Lidl National Football League Division 1
- Armagh 2-9 Mayo 2-8
- Kerry 1-15 Meath 0-5
ARMAGH HAVE REACHED their first-ever Lidl National League Division 1 final after holding off a Mayo revival at James Stephens Park in Ballina.
It took a late free from sharp-shooter Aimee Mackin to seal victory on a 2-9 to 2-8 scoreline and in reality, the league leaders were a shade fortunate to leave north Mayo with the points as a resurgent home side were left to rue a number of missed opportunities in the second half.
The Orchard County hung on, however, and pounced with that late free, but they must have been stunned with Mayo’s second-half comeback after they went in at the break with a nine-point advantage, leading by 2-5 to 0-2 having played with the breeze.
Going into the game with five wins from five, Armagh were strong favourites against a Mayo team that has had a mixed campaign to date.
They wore that favourites tag well, content to soak up pressure and hit Mayo on the break, which they did to great effect.
Mayo, by contrast, found it difficult to penetrate the Orchard County’s rearguard and stuggled to cope when Armagh turned defence into attack with rapid-fire counters.
Armagh held a commanding 2-5 to 0-2 lead at the break, but right from the start of the second half, Mayo used the breeze and fired over three points in a row.
Aoife McCoy settled Armagh with her first point of the afternoon, the game was enlivened when Sinead Walsh found the back of the net following Sinead Cafferky’s perceptive pass, making it a four-point game at 2-6 to 1-5.
Mackin put five between the teams again but Mayo surged once more, Walsh nipping in for a point before impressive substitute Saoirse Delaney executed a superb finish after a pass from Maria Cannon, leaving the minimum between the teams.
Cannon made it a tied game at 2-7 each with a great effort from wide on the left. Mackin and Aoife Geraghty swapped scores to still leave it level approaching injury time, but the ever-reliable Armagh free-taker had the final.
It was a difficult free on the wrong side for a left-footed shooter but Mackin guided the ball over superbly, sealing Armagh’s place in the decider with a round to spare.
Meanwhile, in Donaghmore-Ashbourne, Louise Ní Muircheartaigh led the way with a haul of 0-8 as Kerry put in a clinical performance against Meath.
She kicked six of them from play and such was Kerry’s dominance, particularly in the second half, Meath were limited to just scoring two points after the break and managed just a single point from play throughout the contest.
This result moved reigning Division 1 champions Kerry back up to second place in the table with just one game remaining.
Just 19 seconds had elapsed when Ní Mhuircheartaigh opened the scoring, before she added another in the third minute.
Meath kept in touch with Kerry in the opening 10 minutes with three frees from the boot of Emma Duggan, but couldn’t create many scoring opportunities otherwise and, playing with the aid of a strong wind, Kerry kept the scoreboard ticking over with six unanswered points.
The visitors held a six-point lead at the break at 0-9 to 0-3, and their lead was nine points in the 38th minute when Emma Dineen fisted over. When Shelly Melia kicked over a terrific point for Meath in the 39th minute, it was their first in 30 minutes of play.
Kerry extended their lead to 13 points in the 45th minute when Dineen blasted the ball to the net, and Meath woes on a one-sided afternoon were compounded in the 49th minute when Ciara Smyth was sin-binned.
– Reporting by Brian Gillespie and Deniese O’Flaherty
