were the better team in the replay and definitely deserved their win. There is definitely that determination within our team to make up for last year, but we’re just focusing on one game at a time," O’Brien acknowledged.

"For us we can only learn from that loss last year and be ready for the same challenge this year. We’ve a new captain in Shannan McQuade, who is a great leader both off and on the pitch. We