Armagh 2-8
Waterford 2-3
By SHAUN CASEY
ARMAGH opened their Lidl NFL Division 1 campaign with a victory over Waterford at a wet and windy Crossmaglen.
A strong first half performance was the difference for the Orchard County, as both teams only scored twice after the turnaround.
Both sides rattled the net in the first half, but it was the white flags raised by Greg McGonigle’s side, back up in the top tier for the first time since 2016, that really told the tale in the end.
Armagh, playing with a strong breeze at their backs, made the brighter start with sharpshooters Kelly Mallon and Aimee Mackin slotting over scores inside the opening five minutes.
Waterford grabbed the lead briefly however when Lauren McGregor hit the net following a shot that dropped short from Aine O’Neill. Armagh took control from there and a Mackin free put the sides back on level terms.
Some neat handpassing and sharp movement up front saw Armagh midfielder Niamh Coleman through on goal, but her effort was bravely saved by Waterford netminder Evelyn O’Brien.
The Orchard County didn’t have to wait too long to raise a green flag and two goals came inside sixty seconds. Louise Kenny set up her clubmate Mackin for the first while Kelly Mallon played through Aoife McCoy (above) for a second moments later.
Lauren McConville, playing on her home patch, kicked a point before Mallon and Kenny split the posts to put nine between the teams. Waterford had the final say of the first period, with McGregor grabbing a second goal to leave six the difference at the break, 2-6 to 2-0.
McGregor opened the scoring for the second half although both teams struggled to really find their feet after the turnaround due to the testing conditions.
Mallon tapped over her third of the afternoon to restore Armagh’s six-point advantage, 17 minutes into the second half.
McCoy added to her earlier goal with a point, splitting two converted frees from Waterford captain Kellyann Hogan, but it did little to impact the result as the Orchard County looked assured of their victory right throughout the second half.
“It’s a good first game back in Division One since 2016, to get three points on the board,” said Armagh boss Gregory McGonigle. “The big thing we targeted, we want to win our home games and conditions were a big factor today and they defended deep, but the girls put in a massive shift in the second half. We’ll get ready now for Cork next week, it doesn’t get any easier.”
Both teams managed just five points between in the deteriorating wind and rainy conditions after the restart as Armagh held on for victory.
“It’s a disappointing start to the league,” said Waterford manager Pat Sullivan. “It was a game of two halves with the wind and the conditions, but it was the same for both teams. The first half we switched off and conceded two goals in a minute and we were really chasing the game after that. We have a mountain to climb now, and we have a big challenge next week now against Kerry.”
Scorers – Armagh: A Mackin 1-2, A McCoy 1-1, K Mallon 0-3 (2f), L McConville 0-1, L Kenny 0-1. Waterford: L McGregor 2-1, K Hogan 0-2 (2f).
Armagh: A Carr; G Ferguson, C McCambridge, R Mulligan; C Towe, L McConville, D Coleman; N Coleman, C O’Hanlon; E Druse, A McCoy, S Quigley; A Mackin, L Kenny, K Mallon. Subs: M O’Callaghan for S Quigley, E Lavery for D Coleman.
Waterford: E O’Brien; A McNulty, E Power, T Behan; A Murray, M O’Brien, N Power; E Murray, K Hogan; K McGrath, A O’Neill, C Carroll; C McCarthy, K Murray, L McGregor. Subs: B McMaugh for T Behan, L O’Shea for C McCarthy.
Referee: Angela Gallagher
Lauren McConville
Cork 1-6
Galway 0-5
By ANTHONY NEWMAN
A superb individual display from Katie Quirke ensured Cork got their Lidl Ladies NFL Division 1 off to a winning start at Bishopstown.
The Bride Rovers player got all their scores, with all her points coming in the first half and the goal at a critical time in the second.
Both sides must be applauded as they tried to play decent football in dreadful weather which saw the wind gusting up to 80km an hour at times.
Cork won the toss and elected to play with the elements, and they made it count with Quirke getting them off the mark from a free with Aoife O’Rourke on target for Galway, again from a free.
This proved their only score of the half as they battled against the elements as well as Cork.
Quirke got her second to put Cork ahead and with 21 minutes gone they were 0-4 to 0-1 in front.
Four minutes later and she increased their lead and just before half-time she got her, and Cork’s sixth, to make it 0-6 to 0-1 at half-time.
Galway came much more into the game after the break, and it took some quality defending from the likes of Melissa Duggan to keep them at bay.
The crucial score came in the 38th minute when Quirke battled past several players to score the only goal of the tie.
But Galway kept going right to the end with Ailbhe Davoren pulling a point back. Aoife Molloy made it 0-3 to 1-6 after 45 minutes as they were now well in the game.
Roisin Leonard came off the bench and show her class with a magnificent point from distance and she hit a second to make it 0-5 to 1-6.
But try as Galway did, they couldn’t break through for the all-important goal as Cork held on for a deserved win.
Scorers for Cork: K Quirke 1-6 (3f).
Galway: R Leonard 0-2, A Davoren (f), A O’Rourke (f), A Molloy 0-1 each.
CORK: S Murphy; M Duggan, L Coppinger, D Kiniry; A McDonagh, M O’Callaghan, D Kiely; A Healy, S Cronin; E Jack, K Quirke, S O’Leary; L McDonagh, H Looney, E Cleary.
Subs: S Kelly for S Cronin (42), K Redmond for L McDonagh, E Hurley for S O’Leary, R Corkery for E Cleary, K Smith for E Jack (both 60).
GALWAY: D Gower; M Jordan, S Lynch, E Gavin; K Geraghty, C Trill, A Ní Cheallaigh; M Glynn, L Coen; M Walsh, A Davoren, S Hynes; C McCarthy, A O’Rourke, A Molloy.
Subs: E Reaney for C McCarthy, C Cleary for M Glynn (both 36), R Leonard for S Hynes, L Booth for M Walsh (both 49), A Hynes for L Coen, L Finnegan for A Ni Cheallaigh (both 60).
Referee: Barry Redmond (Wexford).
Meath 2-18
Mayo 1-15
By BRIAN GILLESPIE
Meath started life under new manager Shane McCormack with a fully merited victory over Mayo in the opening round of the Lidl National Football League Division 1 at the University of Galway Connacht GAA Air Dome.
With howling wind and driving rain outside, the Mayo and Meath players adapted quickly to relative calm inside the Dome and delivered an entertaining, competitive game of football.
The switch from James Stephens Park in Ballina due to the storm allowed the players on both teams to express themselves, and this made for an enjoyable opening half.
It was nip and tuck early on, with Maria Cannon proving accurate from placed balls while Mayo also landed impressive points from play courtesy of Ciara Smyth and Niamh Gallogly before Emma Duggan – who started the game in place of Ailbhe Leahy – opened her tally with a free on six minutes.
It remained close until Cannon, taking a pass from Tara Needham on the run, found the back of the Meath net to make it 1-5 to 0-5 for the home side in the 16th minute, but this just spurred Meath into action.
By half-time Meath, inspired by Áine Sheridan in defence and Duggan up front, had established a five-point advantage at 2-10 to 1-8, with Meadbh Byrne gettinfg both goals after the Mayo defence was carved open, while Aobhin Cleary played a big part in the build-up each time.
Two early second-half points from Cannon suggested a comeback might be on the cards until Meath rattled off five without replay – Duggan landing three of them, including a free – to end the game as a contest.
Mayo ended a 16-minute gap without a score when Cannon scored another free, but they could never really close the gap and in the end Meath ran out winners by six points.
Scorers – Meath: E Duggan 0-10 (5f), M Byrne (2-0), C. Smyth 0-4, N. Gallogly 0-3, M. Farrelly 0-1.
Mayo: M Cannon 1-12 (10f), T. Needham 0-1, F. McHale 0-1, S. Walsh 0-1.
MEATH: M McGuirk; K Newe, A Sheridan, N Troy; N Gallogly, M.K. Lynch, A Cleary; M O’Shaughnessy, S Melia; M Thynne, E Moyles, C Smith; M Byrne, M Farrelly, E Duggan. Subs: A Leahy for Byrne, T Foster for Gallogy (both 57).
MAYO: L Reid; L Wallace, S Lally, N O’Malley; K Sullivan, D Caldwell, J Mortimer; A Geraghty, H Reape; F McLaughlin, L Cafferky, M Cannon; T Needham, F McHale, A Fitzpatrick. Subs: A Gough for H Reape (38), E Reape for Sullivan (42), E. Needham for McHale (46), S Walsh for T Needham (49), C Henry for Cafferky (52).
Referee: Gus Chapman (Sligo).
