Armagh 3-18
Cavan 3-10
By RONAN O’NEILL
AIMEE MACKIN SCORED 0-10 as Armagh made it back-to-back wins in Group 1 of the TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship with victory over Cavan at St Tiernach’s Park in Clones.
The victory secures Armagh’s place in the TG4 All-Ireland Quarter-final, while it also guarantees Mayo will progress from Group 1, with the pool winners to be decided when the teams meet next weekend.
Armagh had taken a 0-7 to 0-3 lead at the first water-break and Caroline O’Hanlon scored their goal shortly afterwards. But Cavan recovered and Aishling Sheridan brought them back into the game with her wonderful finish.
Armagh pushed on after half-time and goals from Aoife McCoy and Kelly Mallon sealed an important win.
Cavan scored first through Aisling Gilsenan, but that was quickly cancelled out by O’Hanlon. Fionnuala McKenna and Aishling Sheridan then traded points, but Armagh scored five of the next six points and with Aimee Mackin (three), McKenna and O’Hanlon on target, they took a four-point lead into the first break.
Cavan landed two in a row through Gilsenan, but the loss of Geraldine Sheridan to a yellow card in the 22nd minute was a setback. With the numerical advantage, O’Hanlon finished off Mallon’s attempted shot to the net for an Armagh goal seven minutes before half-time.
Armagh looked to be cruising with a five-point lead but Sinéad Greene settled Cavan, before a mix-up in the Armagh defence allowed Aishling Sheridan to blast a fantastic shot past Anna Carr and into the Armagh net.
After trailing 1-8 to 1-6 at half time, Cavan were back level within six minutes of the resumption as Lauren McVeety and Geraldine Sheridan scored.
But Armagh finally kicked into gear and they scored an unanswered 1-2 to open a gap. Aimee Mackin added two points to McCoy’s 42nd minute strike.
Aishling and Geraldine Sheridan tried their best to keep Cavan in the game but they couldn’t hold-off the next surge when Armagh scored 1-7 without reply between the 47th and 59th minutes.
Mallon scored the killer third goal and Cavan were out on their feet with a late goal from a penalty courtesy of Amy Rooney, proving just a consolation.
Scorers – Armagh: A Mackin 0-10 (3f), K Mallon 1-2 (1f), C O’Hanlon 1-2, A McCoy 1-0, F McKenna 0-3, A Clarke 0-1.
Cavan: A Rooney 1-1 (1f), A Sheridan 1-1, G Sheridan 1-1, A Gilsenan 0-3 (1f), G Sheridan 0-1, S Greene 0-1, C Dolan 0-1, L McVeety 0-1 (1f).
ARMAGH: A Carr; S Marley, C McCambridge, G Ferguson; E Lavery, L McConville, T Grimes; K Mallon, N Coleman; B Mackin, C O’Hanlon, F McKenna; A Mackin, A McCoy, A Clarke. Subs: C Marley for Lavery (30), A Henderson for Coleman (52), N Reel for Clarke (59), S Grey for Marley (60).
CAVAN: E Walsh; R Doonan, S Lynch, L McVeety; S Greene, L Fitzpatrick, M Sheridan; C Dolan, N Byrd; A Kiernan, A Sheridan, C Finnegan; N Keenaghan, G Sheridan, A Gilsenan. Subs: Z Fay for Fitzpatrick (43), A Rooney for McVeety (45), S McKenna for Finnegan (46), N Halton for Kiernan (52).
Referee: Brendan Rice (Down).
Galway 3-10
Donegal 1-11
By ALAN FOLEY
A SCARCELY BELIEVABLE two-minute spell right at the start of the second half delivered three Galway goals against Donegal at Markievicz Park to seal the Connacht side’s place in the last eight of the TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship.
Donegal looked reasonably comfortable at the break, leading 1-6 to 0-4 but Galway lit the blue touch paper when Nicola Ward grabbed a goal from the first attack of the second half to get Galway going.
That, though, wasn’t even half the story as Ailish Morrissey, only on since half time, grabbed another Galway goal having pushed up on Donegal, who were struggling to get downfield.
Then, a third goal arrived with the clock at 31:51. Morrissey slammed into an empty net from Megan Glynn’s pass and it was 3-4 to 1-6. Suddenly, from four down Galway were five up and in control and by the three-quarter mark were 3-8 to 1-10 in front, and from there they closed out the win.
But it could all have been so different for Donegal. It was Maxi Curran’s side that dominated the opening exchanges, and they raced into a deserved early lead.
Katy Herron blasted home an 11th minute goal, finishing off a move that saw Karen Guthrie provide the assist following Geraldine McLaughlin’s ball inside, which gave Donegal a 1-2 to 0-2 lead.
Olivia Divilly scored two points for Galway in the second quarter, as did Guthrie for Donegal which maintained the five-point gap all the way to the interval, with the Ulster side 1-6 to 0-4 in the ascendancy.
⏱️ FULL TIME
— Ladies Football (@LadiesFootball) July 17, 2021
🏆 @TG4TV All-Ireland Senior Championship G4@GalwayLgfa 3-10@DonegalLGFA 1-11
Galway with a second win and they're into the quarter-final@SportTG4 @GAA_BEO @ConnachtLGFA @UlsterLadies#ProperFan
When Galway manager Gerry Fahy threw Morrissey on at half-time and went for broke, he didn’t think he’d be picking up the dividends before the money had left his account. That’s exactly what happened, though.
Ward’s goal was followed by the double strike by Morrissey in the space of a minute, and from that point on Galway never trailed.
Donegal continued to battle though, with Geraldine McLaughlin adding to her tally, but when Niamh McLaughlin, the Donegal captain, did get a sight at goal she was unfortunate to rattle the crossbar and Galway held on to win and seal their passage.
Donegal take on Kerry next weekend in Tuam, where Curran’s team know now it’s win or bust. A second win of the competition sees Galway safely into the quarter finals.
Scorers – Galway: A Morrissey 2-1, O Divilly 0-5 (3f), N Ward 1-0, L Ward 0-1, H Noone 0-1, M Glynn 0-1, E Reaney 0-1. Donegal: G McLaughlin 0-6 (3f), K Herron 1-1, K Guthrie 0-3 (1f), N Hegarty 0-1.
Galway: D Gower; S Healy, S Lynch, S Molloy; K Geraghty, N Ward, C Cooney; S Divilly, A Davoren; O Divilly, M Glynn, L Coen; H Noone, L Ward, K Slevin. Subs: L Aherne for Healy (30+2), A Morrissey for Slevin (h-t), M Seoighe for Davoren (37), R Leonard for Glynn (46), E Reaney for Coen (53).
Donegal: A McColgan; N Carr, E McGinley, E Gallagher; A Boyle Carr, N McLaughlin, R Rodgers; K Herron, S Twohig; B McLaughlin, N McLaughlin, N Boyle; N Hegarty, K Guthrie, G McLaughlin. Subs: K Keaney for N Boyle (30+2), A Logue for B McLaughlin (38), T Jenkins for Keaney (56) R McCafferty for Rodgers (59).
Referee: G Chapman (Sligo).
Mayo 0-13
Monaghan 0-12
(Match finished 0-12 to 0-12 after extra-time, Mayo win free kicks shoot out 1-0)
By PJ LEDDY
Mayo secured a dramatic TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship victory over Monaghan, but only after extra time and a 30-metre free kick shoot out, which was decided by Shauna Howley in the baking heat of Ballinamore.
Howley landed the only one of the nine frees taken in this dramatic finish, which secured a second win of the group for Mayo, earned despite the ten points kicked by Monaghan’s Ellen McCarron.
The Westerners opened brightly with Howley, Rachel Kearns and late inclusion Sarah Rowe whipping over a point each by the ninth minute. Monaghan responded well with McCarron tapping over two frees in succession during the next three minutes.
Shauna Howley with the nerves of steel to seal victory in the shoot out for our seniors in the blistering heat🟩🟥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 @radiomidwest @LadiesFootball pic.twitter.com/iA0wt9EvNM
— Mayo LGFA (@Mayo_LGFA) July 17, 2021
Kearns and McCarron exchanged points at opposite ends by the 15th minute, which gave the Connacht side a minimum lead at the first water break.
When the action resumed Monaghan got back on level terms once again thanks to McCarron’s class from placed balls. But Mayo edged back into a two-point advantage thanks to Grace Kelly’s brilliant brace of scores.
However, Monaghan finished the opening half stronger and McCarron kicked a free and added a point from play to leave it level at 0-6 each at half-time.
In the oppressive heat, the second half action continued along the same path as the first, with Howley and McCarron kicking early frees for their respective sides, before Monaghan took the lead for the first and only time in the game when McCarron put over a 41st-minute free.
Kearns hit back for Mayo, before Kelly reclaimed the lead for Michael Moyles’ side, only for corner back Aoife McAnespie to send the game to extra time with the scores tied at 0-10 to 0-10.
Ten minutes each way was not enough to split the teams in extra time, with a couple of frees from Howley and McCarron the only scores, which saw the game decided with a free taking competition.
And in the end Howley held her nerve to land the decisive kick, which should be enough for Mayo to work their way into the knock-out stages.
Scorers – Mayo: S Howley 0-4 (3f), R Kearns 0-4 (2f), G Kelly 0-3, S Rowe 0-1. Monaghan: E McCarron 0-10 (9f), L Garland 0-1, A McAnespie 0-1.
MAYO: A Tarpey; S Lally, C McManamon, E Brennan; T O’Connor, C Whyte, S Larkin; C Needham, S Cafferky; S Rowe, R Kearns, M McHale; G Kelly, S Howley, T Needham. Subs: F McHale for C Needham (2), K Sullivan for Larkin (27), F Doherty for T Needham (44), L Cafferky for M McHale (45), M Corbett for Brennan (61), A Geraghty for Doherty (69).
MONAGHAN: E Corrigan; R McGuigan, N Fahy, A McAnespie; R Courtney, J Duffy, E Traynor; C Courtney, M Atkinson; L McEnaney, E McCarron, L Garland; C Traynor, C McAnespie, L Jones. Subs: S Coyle for R Courtney (41), M Monaghan for Duffy (46), A Garland for E Traynor (57), K Maguire for Jones (57), J McQuillan for C Traynor (70), L Jones for McEneaney (79).
Referee: S Curley (Galway).
