Football

Ladies Football: Armagh set sights on last four spot

Aimee Mackin (left) will miss Armagh’s National League clash with Galway at the Athletic Grounds on Sunday 
Aimee Mackin (left) will miss Armagh’s National League clash with Galway at the Athletic Grounds on Sunday  Aimee Mackin (left) will miss Armagh’s National League clash with Galway at the Athletic Grounds on Sunday 

SEMI-FINAL-chasing Armagh welcome Galway to the Athletic Grounds on Sunday hoping to get back to winning ways following defeat to Mayo last weekend.

Ronan Clarke’s side had a first defeat in four inflicted on them by unbeaten Mayo but they still maintained their position in second spot with Dublin in third and Sunday’s opponents Galway  in fourth. 

Top-tier status is well secured and now it is about building confidence and seeing where exactly the team is among the other top counties in the league. Galway will provide them with the right type of challenge to find out just that. 

It is the first time in five years that Armagh will play a league game in the Athletic Grounds and they must feature without Allstar player Aimee Mackin, who also missed the game against Mayo, sidelined with the torn calf muscle sustained playing for Queen’s University in the O’Connor Cup prior to the Mayo game. 

With a four-week break coming up after this round of games, this is an important week, not just for Armagh but for all the top tier teams.

Monaghan face the long trip to defending champions Cork tomorrow night.

Cork find themselves in the unfamiliar position of having just won one from their first four games, that coming against Tyrone with Monaghan in the same position, picking up their first league points last weekend against the Red Hand county as well. 

That win, on top of their performance, despite defeat to Armagh the previous week, will have instilled a bout of confidence among Paula Cunningham’s side, but whether it is enough to get anything from this game against Cork remains to be seen. 

In the past number of seasons, Monaghan have been the most consistent side at taking any points of Cork in the league, and indeed defeating them in the 2012 final to remain the only team other than the mighty Rebelettes to have won the league since 2008.

For Tyrone it is another tough ask, this time against Dublin. With defeat last weekend to Monaghan, their status in Division One looks increasingly shaky while Dublin, having lost just once, to Mayo, are eyeing a semi-final berth.

They showed little mercy against Monaghan a couple of weeks ago with a 27-point victory and have also inflicted heavy defeats on Cork, Galway and Armagh. This could well be another one-sided scoreline.