Ederney’s dreams of Ulster LGFA Junior Championship glory were dashed as they lost out to Tyrone champions Sperrin Óg at Dunmoyle.

An outstanding display from Niamh O’Neill inspired Sperrin Óg, who raced out of the blocks and produced a blistering first-half performance to secure the Ulster honours with a 0-10 to 1-05 victory over the Fermanagh side.

It was a challenging first half for Aiden Gilroy’s Ederney side, who found themselves trailing 0-06 to 0-01 at the interval.

Their only score of the opening half came courtesy of a Dearbhaile McMenamin free.

St Joseph’s fall short 

Ederney showed signs of a fightback after the restart, with Tia McFarland adding her second point of the afternoon to leave the score at 0-08 to 0-02 with 45 minutes on the clock.

However, Ederney continued to battle throughout, despite facing a steely challenge from a Sperrin Óg side who showed all their character and experience.

Dearbhaile McMenamin pointed her second free of the afternoon to reduce the deficit to five, but O’Neill, who was enjoying an outstanding afternoon, registered her sixth score of the game with a free to restore Sperrin Óg’s six-point advantage with just 10 minutes remaining.

Ederney were handed a lifeline when the referee awarded them a penalty after Beibhinn McMenamin was fouled inside the square.

Captain Dearbhaile McMenamin stepped up and coolly dispatched the penalty to the net, bringing Ederney back into contention and leaving just three points between the sides.

But the classy O’Neill had the answer once again, firing over a point for Sperrin Óg to stretch their advantage to four as time began to run out.

Ederney desperately needed a goal to reignite their challenge, but they continued to battle, with Katie Teague and captain McMenamin adding late points to keep their hopes alive.

However, the Tyrone champions held firm in the closing stages as the full time whistle sounded.