James Daly: Donegal made their own luck in late Monaghan win 

James Daly said Donegal finally got the rub of the green as Roisin Rodgers’ late heroics in Lifford helped secure three big Lidl Ladies NFL Division 2 points. 

The hosts looked to be on their way to a one-point loss on Sunday but in the dying seconds, their captain got a desperate hand to a dipping Susanne White free and somehow slapped to the back of the net to take the 1-7 to 0-8 win. 

After two opening draws away to Clare and Westmeath, Daly’s girls managed to bag a victory over the joint leaders in the second tier and their manager felt it was no more than they deserved. 

“Two goals have gone against us in the last two games so we could easily have gone into this with six points,” Daly explained after.  

“Late on it looked like we were in trouble but Roisin Rodgers wasn’t to be denied. She put her head in where it could have hurt to get on the end of that ball. 

“We never gave up. And I thought we were as good as them. We made our own luck there late on and I’m delighted for them. 

“I thought the man in the middle didn’t have a great hour. They were getting soft frees we weren’t. But we dug in and got that reward. 

“You’re talking about many young girls. We only gave away eight points and that’s impressive. We just need to continue working on what we offer in the final third and we’ll only get better”. 

Donegal now enjoy a fortnight’s break before turning attention to a third away content in four as they go to Roscommon on Sunday week. 

“Two draws and a win going into the break means it’s fairly positive and the thing now is to get the heads down and work on that offensive threat. 

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“We’re very lucky to have Karen Guthrie on our backroom staff - as good a forward as there was in the country. I keep joking to her to take the boots with her to training. 

“But there is real potential and ability in our group and the thing now is to coax that along and that comes with experience at this level. Like I said, we’ll continue to improve”.