DONEGAL’S All-Ireland Championship defeat to Dublin last year may be remembered primarily for their concession of a freak second-half goal, but Nicole McLaughlin says the players themselves have taken valuable lessons from their spirited performance against the Brendan Martin Cup holders.

The Dubs, who went on to claim their fourth All-Ireland in-a-row, survived the shock of their lives as they held onto a 2-13 to 2-10 victory – while footage of Sinead Aherne’s second-half goal went viral on social media in the aftermath of the group stage match, which effectively dumped Donegal out of the championship.

Aherne went for a point but the ball somehow deflected off the top of the post and into the back of the net (suffice to say it was a blustery evening at Kingspan Breffni), but Donegal have preferred to dwell on the positive aspects of that game, even though it was their only meaningful championship match.

McLaughlin said: “I wouldn’t say it was a wasted year – everyone said we were unlucky to draw Dublin, but our second-half performance showed we could go toe-to-toe with the very best.

“How we performed has given us a bit of belief. We know we have the ability but we just need the belief to know we can do it.

“We always figured we could at least put it up to Dublin, but we also showed that we have the potential to actually go and beat them. People do talk about the goal, but we were the closest team all year to Dublin in terms of margins, there was only three points between us so that’s something we can bring into 2021.”

The Termon defender also said they can’t wait to get back playing in the Ulster Championship, a tournament which they have dominated in recent years.

They didn’t field in Ulster last year, and they watched on as Armagh earned most of the plaudits for their memorable run to the All-Ireland Senior Championship semi-final. It’s fair to say they’ll want to put the Orchard county back in their box this year, though McLaughlin herself obviously wouldn’t couch it in those terms.

“We can’t wait to get back playing in the Ulster Championship. Last year we didn’t compete in it, that was the way it just panned out.

“We’ve only been beaten once in the Ulster Championship since 2014, which I hadn’t realised until someone pointed it out to me. It’ll be brilliant to play in Ulster again, we love the Ulster Championship and it’s so competitive, which is great for us as the more games you get playing the better.”

Nicole’s elder sister is scoring machine Geraldine McLaughlin, one of the most high profile names in ladies football anywhere in the country. There’s only a year and a half’s difference between the pair, and Nicole is glad she has a training buddy at the moment.

The Letterkenny-based school teacher said: “It can be lonely training by yourself, though I have Geraldine and we do most of our training together.

“She’s not that much older than me, we’ve always been different even with the way we play – I’m a defender and she’s a forward so it works out well for us. She’s raring to go, she takes everything in her stride.

“It’ll be nice to get back out running with someone else other than each other. Roisin McCafferty’s back on the panel and sometimes she comes out with us. I work with Emer (Gallagher)  as well so she can train with me as well, but our bubble’s quite small so it can be difficult.”

McLaughlin also said that they she’s counting down the days to April 19, when collective  training can return after a long period of stasis.

“You’ll really appreciate it when it’s back. There were days where it was cold and wet and you were thinking ‘aw I have to go outside’, but I think players won’t mind any more.

“I can’t even imagine what it’ll be like to go back to training and see 20 or 30 girls playing football.

“You have to remember there’s people in worse situations than us so it’s important to appreciate the small things.”