LGFA weekend reaction… no-one gave us a chance but now we are aiming higher, says Kildare chief after stunning win over Armagh

Celebrations among the Kildare players after the final whistle Photo: ©INPHO/Leah Scholes

By John Fallon

KILDARE manager Pat Sullivan said reaching the quarter-finals of the TG4 All-Ireland Championship is the stuff of dreams — but they are not going to settle for that after seeing off Armagh to reach the last eight.

“It’s hard to put into words. Nobody outside of our circle gave us any chance. We drew with teams and beat teams in the league but were still given no chance. We had a lot of anger and this is a really good squad. Our first year in Division One, there’s no player in this circle has ever been in an All-Ireland quarter-final.

“So for them to achieve what they’ve achieved is a dream and we’re not there to make up the numbers, we’re there to give it everything and we’re delighted to be there,” said Sullivan after their superb 1-12 to 1-10 away to Armagh.

The sides were deadlocked at 0-6 apiece at the end of the opening half. Kildare captain Laoise Lenehan edged them in front after the restart and then after an exchange of points struck a major blow when she finished to the net after being set up by Roisin Byrne.

Armagh responded well after Kildare extended the lead to five and captain Lauren McConville fired home a goal after being set up by Niamh Henderson, before Aimee Mackin cut the gap to the minimum but Mia Ryan’s second point wrapped up the win for the Lilywhites.

“We’re absolutely gutted for that group of players,” said Armagh manager Darnell Parkinson. “The reality is that they deserve more, the effort and application they have put in from the start of the season, today, for whatever reason, just wasn’t our day.

Tipperary never trailed as they beat Donegal by 0-11 to 1-6 in Bansha to set up a quarter-final against Meath after their best performance of the year.

A superb display from Anna Rose Kennedy helped Tipperary to 0-8 to 0-3 lead at the interval before extending it with a couple of points from Aisling Moloney after the restart.

“In the first half we really controlled the game,” said Tipperary manager Ed Burke. “We kicked some lovely scores from distance, we were patient, and we restricted their scoring. It was a real serious Tipperary team performance.

“We went five points up and dropped a player back and that suited Donegal. We did it for fifteen minutes and they got a goal and a point, and we decided to press again and we had more control of the game. The more we mastered our own destiny and trusted ourselves then we were able to shut them out.”

Donegal rallied and a goal from Jodie McFadden gave them hope but while they got the gap down to the minimum at one stage, they were unable to save the day.

“We didn’t play in the first half, in the second we showed a bit more grit,” said Donegal manager James Daly. “They scored the first couple of points in the second half and then we got a wee bit of a run with a couple of points and a goal to bring it back to a point. We will go back to the drawing board again and work on it. It’s a very young team and there will be bumps along the road.”

Goals in each half from Katie Quirke sent Cork into the All-Ireland quarter-finals as they held off a late Mayo fightback in Castlebar to advance by 3-8 to 1-10.

“The goals were crucial scores,” said Cork manager Joe Carroll. “We started fairly well but I thought we rushed the play a small bit. We got our kicks blocked down a few times and took a few shots we needn’t have, that’s something we need to work. We were better at it in the second half.

“We’ll just have to get ourselves ready for Dublin, an exceptional team. They won the Leinster championship, so we’ll have some work to do to beat them.”

Cork led by 2-3 to 0-6 at the break with Máire O’Callaghan shooting to the net in the opening seconds of the contest. Mayo fought back in the second half and points from Sinead Walsh and a goal from Annie Gough reduced the gap but Cork held on to set up a quarter-final against Dublin.

“The last few weeks at this level, we haven’t been aggressive in the second half,” said Mayo manager Liam McHale. “We went down to Kerry and played well in the first half but only scored a point in the second half against the wind. We had a couple of goal chances but we couldn’t seem to catch a break.”

Waterford had six different goalscorers as they ousted Leitrim by 6-16 to 3-4 in Carrick-on-Shannon to book a quarter-final date with Galway.

“The first 15 minutes their backs were on top of us the whole time and we were finding it hard to get our shots off,” said Waterford full-forward Clare Walsh. “Any shots the first few minutes their keeper saved them. Once we got into the flow, the points and the scores came. There were loads of scorers and some of our backs were up there too.”

Lauren McGregor and Karen McGrath found the net in the opening half to lead by 2-7 to 1-1 at the break, with Laura O’Dowd getting the Leitrim goal.

Waterford pushed on for victory with further goals from Brid McMaugh, Katie Murray, Clare Walsh and Megan Dunford sealing the win, with Leitrim pushing them all the way with goals from Rachel McIntyre and Aisling Quinn.

“We know that this year was always going to be a really steep learning curve playing at a level that,” said Leitrim manager Jonny Garrity. “Let’s face it, we are not accustomed to as a county. We have to learn and we have to learn quickly; learn on the job. At times it can be painful. We’ll never be happy in defeat but we are happy with what the girls showed us today.”

The final round of group games at the weekend leave four teams from Munster, three from Leinster and one from Connacht remaining in the hunt to lift the Brendan Martin Cup for 2025 with reigning TG4 All-Ireland champions Kerry meeting Kildare in the quarter-finals.

The winners of that clash will face either Meath or Tipperary in the semi-finals, while on the other side of the draw last year’s runners-up Galway will face Waterford, with the victors meeting either Dublin or Cork in the other semi-final.

Three of the four games will be played on Saturday, July 5, with the fourth quarter-final down for decision on Sunday July 6. Full details of all quarter-final fixtures will be confirmed shortly by the LGFA.

In the relegation battle, Mayo will take on Leitrim and Donegal will meet Armagh. The winners of those two games will remain senior for 2026 but the two defeated sides will meet with the losers of that game playing intermediate next year.

Meanwhile, Kate Byrne hit 1-6 as Louth registered their third successive win in their TG4 All-Ireland junior championship, defeating Derry by 2-19 to 0-3. Rebecca Delee and Tara Brehony both found the net as Sligo also earned their third win in the campaign, defeating Limerick by 2-13 to 1-4, while in London, Longford defeated the home side by 4-18 to 0-3.

Results:

TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship

Group 1: Tipperary 0-11 Donegal 1-6

Group 2: Cork 3-8 Mayo 1-10

Group 3: Kildare 1-12 Armagh 1-10

Group 4: Waterford 6-16 Leitrim 3-4

TG4 All-Ireland Junior Championship

Group A: Sligo 2-13 Limerick 1-4

Group A: Louth 2-19 Derry 0-3

Group B: Longford 4-18 London 0-3

TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship quarter-finals

(first named teams at home on July 5/6)