Lidl National Ladies' Football League
ARMAGH’S Aimee Mackin hit 1-7 as the Orchard county recorded a first ever senior victory over Dublin in their 2-10 to 3-6 Division One win at the Athletic Grounds last Sunday.
A severely depleted Orchard side led 1-6 to 1-3 at half-time, turning around an early setback when they found themselves 1-2 to 0-1 down after 10 minutes. However, a first ever goal from Niamh Marley in the 20th minute, on a day when she celebrated her 24th birthday, levelled matters and, from then on, with Mackin to the fore in raising the white flag, kept their noses in front.
Allstar Mackin rocked Dublin further when she struck for her side’s second major three minutes after the restart to give Ronan Clarke’s side a 2-6 to 1-3 advantage and that lead stretched from six to eight points by the end of the third quarter. However, two goals in four minutes, the first from Niamh McEvoy in the 49th minute and then a 53rd minute major from Lyndsey Davey, reduced the deficit to two points, 2-10 to 3-5. Although Olivia Leonard left just the minimum between them in injury-time, Armagh’s defence had held firm to secure three vital points and keep their semi-final hopes alive.
There was no such luck, however, for Monaghan and Tyrone, with defeats to Kerry and Mayo respectively. For the Red Hands, last Sunday’s 1-13 to 0-5 defeat to the league leaders means they are now relegated to Division Two for the 2017 season, while Monaghan have survived thanks to their head-to-head win over their Ulster neighbours.
Mayo led by 0-7 to 0-3 at half-time against Tyrone in a game that saw Sarah Rowe emerge as top scorer for the westerners as Aileen Gilroy’s second-half goal added gloss to the final scoreline from a Mayo viewpoint. In Blackhill, Kerry had 1-6 from Laura Rogers as they triumphed 1-14 to 0-6 over Monaghan and defending champions Cork kept their semi-final hopes alive with a 6-15 to 1-11 victory at Galway.
In Division Two, Donegal remained unbeaten with a comprehensive 4-18 to 0-6 victory over Kildare in Monasterevin. Yvonne McMonagle scored two goals, with Geraldine McLaughlin and Eilish Ward getting the others. The game was effectively over at half-time, with Michael Naughton’s charges leading 4-11 to 0-2 and, although they added just seven second-half points, the result was never in danger.
Cavan also kept up their impressive form with a 2-17 to 1-6 victory over Sligo at Kingspan Breffni Park. They led 0-7 to no score before Sligo managed their first score of the game, a goal, in the 15th minute, but it only inspired the home side, who also found the back of the net three minutes later through Niamh Halton. By half-time, their advantage was 1-13 to 1-1.
Halton, who finished with 2-4, grabbed her and Cavan’s second goal of the game in the 48th minute to stretch the Ulster side’s lead to 2-14 to 1-1. Sligo did manage five points in the final 10 minutes as Cavan manager Conor Barry rung the changes, but the result was never in doubt.
With Clare already guaranteed their place in the knockout stages along with Donegal and Cavan prior to last weekend’s games, Westmeath made sure of their position in the top four with a 2-16 to 1-6 victory over Laois, while there’s a four-way relegation scrap down for decision as Kildare, Sligo, Laois and Meath are all tied on three points.
Down and Fermanagh’s fate will go down to the final day on Sunday when the pair meet in a crunch Division Three relegation battle. With Down losing 1-13 to 1-10 to leaders Waterford and Fermanagh conceding their game to Offaly, both sides are rooted to the bottom of the table with no points. At the other end of the table, Waterford and Tipperary are through to the semi-finals, with two from Roscommon, Wexford and Leitrim to join them.
In Division Four, despite losing to Longford, Antrim are through to the semi-finals, taking the last of the four spots, along with Wicklow, Longford and Limerick. The Saffrons were defeated 1-10 to 1-7 last Sunday and, although Louth had a comprehensive 8-28 to 1-4 win over Carlow and, like Antrim, finished with nine points, they miss out on a knockout spot because they lost their head-to-head game against the Ulster side.
Derry finished their Division Four campaign on the wrong end of a 5-18 to 0-2 scoreline to Limerick.
