Maxi Curran looking at the bigger picture with Donegal

While Donegal are yet to nail a single point to the Lidl NFL Division 1 board, Maxi Curran isn’t panicking. 

It was once again a youthful and inexperienced Donegal side that took to the field against Meath in O’Donnell Park. And while the Royalettes eventually won out by 1-7 to 0-5, Curran remains upbeat about his squad’s progress. 

Matters were squared at 0-3 each at the changeover in Letterkenny but Mary Kate Lynch’s fortuitous goal on 47 minutes proved to be decisive in pushing Meath on for the win. 

“The goal was the defining moment in the game,” agreed Curran. “I felt she was going for a point. Those are the breaks you get. They’d that little bit more experience and that’s probably what really showed in the end. 

“They also made the fewer errors there. They had a little more teeth up front in the second-half to knock over a couple of scores. Ten of those players have more All-Ireland medals than some of our girls have actual games for Donegal at this level. 

“So that’s the contrast but it’s also the barometer. But in terms of guts and effort, I can’t fault the girls. They really did look to go toe to toe with Meath.  

“We’ve such a young side. But they’ll have learned so much from  that there. And there is no better place to learn than in Division 1”. 

Donegal now turn attentions to next Saturday when they go away to Kerry. Curran says it’s another difficult assignment, with the Kingdom last season’s All-Ireland runners up. After that, it’s another home match against Waterford and that’s a contest the side will have to target if they’re to avoid slipping into an early relegation scrap. 

Curran explained: “We have girls all over the country, Galway, Limerick, Dublin, Belfast and so on. It doesn’t get any easier away to Kerry. But it’s another building block for us. Round 4 is a home match against Waterford. And that’s going to be huge. 

“It’s a results business but we certainly aren’t marking these girls’ progress on points alone. We’ve an eye on the bigger picture. A lot of our senior girls, it’s no secret their time at this level is getting shorter. 

“We’re wringing every last ounce out of them that we can. But we want to make sure we’re taking girls in in the middle of all that process”.