Tanya Kennedy answers Maxi Curran Bat Signal in emphatic fashion

When Donegal were pummelled by eight points by Armagh three weeks ago in Lifford Aimee Mackin ran riot scoring nine, six from play, in a 1-15 to 2-4 rout.

Mackin - a former Footballer of the Year - was doubled marked that day but it made little difference.

It was the obvious conclusion to draw but Maxi Curran knew he needed to curb the Orchard superstar’s influence if Donegal were to pull off their very own ‘Mission Impossible’ in last Sunday’s Ulster decider.

Tanya Kennedy (29) - a precocious underage talent with Donegal - never actually turned out for the senior side prior to last term.

Back in 2012, like so many of her friends at the time, she decided to up sticks and head for adventure in Australia. A free spirit, the work-to-life balance Down Under suited the teenage Robert Emmets woman.

And a trip to Sydney that was initially expected to last for just a year or, at the most, two, was extended, indefinitely. When she did return in 2022, she went on to become an All-Star nominee off the back of a season where Donegal just came up short in an All-Ireland semi-final loss to Meath.

That day, having held Royals ace Vicki Wall to just one point over the hour, she crumbled to the Croke Park turf as she knew her dream was over.

At the time, in the lead in, she’d explained it was a one-season deal. She’d made a life for herself in Australia - one she’d put on hold to come back home and win something with Donegal.

She’d eventually head back to Oz in the weeks that followed with painful regrets centred on Ulster and NFL Division 1 final defeats as well as that Meath hammerblow at the penultimate All-Ireland hurdle.

Shortly after 3.15 on Sunday afternoon, the LGFA press liaison officer popped her head around the Owenbeg pressbox door to relay two chances to the Donegal starting team. Coming in from the cold and straight into the starting line up were Niamh Hegarty and Kennedy.

Hegarty’s brief was no doubt to give Donegal some extra cutting edge up top. But, you can be certain that Curran’s call to Sydney would have centred on a very definitive task.

On being Donegal’s shadowing assassin - the one that puts the clampers on the best of the best - Kennedy modestly said: “Someone has to do it, but I really don’t mind. This was such a team effort. We were so underestimated coming in here today and that was a beautiful place to be.

“I’m over the moon - words really cannot explain the feeling. Last year we were so close on so many fronts. It was heartbreaking. Everyone invested so much in 2022. To come up short was soul destroying”.

Attempting to draw a line under last season was difficult enough but trying to draw a definitive line under her Donegal career was even harder.

“I’ll not deny it, it was something that was always there in the back of your head since. Last year was brilliant but at the end of the day we still came up short. We didn’t have anything to show for it.

“So honestly, I really don’t have the words to describe this. It’s just amazing. I’m so, so happy. I have an Ulster medal!”

Donegal’s upturn in fortunes was the result of a very potent mix of experience, quality and youth. And that small but significant injection of the former made all the difference in Owenbeg.

“When you have that knowledge and experience behind it, you see the young girls then step up and bring their obvious qualities to the mix. And that mix was what brought us through. You see the energy and buzz the young girls bring to the table and you feed off that.

“The management also deserve so much credit. It hasn’t been an easy ride for them in the last few months. But the entire group, we’ll savour this now together because it’s so, so special”.