Armagh captain Kelly Mallon says they relished the opportunity to play in front of sizeable Orchard county support in Clones on Sunday as they booked their place in a seventh successive provincial decider.
Mallon and her team-mates proved much too strong for Cavan in the Ulster senior championship group game, winning 8-14 to 2-7 in a match played before the men’s provincial SFC final which Armagh lost to Derry.
The Orchard county ladies will now face Donegal in their decider back at St Tiernach’s Park on Sunday week and Mallon is hoping the Orchard faithful will return to the Monaghan venue at the end of the month to cheer them on once again.
“It was really special. A lot of people made the effort to come in early and support us so that was nice too,” she said.
“Our girls thrive in those environments so it would be fantastic to see a good level support in two weeks’ time.”
Any chance of an upset was curtailed in the very early stages with Armagh hitting 3-2 before Cavan got their first score, a goal from Aisling Gilsenan, on the quarter-hour mark.
Aimee Mackin, who finished with 3-8, set the tone as early as the fifth minute when she found the back of the net for the opening score, while Mallon added a second in the ninth minute and it was Mackin again who got the third three minutes later.
A further three goals in as many minutes followed in the third quarter from Blaithin Mackin, Niamh Coleman and Aimee Mackin – who completed her hat-trick in 14 minutes – to put the reigning champions 6-2 to 1-0 ahead and at the break they led 6-6 to 2-3. Aishling Sheridan scored Cavan’s second goal.
Armagh didn’t let up in the second half adding another 2-8, with Aoife McCoy and Mallon scoring the goals.
With another Ulster final to look forward to, the Orchard ladies had hoped their male counterparts could bridge a 15-year gap to their last Anglo-Celt Cup win, but it was not to be as they were denied by champions Derry after a dramatic penalty shoot-out. It turned out a bittersweet afternoon for Mallon.
“We’re all buzzing and delighted to secure a spot in the Ulster final,” she said.
“We can take a lot from the game, there’s a lot of elements of our game that we’ve been working on and some of that was implemented against Cavan with a good return so we’re really pleased with that.
“We’re gutted for the men. I really thought they had it particularly at the end of the second half of extra time when they went two points up with a couple of minutes left.
“They left it all on the pitch, though, and put their bodies on the line for their county. We’re all extremely proud of them and have absolutely no doubt they’ll pull together and give the All-Ireland a rattle.”
