BY MATTHEW WILSON
DONEGAL senior ladies star Susanne White is hoping that they can produce a 60 minute display this weekend when they face Waterford in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship relegation play-off.
The Donegal ladies were last in action just shy of two weeks ago when they met Mayo at Pairc Taibhoige in Glenfin.
A win for James Daly’s outfit in this encounter would’ve booked their place in the last eight of the competition but a six-point defeat meant that Donegal finished bottom of their group.
The hosts trailed by seven points at the short whistle of this clash but they battled back in Act Two and a major from Susanne White brought them to within a point with ten minutes left on the clock.
However, Diane O’Hora’s side concluded proceedings on the front foot to progress and the White expressed that the group were disappointed with their overall display.
“We were very disappointed coming away from it, we feel like we let ourselves down in parts of the games, particularly in the first half.
“I think we played well in spells of the game but ultimately it’s not good enough to play well for ten minutes and fall asleep for five.
“At this level we have to be more present on the pitch. We were disappointed but the promising thing was the good parts that we did take out of it.
“What we want going into this weekend is to take it all together and put in a 60 minute performance.”
Donegal enjoyed a fruitful Division 2 National Football League campaign this term, securing promotion to the top tier while also managing to clinch the cup in the showpiece against Cavan.
The team’s confidence will have been high following this success however, the events following this haven’t turned out as they would have liked.
With losses to Tyrone and Armagh in the Ulster Championship prior to their defeats against Dublin and Mayo in the All-Ireland Series, Daly’s charges haven’t been on the winning side since their victory over the Breffni county.
Speaking to the Donegal News, the Killybegs native admitted it has been a tough Championship campaign for the team but insisted they still have full faith that they belong at senior level.
“Yeah, this season has probably been a mixed bag as a whole. We had a good league campaign but maybe when you look back, we were coming into a Senior Championship where the Division 2 standard and the standard you’re playing at isn’t good enough.
“Maybe we just struggled to get to those levels with other teams when we look back at it, it’s maybe just a learning point from our view.
“It’s been a frustrating Championship, there’s been a lot of underperforming as well as coming in and out of games and falling asleep. You just can’t fall asleep against good teams, especially in the Senior Championship.
“We still believe that we’re good enough to be here and that we should be playing in the Senior Championship. That’s our goal now going into the weekend, that we can finish on somewhat of a positive performance.”
The Donegal ladies earned their senior status in 2010 courtesy of a win over Waterford in the All-Ireland Intermediate Football Championship Final at Croke Park.
They’ve managed to retain their status ever since and they’ll be determined not to end their run at senior level this term.
There’s a talented crop of players currently involved with the Donegal squad, with a lot of younger players also breaking through into the group.
White says the players are determined to continue testing themselves against the best and feels preserving Donegal’s senior status is vital ahead of their return to Division 1 next year
“If you go down to intermediate then it could take you years to get back to senior level., you want to be at the highest level.
“When you talk about standards and younger girls, you need to make sure that everyone is on the same level and wavelength that you want to be playing senior football and that is where we want to be
“We’re in Division 1 next year in the league so it’s important now that we’re able to keep our senior status as well.”
The Division 2 league champions will meet Waterford in a relegation play-off this Saturday at the Padraig Pearses club in Roscommon.
The Déise enjoyed a solid Division 1 campaign earlier this term, finishing third place, but back-to-back defeats to Armagh and Cork saw them end up bottom of their group.
This is Donegal’s third successive season entering the relegation play-offs. They’ve handled the pressure of the occasion well in the past and they’ll be hoping to do so again this weekend.
The loser of this Saturday’s encounter will face either Tyrone or Tipperary to determine who will face the drop to intermediate football.
The Donegal forward discussed that her side will be entering this weekend’s clash as underdogs but is hoping that they can produce the performance that they’re capable of on the day.
“We spoke about the disappointment from the Mayo game but it’s up to us to use that disappointment in the right way this weekend.
“We’ve been in this position before and we came out the right side of it. When it comes to a relegation game, you could call it a dog fight.
“Anything can happen in those instances. When you look at Waterford, they had a really good season and have been one of the top teams in the country over the last few years.
“They probably don’t feel like they deserve to be there as well. We’re definitely going in as underdogs but maybe that’ll suit us this weekend.
“A lot of people will probably expect a lot from Waterford so we can hopefully use that as an advantage and focus on ourselves.
“We know we can do it, we’ve worked good scores, defended well and done things well in spells but we just need a big 60 minutes from everyone on Saturday.
“I believe we can do that and finish the season off where we’ve retained our senior status.”