ARMAGH OPENED THEIR NFL Division 1 campaign with a 2-8 to 2-3 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 when Lauren McGregor hit the net but 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 for a second moments later.
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.
Both teams struggled to really find their feet after the turnaround due to the testing conditions but it did little to impact the result as the Orchard County looked assured of their victory right throughout the second half.
Elsewhere, a superb individual display from Katie Quirke ensured Cork beat Galway 1-6 to 0-5 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 tried to play decent football in dreadful weather which saw the wind gusting up to 80km an hour at times.
The hosts 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.
On 25 minutes Quirke increased Cork’s lead and just before half-time she got her sixth score to make it 0-6 to 0-1 at half-time.
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, Aoife Molloy and Roisin Leonard helping reduce the margin, 0-5 to 1-6.
Try as they might, Galway couldn’t break through for the all-important goal as Cork held on for a deserved win.
Meanwhile, Meath started life under new manager Shane McCormack with a fully merited 2-18 to 0-15 victory over Mayo in their opening round clash 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.
It remained close until Maria 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 getting both goals after the Mayo defence was carved open, while Aobhin Cleary played a big part in the build-up each time.
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.
