A strong spread of scorers stood Armagh in good stead as they eased past the challenge of Laois 3-22 to 3-07 in the TG4 All-Ireland Ladies SFC qualifiers in Clones on Saturday.
The Orchard County had six different players scoring more than once, with Aimee Mackin and powerful midfielder Caroline O’Hanlon each notching 1-04 while Kelly Mallon and Lauren McConville both got five points. While it took them a while to get away from the challenge of Laois, Aoife McCoy’s 23rd-minute goal put them 1-09 to 0-02 in front and by half-time it was 1-12 to 0-04.
Goals in the second period from Mackin and O’Hanlon put the outcome beyond doubt, though Laois did keep battling and were rewarded through goals by Noirín Kirwan, Ellen Healy and Laura-Marie Maher.
Armagh asserted themselves at midfield from the off, ensuring a constant supply of possession in the final third. Fionnuala McKenna, McConville and Mallon were all among the scores early on, though Martina Dunne and Noirín Kirwan kept Laois in touch.
The middle section of the half saw Armagh pull away though and McCoy netted after Mackin’s pass put her in. Dunne and Martha Kirwan had Laois points in response, but Armagh continued to take their scores and retired with an 11-point advantage.
McConville kicked three points inside the first six minutes of the second half, with Mallon adding a free, but a foul on Maher resulted in a Laois penalty, which Noirín Kirwan converted.
Armagh responded emphatically as Mackin got a fine goal after Mallon’s superb pass and in the 47th minute O’Hanlon made it 3-17 to 1-06 following a marauding run. Laois’s Ellen Healy did get a goal in response for Laois and then Maher profited after Alice Malone picked her out, but Armagh were never going to allow their lead to slip.
Elsewhere, it was all too easy for Cavan as they recorded a comprehensive 10-25 to 0-03 victory over Down also in Clones.
A devastating replay from the Breffni County saw them amass a 5-14 to 0-1 lead by half-time and in the second period the competition for places was evident as a number of substitutes got on the scoresheet.
Aisling Doonan was outstanding in the Cavan full-forward line, scoring 3-10, while Roisín O’Keeffe was excellent too, scoring eight points from right half-forward. The game wasn’t even three minutes old when Catríona Smith struck for the first Cavan goal, making it 1-1 to no score, and though Kate McKay’s free got Down off the mark after that, it was their only score of the first half.
In contrast, Cavan were rampant, with Rosie Crowe adding a second goal while Erinn Galligan and Donna English were among the points. Doonan added two goals in the 19th and 20th minutes to make it 4-09 to 0-01 and the score was 4-14 to 0-01 when the attacker completed her hat-trick with a penalty just before half-time.
Sisters Aishling and Geraldine Sheridan were introduced into the Cavan attack at the interval and both of them made strong cases for inclusion in future games. Aishling had two goals scored inside four minutes and then Smith raised her second green flag. While Natalie McKibbin and Cushla Savage scored Down points, Geraldine Sheridan made it 9-15 to 0-3 on the three-quarter mark.
O’Keeffe and Doonan continued to keep sending points over and another sub, Beth Farrelly-McGee, got the 10th goal on 49 minutes. Between there and the end, O’Keeffe and Doonan each scored two more points, with Farrelly-McGee and Geraldine Sheridan each getting one, leaving 52 points between the teams at the finish.
