BY CHRIS MCNULTY

MARIA Devenney will join a unique band of footballers on Sunday afternoon when she leads the Donegal footballers out in Cusack Park for the Ladies NFL Division 2 final.

Not too many Donegal natives can lay claim to the fact that they have captained their county to a national final, but by 4 o'clock on Sunday Maria will hope to be joining an even more illustrious list of names and be hoisting a trophy aloft.

Over the last four months, a massive effort has been put in by management and players alike in an attempt to get Donegal back into Division 1.

Now that promotion has been achieved, the Tir Chonaill girls are bidding to add a trophy to the sideboard to make up for the disappointment of a defeat to Armagh in the final four years ago.

Speaking this week to the Donegal News as she geared up for the big game, Donegal skipper Maria Devenney was determined to banish the ghosts of that defeat and lead her side to success.

She said: "We were there four years ago and were beaten by Armagh. That was a sore punch, but now that we have got to this final we can put it right.

"All the hard work is done now. We have put in a lot of effort since we started back training in January. We had set goals and that was to get back into Division One by winning Division Two so to get here now it means that it is such an important game,

"We have one more hurdle and we've our sights on it. Going into the final you want to feel good and if we play to our ability and to our strength we can pull it off."

Much has been made of the fact that Donegal have to travel to Ennis for Sunday's game, but for Maria and her team-mates the focus will not move away from the task at hand - defeating Clare.

"We are purely focussed on the game," she insisted. A lot has been said about us going into their back yard to play them, but once the first two or three minutes pass it won't matter because it is just a GAA pitch and we have to play our football."

A native of Newtoncunningham, playing with St Eunan's, Maria says she is 'excited' about the prospect of captaining her county into a League final. She will be one of the key players on Sunday, given that she plays at centrefield, although she plays down her own role in proceedings.

"Everyone has an important role to play and I just happen to be stuck in there in the middle. I've got to be hungry and focussed, give good ball into the forwards and help out the defence. I know what I have to do, it's now a matter of doing it," she commented.

"From college football, I would know a few of the Clare players alright, but at this stage we have to focus on our own team and not be worrying about them. They might have a few strong players on their panel, but we have a good squad and if we concentrate on our own game we'll be alright."

Donegal will hit the road tomorrow and will stay in Limerick tomorrow night before making the final leg of the journey on Sunday morning.

This week will be all about ballwork in training as the fitness work, under the direction of Alan Kelly, has already been done. Looking ahead to Sunday's encounter, Maria believes that fitness will be a key aspect and could swing it in Donegal's favour.

"I think fitness will be a telling point," she said. "When we won the semi final, it was 50-50 until our fitness showed up. The fitness work and ground work has been done and there is not much more we can do now, but get ourselves ready for the game.

"We have shown in the last couple of League games that we will fight on and hopefully that will be the case again on Sunday.

The younger sister of Brendan, Maria notes that the experience and the tips from the big bro will be utilised before Sunday. "I do ring him for advice now and again. He keeps telling me to focus on the football and go out to win every ball. Being the forward, he was telling me to get good ball in!."

The already decorated Devenney household could have yet another addition to its footballing collection this weekend. With the determined, focussed and powerful Maria skippering the Donegal ship, one wouldn't bet against it.

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