Dublin's Niamh Donlon keen to inspire the next generation
From growing up watching her idols to playing alongside them in a Dublin jersey, it has been quite the journey for Niamh Donlon.
The first woman from St Oliver Plunkett/Eoghan Ruadh to play for Dublin, the club was best known for producing Bernard and Alan Brogan, two of Dublin's greatest players.
Advertisement
The 21-year-old, who won her first All-Ireland title in 2023, is keen to be a role model for the next generation at her club and be the first of many in the blue of Dublin.
"It is good just to have someone representing the club. I know it is me, but if it was anyone else I would have been just as happy for someone from Plunkett's to be on the senior team.
"If you can't see it, you can't be it, and the younger girls really love seeing me down at the club. It is to inspire them and keep the club going as well.
"In their first All-Ireland in 2017 of the four-in-a-row, I was only under 13s with development squads. Seeing the likes of Goldie (Sinéad Goldrick) still playing and playing with them, it is kind of surreal.
Advertisement
"It is having those role models for younger kids to drive on and keep Dublin ladies football on the map."
A student at DCU, Donlon has quickly became an important part of Dublin's defence at a young age.
In this Dublin side is a mix of experienced players who were part of the four in-a-row, alongside the likes of Donlon who is continuing to grow, a mix which she thinks could be key in the weeks to come.
"The knowledge that they bring those older players is insane. They say a lot of the younger players bring a lot of enthusiasm, bring a lot of energy, we all go thriving for the same goals.
Advertisement
"That altogether gels it really nicely."
After a difficult league campaign, Dublin got back on track by winning the Leinster championship, defeating Meath in the final.
Sport
Cáit Lynch thought Kerry days were over before ret...
Read More
Having won the All-Ireland in 2023, the Dublin ladies suffered the same faith as the men, by being defeated by Galway in the quarter-finals.
This would turn out to be the last game Mick Bohan had in charge of Dublin. Despite changes, Donlon says the squad is determined to be back in Croke Park in August.
"I think it is the fact people want to redeem themselves. They have such a will to win that they wouldn't want to leave on such a low. If people are going to go, they are going to it on a high and in the right way.
"Our main goal as a team is to get to that final on the third of August. The job should be done on the day if we get there."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
25 minutes ago
- BBC News
First Scotland goal 'massive' for Hirst
Scotland striker George Hirst told BBC Scotland: "To get that first goal is massive for me, but it was a great team performance and very professional."It was very disappointing on Friday night, we had to look at ourselves, but the good thing in football is you always have another opportunity and today we had that chance to put things right."They made it difficult for us, it was a dry pitch, there were millions of excuses we could've thrown out there, but we played with the right mentality."It makes my running a little easier, sharing the workload with Che [Adams]. If that's something to come moving forward then I'm not going to complain."
The Guardian
31 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Hirst off mark and Adams ends drought in style as Scotland thrash Liechtenstein
George Hirst scored his first international goal and Che Adams grabbed a hat-trick as Scotland eased to a 4-0 victory against Liechtenstein. Ipswich striker Hirst got Scotland's third goal in the Vaduz friendly early in the second half with a close-range finish on his fourth cap. Adams was on target twice in the first half after scoring only once in his previous 19 internationals and the Torino forward headed home with the last action of the game. It was a night of firsts for Scotland with Ross Doohan, Josh Doig, Andy Irving, Connor Barron and Kieron Bowie making their debuts and Lennon Miller making an impressive first start with a hand in two goals. Doohan flew in from a family holiday in Turkey after being given his first call-up after injuries to Angus Gunn and Robby McCrorie, and Cieran Slicker's difficult debut in Friday's 3-1 defeat against Iceland. The goalkeeper, recently released by Aberdeen, probably had the quietest game of his career, not needing to make a save and barely touching the ball in the second half. With Scott McTominay and Kieran Tierney injured, 18-year-old Motherwell midfielder Miller and Adams came in as Steve Clarke arranged his side in a 4-4-2 formation. Anthony Ralston, Jack Hendry and Scott McKenna came into defence as Clarke made six changes to the lineup. Scotland laboured to narrow wins over Liechtenstein in their only two previous meetings, in the Euro 2012 qualifiers, but there was little doubt about the winner of this encounter from the fourth minute when Adams opened the scoring. Miller's volley was blocked following a corner and the Torino striker hit the rebound into the roof of the net. Lewis Ferguson missed a decent chance before Adams doubled his tally in the 26th minute. Miller was involved again, winning possession as the home side tried to pass the ball out from the back and setting up Adams to wrongfoot the goalkeeper. John McGinn had a shot well-saved after Miller's pass inside and Doohan almost got his first taste of meaningful action when Liechtenstein wing-back Kenny Kindle was allowed to run a long way with the ball and get a shot away. His effort just cleared the top corner. The 1600 away fans were entertained by a Swiss-based pipe band at half-time and they were cheering again within three minutes of the restart. McGinn struck the post from 20 yards before Adams flicked on Ralston's cross for Hirst to convert at the back post. Sassuolo left-back Doig and West Ham midfielder Irving were brought on for debuts just before the hour mark. Doig got down the left wing to good effect and forced a save before Hibernian striker Bowie and Rangers midfielder Barron entered the fray. Scotland continued to play in the opposition half and Adams headed home substitute Tommy Conway's near-post cross immediately before the full-time whistle. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion Clarke was pleased to see a positive response to Friday's defeat but he said neither match offers any indicator of how his team may perform when their World Cup qualifying campaign begins in September. 'I know my players. I trust my players,' he told BBC Scotland. 'I've had a couple of disappointments, and I know they've always shown the resilience to come back and do what they can do, so it will have no bearing on what's going to happen later in the year, but it's nice to finish this camp with a nice win. 'It's still a disappointing camp because we didn't play as we can play in the home game at Hampden, so I'm certainly going to carry that [disappointment] into August. There was a little bit of hurt and anger in the dressing room, I think you saw that in the first 25 minutes when the players were really on it, so hopefully we can harness that and take that into the autumn games.' The Scotland manager confirmed after the victory in Liechtenstein that his long-serving assistant, John Carver, is stepping down to focus on his role as head coach of Lechia Gdansk. 'I think the wave goodbye to the crowd was probably a giveaway,' he told BBC Scotland. 'When I approached him to come in and help us, I didn't think he'd be here for five years because he's such a talented coach. We'll miss him, we'll have to look to replace him, and that'll be one of my jobs over the summer.'
BBC News
35 minutes ago
- BBC News
'We're happy to put things right'
Scotland hat-trick hero Che Adams told BBC Scotland: "I'm happy to get on the scoresheet and help the team."It's nice to score for Scotland, it's not happened much since I've been here."We knew it'd be difficult, the conditions weren't great, but we were very professional and our mentality was spot on."It was important to sign off this year with the win. We're happy we put things right from the Iceland game."
