Amy Boyle-Carr focused on Donegal ahead of Australian switch

Donegal's Amy Boyle-Carr insists her full focus is on completing the inter-county season with Donegal ahead of her Australian switch.

The Naomh Conaill player will join AFLW side Adelaide Crows as a rookie player in August ahead of their season.

Until then, the three-time Ulster champion is determined to finish the campaign strongly with Donegal.

"One of the first things that I had said to them was that my commitment was with Donegal," she said.

"It was very important to me. Once that [inter-county season] finishes up, I'm all theirs, but for now it will be concentrating on Donegal and then once I get out there, it will be a change-over to that."

The 23-year-old has been a part of the Donegal senior set-up since 2018 and is targeting more silverware ahead of her move Down Under.

"The All-Ireland final is at the start of August, so you'd be hoping that you'll be going out after that, all going well with Donegal."

Whilst Boyle-Carr will transition to Aussie Rules later this year, her career could have gone down a very different path.

Boyle-Carr was a talented soccer player before she stopped playing in 2019 to focus on GAA with Donegal.

She made her senior debut for the Republic of Ireland as a 17-year-old in a FIFA World Cup qualifier against the Netherlands at Tallaght Stadium in April 2018.

Boyle-Carr played the first half in 2-0 defeat against the Dutch, then managed by Sarina Wiegman, alongside current Republic captain Katie McCabe and midfielder Denise O'Sullivan, who has amassed over 100 caps for her country.

The former midfielder still looks back fondly on her surprise solitary cap for her country, admitting that she was set to attend the game as a fan.

"Me and my mum had bought tickets to go and watch the game," she recalled.

"I was in Portugal for a camp with the seniors, then I kind of thought I wouldn't have been in too much after that. Then, the tickets had come out, so me and mum had said we would go to it," she explained.

"Obviously, I wasn't sure if I would be in the panel or not, so I weighed it up just in case. Even being in the panel, I never thought I'd be in the matchday squad never mind in the starting team!"

"The players, even on the Dutch team that day, were phenomenal. You had Lieke Martens [current PSG forward], just before that she was UEFA Women's Player of the Year. It was an amazing experience."

Switching back to inter-county football, Boyle-Carr is aiming to help Donegal secure a National Football League Division Two final berth.

Their hopes hang in the balance as, after wins against Laois and Westmeath, Donegal fell to a defeat at the hands of table-toppers Kildare and recently drew with Ulster rivals Monaghan.

That leaves them third in the table, five points behind Kildare ahead of their meeting with second place Tyrone on Saturday.

They can draw level on points with the Red Hands with a victory, but Boyle-Carr is expecting a tough encounter.

"We had a difficult game against Monaghan, and we were disappointed coming away from it with only a point," she admitted.

"Our goal for the league is to make the league final and get promoted back up to Division One.

"Tyrone are in second, they're just ahead of us, but if we can get a result against them, technically it is still in our hands.

"We know Tyrone will be tough, they have some very good players like Maria Canavan, she's going well. We know that she'll be a threat, but we'll look forward to the challenge."