No sweet pickings in the Orchard for Mayo ladies
Mayo's Lucy Wallace battling with Niamh Reel of Armagh during the Lidl Ladies National Football League Division 1 match at the BOX-IT Athletic Grounds. Picture: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
Armagh added to their impressive start to the Lidl National Football League campaign as they picked up their fourth win on the trot on Saturday evening, proving too strong for Mayo.
Two sublime Niamh Henderson goals were key for the reigning Division One champions and while Mayo hit the net through Saoirse Lally, it wasn’t enough to turn the tide significantly. The Green and Red, shorn so many of their most experienced players this year, have yet to pick up any points in their campaign to date.
The sides were evenly matched early on as Blaithin Mackin and Eve Lavery exchanged pointed efforts with Bree Hession. Sinead Walsh put the Westerners ahead briefly before Niamh Coleman levelled things up.
A brace from Moya Feehan kickstarted Armagh’s scoring spree and they added further scores from Mackin and Henderson. A Niamh Reel double was split by a Lavery free before Mayo got their first score in 13 minutes through Kayla Doherty.
Any hope of a Mayo revival was quickly washed away as Henderson lobbed the visiting netminder to drive Armagh further in front. Captain Lauren McConville grabbed the final score of the opening period, with the Orchard County leading 1-11 to 0-4 at the interval.
Aoife Geraghty got Mayo up and running after the break and despite losing the creative attacking influence of Sinead Walsh who was replaced through injury, the visitors did find the Armagh net when full-back Lally got forward to drill past Briana Mathers and close the gap to six. Armagh substitute Caoimhe McNally scored with her first touch, but it was cancelled out by Maria Cannon at the other end.
TG4 Player of the Match Henderson nailed another fantastic goal while Aoife McCoy got her name on the scoresheet to extend the gap to ten. Mayo substitute Ciara Whyte hit two on the bounce while a second from McNally split final scores from Hession and Riona Jordan.
Liam McHale’s Mayo next face the challenge of All-Ireland champions Kerry and are still searching for their first win of the season.
Scorers – Armagh: N Henderson 2-1, B Mackin 0-2, M Feehan 0-2, E Lavery 0-2 (2f), N Reel 0-2, C McNally 0-2, L McConville 0-1, N Coleman 0-1, A McCoy 0-1.
Mayo: S Lally 1-0, B Hession 0-3, C Whyte 0-2, A Geraghty 0-1, M Cannon 0-1, S Walsh 0-1, K Doherty 0-1, R Jordan 0-1.
Armagh: B Mathers; M Ferguson, C Towe, R Mulligan; C Garvey, L McConville, B Mackin; N Coleman, C O’Hanlon; E Druse, M Feehan, E Lavery; N Reel, A McCoy, N Henderson. Subs: M Lennon for M Feehan (half time), G Ferguson for R Mulligan (34), C Marley for E Druse (39), M McCann for C O’Hanlon (40), C McNally for E Lavery (40), R Cunningham for N Reel (49), E McConaghy for N Henderson (56), L Kavanagh for C Garvey (59), E McGeown for N Coleman (59).
Mayo: J Gawalkiewicz; L Wallace, S Lally, E Brennan; D Caldwell, J Mortimer, H Reape; A Geraghty, A Gough; B Hession, M Cannon, M Sheridan; S Walsh, C Keane, K Doherty. Subs: N O’Malley for A Gough (half time), S Delaney for S Walsh (33), R Jordan for E Brennan (36), C Doherty for E Sheridan (40), C Whyte for C Keane (44), C Durkan for K Doherty (48), S McNulty for J Mortimer (54), S Touhy for B Hession (59).
REF: Brendan Rice (Down)
