Derry City Women have established themselves as a Danske Bank Women’s Premiership club in recent years and the Candystripes now have a bright future ahead of them.

The club’s Under-17 side narrowly missed out on their league title to Crusaders Strikers but have made the final of this year’s League Cup.

Local star Leah McGonagle joined Derry as a teenager and has established herself in the heart of the senior side’s defence – with the club now producing no shortage of local talent of their own.

McGonagle insists the youth team development is a direct result of the club’s status in the top-flight of senior football and is now in a position to provide players for the first-team squad.

“Our academy is doing so well at the moment – there is a really talented group who are coming up,” the 21-year-old explained.

“It is up to the senior squad to maintain the club’s standing because we are at a point now when the club are developing our own players ready to make the step up to first-team level each year.”

McGonagle is back at the Brandywell after a season with Sion Swifts and highlighted the side’s Premiership victories over her old side and Crusaders Strikers last season as signs of clear progress.

She paid tribute to the work done by former boss Kevin McLaughlin and has explained how the side have rallied following his departure on the eve of the campaign.

The defender added: “Kevin really helped the team improve – you could see that from last season’s results.

“That played a big part in me coming back to the club as you could see that we were competitive and had made a step up.

“Kevin had given everything he could to the club and it was time for a new chapter, so all the girls had to pull together.

“We have done that and taken our situation game by game – that is something that we think we have done, even if we believe could have won a few more points.

“I really enjoyed my time at Sion – it allowed me to move out of my comfort zone and into a new environment, but unfortunately, I picked up a few injuries during that campaign.”

After opening defeats away to Crusaders and Cliftonville, the Candystripes secured draws against newly-promoted sides Lisburn Ladies and Mid Ulster Ladies – the latter of which was secured with a last-gasp equaliser from McGonagle.

“Normally I am the last person to be in that position, but fortunately the ball just dropped nicely for me and I was able to put it away – I didn’t realise just how late the goal was!

“We went into the game targeting three points but when you get a draw in that manner it gives you a bit of a boost and something for us to build on.”

It was a change of fortunes for the defender from the previous week, when she conceded a late penalty against Lisburn – but Derry goalkeeper Clare Friel saved the resultant penalty.

“Clare saved me in that one, it was a great save at a really crucial moment,” McGonagle said.

“Both of those games have been similar stories for us in that we have had a lot of possession and chances but couldn’t score.

“These are the types of teams we know that we can be highly competitive against and can beat – we know we can get points from them and build from it.

“Against the likes of Lisburn and Mid Ulster, we can play the game we want with passing football and high pressing whereas against teams like Glentoran and Cliftonville, we are forced into a lot of defending.

“It was important for us to get points on the board and to get our first goal too – now we can look to push on from that.”

Derry host Linfield on Wednesday night before welcoming Sion Swifts to the Brandywell next week.