'On our day we can beat anybody out there and we know that' - White

Trailing by a point, with seconds before the buzzer sounded across the Clones stadium and with tension almost rising to unbearable levels for Donegal in the Ulster final three weeks ago, it was all in the hands of Susanne White to strike a moment of magic from a free.  

The resulting effort saw the 22-year-old nail over her sixth point of the afternoon against Armagh and send the game to extra-time as the clock hit zero with the scoreline standing at 1-9 to 0-12 points.  

The Killybegs native has had many inspiring moments in more than half a decade with Donegal, but none, surely, were more inspiring than that, given the circumstances and pressure at play.  

And while John McNulty’s young side would eventually fall during extra-time by one point, with Armagh’s Niamh Reel knocking over the winning free to clinch the Ulster crown, White would end the day with an impressive total of eight points for the afternoon.  

She was defiant, not just in the late moments, but throughout. Whatever ball her colleagues played into her, she invariably won and laid down a huge marker, as did her teammates for any outside team looking on, and showed that her side can compete with the very best out there.  

“People thought there would’ve been a lot of soul searching after the Armagh defeat, but I would actually go with the opposite,” White admitted.  

“We took massive confidence from the fact we now know that we can put it up to a team like Armagh. They’re an on-form team, so the fact we could go toe-to-toe with them for 80 minutes, allows us to gain confidence from that game.  

“When you look at our league campaign, there was a lot of improvement needed from our team, and I think we did that, and we can be very proud of the performance we put in against Armagh.”  

With a three-week break coming to a close, it was about Donegal taking the lessons from the Armagh final and now applying them to this Saturday afternoon when McNulty’s side welcome Kerry to Ballybofey for the group stages of the All-Ireland series.   

“I think now, we have real confidence going into the Kerry game. Because we haven’t played any Division 1 teams this season, so we didn’t know that we aren’t far off these sides.  

“That game in Clones could’ve gone either way, it was there for the taking and that will be in the back of our heads going into this weekend.  

“Armagh and Kerry are well established at this point, and they will be pushing for an All-Ireland, whereas our side only has three girls over the age of 25, so as everyone knows at this point, we’re going through a transition, and I think when you play a team like Kerry or Armagh, you’re going in under the radar, but we don’t mind that, it suits us.  

“The pressure is not on us to beat Kerry because of where Kerry is at in their journey, but on our day, we can beat anybody out there and we know that.”  

Donegal has been overshadowed with that phrase – Transition – this season with several legendary players hanging up their boots over the last two seasons leaving players like White, who is only 22 years old, to pick up the leadership baton and drive her county into a bright future.  

“I think it’s always about backing yourself as a player and as a team, no matter who you’re playing,” the Queens University student said. “As I’ve said, we only had three girls over the age of 25 playing against Armagh, I think that’s exciting to a degree in what’s to come in the future.  

“There’s a cohort of us who are 22 to 24 who have been around for the past six years, and I suppose it’s our time to step up and become those experienced players, even though we’re still young, but credit has to go to the younger girls too who have come into this pressurising environment from a minor team and took that step and led by example.  

“Those young players have played against the best players out there now, and they’ve shown no fear and stepped up to the plate, and they may only be 17, so it’s exciting, but we can only get better if we stick together.  

“We’re trying to create a culture now that will continue for years and inspire girls to keep coming back and keep challenging themselves. We have a competitive team and it’s a great place to be.”