McLaughlin says Donegal can look forward to Dublin without fear

Geraldine McLaughlin was the worthy recipient of the player of the match following Donegal’s victory over Kerry in the TG4 All-Ireland Football Championship on Saturday in Tuam.

The Termon sharp-shooter kicked 1-9, including 1-7 from play, in their 2-13 to 2-9 win in Tuam in sweltering conditions, which means a quarter-final awaits against a Dublin team chasing their fifth All-Ireland success on the bounce.

“It’s amazing just to get the win and to come through on such a warm day,” McLaughlin said afterwards. “It was a great game and we came here to win today and that’s what we got. Thank God!

“It was really tough out there and we knew coming here today that Kerry were going to be defensive and you saw them two weeks ago against Galway. We knew that is what we were going to come up against. It was a must-win for both teams and it was always going to be tough.”

McLaughlin admits Dublin are certainly the team to beat these days, although doesn’t think there is any need for her teammates to be intimidated due to their strength in depth, with the thought of playing the All-Ireland champions.

“Every week you don't know who is going to start because we have that strong a panel,” she said. “You saw it there with the girls coming on just as good as the players going off. They give that bit more energy late in the game.

“Dublin are the best team out there but it’s a game of football and on any given day the best team on the day can win. You play football to play teams like Dublin and we’ll not fear them. We’ve a good panel so we’ll train as normal this week again.”