McDermott praises strength in depth as minor ladies win Ulster opener

Donegal minor ladies manager Declan McDermott was pleased as his side opened their Ulster Minor Championship account with a win over Armagh on Saturday.

Trailing by 0-6 to 0-4 at the break in Páirc na nDúnaibh, the home side outscored the Orchard County by 1-5 to 0-1 in a dominant second half performance.

“It’s brilliant to win our first home game.

“During the week, we were talking about our game plan and what we wanted to do. In the first half, we wanted to stay in the game and keep things tight, and it worked out that way. There were probably a bit of nerves in the first half, but we dominated and created about 14 chances in the first half, but only got four scores, so that was disappointing.

“But we knew we had the bench to go at them in the second half, and that proved. Having that bench this year has been massive for us. Even at training, the girls have really been pushing each other on and we knew we’d have the legs eventually, and once the girls got going, we were really happy.”

Dungloe pair Mia O’Donnell and Toni Boyle were introduced at the break, along with Naomh Conaill’s Sofie Campbell, and the trio had a big say in the second half turnaround.

“Toni was struggling a bit with an injury and came back in and was training this week, Sofie as well, they’re full of energy.

“But we’re having to manage them and their workload and putting them on at the right time for their drive and energy. Then Mia inside has a wand of a left foot when she gets going.

“We knew that we were creating chances in the first half, but we weren’t putting them away, so we just knew once we got the main shooters on the pitch in the second half that we would take them, so it worked out.”

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And Caoimhe Gallagher’s goal was a key score in the match, with the Ardara woman hammering the ball home from distance.

“Caoimhe in training has been driving on, but she wasn’t having the best of days and we were talking about taking her off before she got the goal, then she got another point straight away after.

“She came back from an ACL injury from last year, and she’s kicking on now, and it’s brilliant to see.

“Most of the starting team today would have been involved last year, bar Laura Boyle, who captained the Under-16s. Emma Wallace came back this year in the trials and done well, then Orla Ward at corner forward was Under-16s.

“But the majority of the team were about last year, and it’s good to have that core group of girls in there to really drive the team on this year, and the Under-16 girls from last year have really stepped up and got to the pace of the minor championship, which is pleasing.”

There is a week break between the next match, and a trip to Cavan is up next for the Donegal side.

Each team plays home and away, so Donegal have six matches against Armagh, Cavan, and Monaghan in their group, with the top team after the six games going into the A final and second place into the B final.

Cavan have set the benchmark for Ulster in recent years at this level, and that next game will give a good indication of where the team stands.

“Cavan will be the next focus, I said to the girls (after the Armagh win), that one game is done and that’s it, but we’ll turn our attention to Cavan and prepare for them like we did for Armagh.

“It’s just one win, and we’re not thinking about the permutations for the end of the league, but we’ll keep going now. Cavan is a massive test for us, they’re Ulster Champions from last year, and at Under-16s, so it’ll be a good marker to see how we’re doing.”