FOUR points, two in each half and all from outside the 45m line, and assists for as many other scores should have put Leanne Donnelly into the frame for 'Player of the Match' in last month’s Liberty Insurance Premier Junior All-Ireland final win over Cavan.
However one of her best ever personal performances in an Armagh jersey wasn’t enough as the Queen’s student was outshone by older sister Ciara, who fired over a magnificent 13 points.
“It was a good team performance,” the final year student of Planning, Environment and Development says of the 0-19 to 3-7 victory that gave Armagh their first title in 27 years.
“Everybody has a job to do and the two of us get to finish off the hard work of others. I would try plenty of those long range shots in training and they wouldn’t all be on target. Luckily for me my accuracy was a lot better in the final.
“It was a really close game throughout and the nerves were a bit frayed during the last few minutes when there was pressure on our defence.
“The sound of the final whistle was just so sweet.
“It was great to win on the same team as Ciara. Ciara would be someone that I always looked up to. She is nine years older. But she is much more experienced than the rest of the team and we all look up to her. She is a great role-model.
“Playing together at home and travelling together to training and matches, we have built up a good understanding with each other. She is a teacher in St Catherine’s Armagh and was our school coach when we won the Ulster title three years ago.”
But it could have been so different for the Donnelly siblings, who play their club camogie with Eglish across the county border in Tyrone.
“We moved from Granemore to Eglish to live when I was in Primary Six. Ciara had already played through the age-groups for Armagh. So she continued to play for Granemore and the county.
“I was in Primary school in Eglish and went along with my friends to under-age camogie there and even captained Tyrone to an Ulster title at under 16 beating Cavan in the final.
“By then Ciara had transferred to Eglish for club camogie, but was still playing senior for Armagh. So, I wanted to play with her and declared to play for Armagh too.”
That was in 2016 and in their first county season together the sisters were part of the Orchard side to reach a first All-Ireland final in more than two decades.
“I remember playing the All-Ireland semi-final a few days before my GCSE results came out and when the final whistle sounded thinking ‘I don’t care about the exam results, I am going to be playing in Croke Park in September.’”
While her exam results went well, the same couldn’t be said of the Croke Park experience, a 4-10 to 2-7 loss to Carlow. And there was further Croke Park disappointment for the Donnellys with Eglish losing to Carlow club side Myshall in the following year’s All-Ireland club final.
“It’s a good job the final last month wasn’t in Croke Park,” jokes the forward who is facing into more uncertainty with the current lockdown putting into jeopardy Eglish’s progress in the club championship.
“We were to play Derrylaughan in the county final in September and that was called off at 24 hours’ notice because one of their girls tested positive with COVID-19. The re-fixture was to take place a fortnight later, but all club activity was suspended before it could happen.
“If we win that game, the Ulster club final with Clonduff was supposed to be in a month’s time. But that is all up in the air at the minute. We haven’t heard that it isn’t on, but then again we have not got confirmation that it is going ahead.
“We can’t do any collective training anyway. So Ciara and I are just trying to keep going with individual training, circuit work, 5k runs etc. To be honest it is just great to get out of the house at the minute.
“My course is on line with Queen’s and I am starting my dissertation. So when you are stuck at home all the time, the exercise is welcome.”
The same uncertainty surrounded their county season back in October.
“Our first group game with Roscommon had to be postponed because of the death of Marion McStay and then you had all the second teams withdrawn from the championship.
“It didn’t look as if we would get games at all. But then the competition was re-vamped and we got going.”
There is no automatic promotion to Intermediate championship for Armagh in 2021 and the younger Donnelly is happy enough for them to remain in Junior for another season.
“We only edged the semi-final and final by a few points. So the Junior competition is competitive enough especially when those second teams are added in.
“To be honest we need to build on the momentum we have gained in the three or four games we played in the autumn,” says Donnelly who captained Armagh seniors in 2019.
“Two seasons ago we struggled to get a panel together from game to game. You were turning up to training and maybe only ten players there. That was disheartening for the players who made the effort to be there and also the management.
“In the autumn there we had 30 plus at training through the competition. I suppose the split club/county season helped. Some players can find it hard to juggle club and county at the same time, but this year we had a lot more willing to play county with the club season ending in September.
“I would like to see that continue – although it isn’t in the draft fixture list sent out by Croke Park at the end of September.”
“At the minute though we are just hoping to get the club games played next month and whatever happens after that with the county. 2020 was a short season and we are just can't wait for more camogie.”
