Ladies National Football League Division One

Donegal v Cork

Sunday, Ballyshannon, 1pm

By Frank Craig

MAXI Curran anticipates a positive reaction from his Donegal ladies side when they welcome Division One leaders Cork to Ballyshannon on Sunday (throw-in, 1pm).

The Ulster title holders currently find themselves rooted to the bottom of the table in ladies football’s top tier.

Donegal, for a variety of reasons, are having to plough on in the NFL without so many of their top and more experienced stars.

Last year’s skipper Karen Guthrie is off travelling Australia but could come back into the fold in the next number of weeks. Katy Herron is also in Oz having recently joined Yvonne Bonner in the AFLW.

Another one of the side’s main operators, Niamh Hegarty, has yet to feature this term. Although Curran says she could come back into the reckoning this weekend.

Despite their current plight at the wrong end of the Division One standings, the manager says there are still positives to be sourced from the campaign to date.

He said: “We’re sitting on one win and three losses. It’s a little ironic as we’ve had really good opportunities, in the last two games especially, to have taken something.

“Geraldine (McLaughlin) had one-on-one chances against Galway and Westmeath. If she scores we win both games. I’ve no doubt about that.

“The way the games were balanced at those times, we’d actually be sitting second had we got over the line.

“With the nature of the relegation process and also having lost to Westmeath even though we have the superior score difference; we still find ourselves bottom by way of head-to-head.”

Last time out, Donegal lost away to Westmeath by 1-11 to 1-7. Their upcoming fixture with Cork was originally scheduled for last weekend. It was to act as the curtain-raiser to the Tir Chonaill men’s clash with Monaghan.

But concerns over the Ballyshannon pitch’s ability to hold up under the weight of two games meant a decision was made to push the LGFA clash on to this weekend.

It’s given Curran and his players extra time to look at the mistakes, which he labels ‘basic’, that have cost Donegal so dearly.

“Look, you don’t want to bemoan bad luck and say that is the sole reason we’re down there. We missed a multitude of chances against Westmeath that would have got us over the line.

“It was a match on a 3G pitch. We hadn’t played on that type of surface since the last time we were down there back in 2018.

“They train on it three times a week so it is a massive advantage to them. It’s a completely different game to one played on grass. At the end of the day, we don’t have anyone to blame but ourselves.

“It was the exact same the first day out against Mayo. Giving the ball away and the basic errors that led to their goals were all of our own doing.

“It was a similar story against Galway. Saying all of that, we haven’t played bad. It’s been really positive in large chunks of those games.

“We’d be happy enough with where they’re at and how they’re developing. Individually, there are girls there that have really stepped up and delivered.

“We just haven’t got the rub of the green that would have got us points on the board.”

With the knowledge that Donegal will have most of their heavy artillery back for the defence of their Ulster title, Curran is giving a spate of fresh faces the chance to stake claims.

That should add a real competitive edge to matters when the time comes to get down to serious business ahead of summer. Donegal are up against Tyrone in Ballybofey on May 17.

Their championship opener will act as the warm-up act ahead of the Donegal and Tyrone men’s encounter at MacCumhaill Park the same afternoon.

“A large part of the league is about finding players and players finding form,” Curran explained.

“That part of it all is moving nicely. At the same time we still need to pick up points. It’s a really competitive league. I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if we beat Cork at the weekend.

“Niamh Hegarty is back, Niamh McLaughlin is back. We’ll also have Roisin Rodgers returning to the mix. None of them will start but they’ll be around.

“We’re in a far better position this week than where we’ve previously been.”

He added: “Cork have already qualified for the league final. They have their injuries and might well decide to not travel with all their big guns. So who knows what the landscape will look like after the weekend.”

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