KATY Herron will always be the first.
The Glenfin woman etched her name in the Donegal GAA history books on Sunday as the first captain from the county to accept the O’Harte Cup.
Donegal won the Ulster Senior Championship title following a five-point win over Monaghan at St Tiernach’s Park, Clones.
It was only Donegal’s second ever appearance in an Ulster senior final – coming ten years after a defeat to Monaghan in 2005.
Herron climbed the steps of the Gerry Arthurs Stand to take receipt of the silverware after Geraldine McLaughlin’s brace of second half goals sealed the win.
“It’s an amazing feeling to be Ulster champions and finally getting my hands on the cup,” said Herron.
“We have been thinking about making history for a long time and it was something we were not sure if we would ever would quiet make it.”
The teak tough Glenfin clubwoman, who hails from Welchtown just outside Ballybofey, had her role changed for 2015. Not only was she handed the captaincy, but she was moved from full-back to midfield.
The Donegal ladies player of the year in 2014, Herron has been on the panel since 2010, when she joined just in time to get an All-Ireland Intermediate medal.
Despite tasting defeat to Armagh in the Division 2 League final earlier in the year, Donegal bristled with confidence ahead of the Ulster final.
Herron said: “We were confident going into the game that we had a performance in us and thankfully we produced it on the day.
“It was point-for-point for the first ten minutes and it was about who was going to make the first break and we then hit four or five points without replay and were three points up at half-time.
“When Geraldine McLaughlin scored the first goal it gave us the belief that we were good enough and we kicked on from there.”
Here’s Katy’s accepting the Ulster SFC on behalf of the Donegal panel and management
https://wwwyoutube.com/watch?v=jS0cgMaeMmY
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