Donegal ladies boss James Daly sets sights on winning Division 2

Donegal ladies manager James Daly is looking to win the Division 2 title and with it, return to Division 1.

Donegal made it three wins from three games in the second tier as they beat Tyrone in Aghyaran on Sunday by a score of 3-9 to 1-8.

Tyrone had been ahead of Donegal on points difference as the only other team with a 100% record, but Donegal were comfortable in victory at they led by 1-6 to 0-4 at the break, with a goal from Termon woman Ciara McGarvey helping them into that lead.

“We’re delighted, the two teams were unbeaten, so we came here and knew it was going to be a battle. We had our homework well done on Tyrone, and our girls put in a massive performance and played really well.

“I think our grit right through was unbelievable. There was no such thing as a 50/50 ball, we got our hand in and dispossessed them time and time again and used the new rules to our advantage.”

Daly made one change at the break as the impressive and lively Eva Gallagher was replaced by Nicole Gordon, but the Urris woman had a big say as she set up Katie Dowds for both second-half goals.

And a triple change saw the introductions of Ulitah Boyle, Jodie McFadden and Cáit Gillespie, while Abigail Temple Asokuh and Shauna McFadden also came in for the final ten minutes, with all five putting in a good shift to prevent any comeback, and Armagh native Daly admits it isn’t easy to select the starting 15 at present.

“We seen a bit of a change we needed to make at half-time just to do something different, and we put Nicole Gordon in there, and she set up the second goal, so we’re delighted.

“We thought Tyrone would come out with a bang, but we got the goal, and we know there are goals in this team. Our biggest problem right now is picking a team because there are a lot of competitive girls grabbing jerseys, and the response we needed from the girls in the second half, we got.

“We were worried about coming out (in the second half) that we might be a bit flat because we’re young, but we got the perfect response.

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“We done what we needed to do, and we got our matchups right, they have some fabulous players and we knew who they were, but I couldn’t fault anybody, from Clare Friel in goal, her kick-outs were fantastic. It looks like we’re under pressure, but we know what we’re doing.”

It leaves Donegal top on nine points, two clear of both Cavan and Mayo, who drew with each other in round one.

And it’s Cavan who travel to Donegal in two weeks time, with Daly targeting another win.

“It’s a good team that’s coming together, and that is a good Tyrone team, but our goal is to win Division 2 and push these girls up to the next level.

“It was a fantastic performance, but one performance doesn’t win you the league. We need to bring that same intensity and aggression the next day out and beat Cavan and get the points on the board.”