A DAY before their Donegal senior ladies final against Glenfin, a surprise figure appeared at Moville’s final training session on Saturday.
Six days after winning the Boston Ladies SFC title, Sarah Jane McDonald was back at Carrick Field.
Her earlier-than-planned return was kept quiet. Only manager Jimmy Hegarty and Ciara Hegarty knew about the trans-Atlantic trip being made by McDonald as they gathered.
Picture caption: Sarah Jane McDonald in action for Moville against Glenfin’s Gemma Glackin. Picture by David Doherty.
It was only at midday on Friday that McDonald booked her trip home. Via a quick stop at Heathrow, she was onto Dublin and, finally, back to Moville.
[adrotate group=”37″]She’d barely had time to touch base at her home in Stroove by the time she was togging out with Moville again on Saturday ahead of Sunday’s final.
“Playing in a club championship final with girls that you played with your whole life is not something you get to do everyday so I couldn’t miss that,” McDonald says.
“I only booked the flight on Friday and I flew on Friday night at half nine.”
McDonald scored three points last Sunday as Boston Shamrocks overcame Connacht 5-5 to 11 in the Boston SFC final.
On Sunday, in a morning throw-in, McDonald scored 1-6 as Moville won their first Donegal SFC title in seven years, overcoming Glenfin 5-15 to 4-8.
McDonald was named among the subs but, with number 26 on her back, scored a goal late in the first half, emphatically hammering a shot to the roof of the Glenfin net.
McDonald says: “We had to keep on top in the second half and keep up the momentum. We just kept going and didn’t give away anything silly.
“We were outstanding. We have so many young players coming up into the team who have added to it and the older girls really spur us on. We’re just like one big family.
“We started in January and got the legs ran off us in January – but it’s all worth it now!
“It’s been a long time. We were in and out of the Championship missing out in semi-finals since 2009 so to finally have it now again is unreal.”
Even at that stage, as they left Ture, it wasn’t quite time to pop the cork on the champagne.
[adrotate group=”46″]McDonald was one of seven players from the Moville side who started for Greencastle in Sunday evening’s Ulster Cup final against Lagan Harps at The Lakeside.
Sarah Faulkner, Nicole Gordon, Kathy McLaughlin, Marie Kelly, Shannon McDonald, Niamh Hegarty and the much-travelled Sarah Jane McDonald all played a part as Greencastle scored a 3-0 win.
“It just topped off the weekend,” McDonald says. “The girls put in so much work and it’s been great success, winning four Ulster Cups in a row.
“I’m a bit tired, but I’m absolutely buzzing: Two senior championships and an Ulster title in less than week. I’m buzzing.”
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