Hegarty: 'The younger ones have grown in confidence and that’s the difference’

Niamh Hegarty says the thing that has helped Donegal turn their season around in spectacular style is confidence.

The Moville forward sat out the entire  Lidl Ladies National Football League Division 1 campaign, where an inexperienced Donegal side lost all seven of their fixtures and were relegated.

By the time it got to the TG4 Ulster Senior Championship Donegal eked out an unspectacular victory over Cavan on a 1-6 to 0-4 scoreline and Hegarty watched on in Lifford as Aimee Mackin kicked nine points in Armagh’s 1-15 to 2-4 win.

The prospect of facing Armagh again in the provincial decider was like an iceberg on the horizon and manager Maxi Curran managed to cajole Hegarty and Tanya Kennedy back on board. Donegal produced a 1-10 to 0-9 victory that few would’ve predicted.

Delight as Donegal dig in to topple back-to-back All-Ireland champions Meath

Donegal produced a mixture of grit and guile to produce a fantastic victory over Meath at Páirc Tailteann in Navan to confirm a home quarter-final in the TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship

“The point where our campaign changed was beating Armagh in the Ulster final and we’ve got a bit of belief and we’re through to the quarter-finals now and that’s more than we probably thought we’d do,” Hegarty said on Saturday in Navan.

Donegal followed up their 2-10 to 1-8 win over Waterford by pipping Meath - the back-to-back All-Ireland champions - at Páirc Tailteann in a gripping encounter, 1-10 to 0-12. Hegarty put in a fantastic performance in scoring 1-2 and earning the Player of the Match award on TG4.

“It’s all confidence and the younger ones have grown in confidence and that’s the main difference,” she added. “We’re delighted. We’ve played Meath a few times in the last couple of years and they’ve come out on top so we’re delighted just to beat Meath in their home ground and to get a home quarter-final.

All the teams who came second in the groups are just as good as the winners but to be home is something we’re very happy with.”

Hegarty was speaking before the draw for the quarter-finals, which paired Donegal with Dublin in two weeks’ time.