‘We’re making history for the club right now’ - Na Dúnaibh ace Lauren McBride 

Lauren McBride can’t quite believe where Na Dúnaibh have found themselves this season as they now prepare for an All-Ireland Club JFC final. 

The Donegal Junior champions held off Kilcock from Kildare on their own patch on Sunday with a gritty 1-7 to 0-7 win. 

Limerick’s Mungret St Paul’s needed extra-time and a freekick shootout to see off  Coolera/Strandhill of Sligo in the other last four encounter and that decider will now take place in a fortnight’s time in Parnell Park. 

Speaking after McBride, who notched four points for the winners, admits the main aim between now and then is to keep focused and not let the sense of occasion and, indeed, achievement to date, cloud ambitions. 

“It’s so hard to wrap your head around,” she explained. “We’re making history for the club right now. It’s the best feeling ever. It’s not over though and we have our biggest occasion yet in front of us. 

“It’s crazy to think that we are looking forward to an All-Ireland final now in two weeks time. But we just have to get the approach right and really start to zone in on that from Monday on”. 

Meanwhile, goalkeeper Charlie Shevlin - who produced two brilliant stops over the hour to keep Kilcock at bay - admitted Na Dúnaibh rode their luck at times but that her side was still full value for their victory.

“To be honest, in the heat of the moment you don’t feel the nerves. We’ve been in these types of situations before, so you just try to get in the way of the ball, pull off saves and look to do the best for the team. 

“We looked at it as just another game. We couldn’t think about it as an All-Ireland semi-final because the magnitude of that is quite huge for a club like ours. 

“So we just played the way we always play. Yeah, there were some moments where we were under pressure but we stood up to that. It’s just amazing to get over the line.” 

Jessica Roberts, who had a strong 60 minutes in the corner of defence for the winners, says these are special times and that the players are just living in the moment right now. 

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“You just have to play the game in front of you, that’s what the management keep saying. It’s worked well for us so far. It’s lovely to see the sense of occasion here this afternoon and all the happy faces. 

“Our defence worked so hard to keep the ball out and Charlie was unbelievable in goal. We knew how dangerous they were. Every girl on that pitch gave it absolutely everything. It’s just hard to put into words what this means”.