DONEGAL star Jodie McFadden is expecting a tough battle today as they head to Tipperary for a massive TG4 All-Ireland Series encounter in Bansha.
Last Saturday’s home defeat to Galway means that James Daly’s side remain on zero points, alongside Tipperary, in group 1.
That means that this Saturday’s contest with the Premier County becomes a straight shootout between the two teams. Victory over Tipp will seal progression to the last eight of the competition, defeat would result in a relegation play-off.
Looking at the campaign to date, it’s one that the Donegal forward has described as positive, due to the transitional phase the squad is currently in.
The Termon star stated that maintaining their Division 2 status for another year was massive but the group are fully concentrated now on making their mark in the championship.
“From where we’re standing at the moment, I’d probably call it a positive campaign to date with everyone going on about transition and us being a young team”, she said.
“We remained in Division 2 and we didn’t go any lower, which was a big one for us because we wanted to get a good league campaign under our belt to gear us up for championship. We fell short to Armagh and Galway but overall it’s been a positive season so far.”
“I think everybody is enjoying being involved with the team. We’ve got no major injuries at the moment, everyone is ready to get the championship up and going. I know we fell short to Galway last week but that doesn’t determine anything yet for us.”
In the aftermath of last weekend’s defeat to the Tribeswomen in Lifford, the Termon clubwoman admits that the opposition are at a different stage in their footballing journey, having a wealth of experience at their disposal.
The two sides had met earlier in the year, a Division 2 league match which saw the Galway ladies run out 16-point winners over Daly’s side.
Despite being disappointed in defeat, she discussed how last weekend’s scoreline could be considered a positive one when taking into account their earlier league outing against the west of Ireland side.
“Galway are definitely at a different stage to us, they have a few girls with All-Ireland club titles under their belt and they’ve players with years of experience in the likes of the Wards and the Divillys. They’re a really strong team”, stated McFadden.
She continued: “Looking at it, 1-11 to 1-2 probably wasn’t the worst scoreline to come away with, especially considering prior to that in the league they beat us by a lot more. So that’s a positive we can take away from the Galway match, we kept them as close as they probably could be and we made amends for the day in the league that we got beaten heavily by them.
“They’re certainly at a different stage to us. We’re that wee bit behind but there’s no reason we can’t be them in a few years time as well with the amount of youth in our team.”
McFadden and the rest of the Donegal squad now face a trip to Tipperary on Saturday for a must win match in Bansha.
The Termon woman expressed that they have a tough task ahead of them against a battling Tipp side however, is prepared for the contest in which both sides need the result.
“We headed down to Tipperary last year for an away game and it definitely wasn’t won easily. In the end we won by a point and it was hard fought. To go down to them and get a win, you’re asking for a big result.
“I think don’t reflect too much on Tipperary but look at us. I know we’re making the journey down but we’re making it for a reason. We need a result as much as they do and they know that as well.”
James Daly’s outfit have already gotten the better of the Premier County this season courtesy of a three-point league victory back in March.
McFadden insists that despite having that win in the back of their head, this weekend presents a completely different proposition and it’ll come down to who wants it more in Bansha.
“I think the scoreline that day was 0-10 to 0-7. It was a good game overall, probably one of our better games against Tipperary. It was good to get over-the-line that day and have that in the back of our heads now going down there this weekend.”
“But then again, it means nothing. Every match is different, we’re both looking for a result that means something to both teams. I don’t think either side wants to be in a relegation battle anytime soon so it’ll probably come down to who wants it more on the day.”
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