Monaghan scored a crucial victory over Mayo on Sunday in Division 1 of the Bord Gáis Energy Ladies National Football League.
The hosts came with a strong second-half performance to run out 0-17 to 1-09 winners at Emyvale and remain in the hunt for top flight honours.
Monaghan’s second victory from three outings keeps them towards the top of the table and the Farney women produced an impressive attacking performance which yielded scores from all six starting forwards.
Despite playing against the breeze in the first half, Monaghan led by 0-08 to 0-06 at the interval as Cora Staunton hit all but one of Mayo’s scores before the break.
Mayo led by 0-06 to 0-04 with 21 minutes on the clock but a run of four unanswered points handed Monaghan the advantage at the midway point.
Approaching the closing stages, Monaghan had surged well clear before Mayo hit 1-02 in the last five minutes to bring a degree of respectability to the scoreline.
Clodagh Martin hit the Mayo goal but Monaghan were the more impressive force in front of goal and had impressive performances up front from Ciara McAnespie, Niamh Kindlon and Catriona McConnell.
Monaghan also switched Yvonne Connell on to Staunton before the second half and that move worked a treat as Mayo’s main threat was stifled thereafter.
Such is Staunton’s class that she still managed to finish as her team’s leading scorer with eight points, while Christina Reilly, making her first start of the year, also caught the eye in a solid Monaghan defence.
In Division 2, pacesetters Armagh lost for the first time this season as they were surprised on home soil in Cullaville by Meath.
The Orchard County lost out by 0-08 to 1-07 as a strong first half performance laid the foundations for this Royal County success.
The visitors led by 1-06 to 0-03 at half-time as 1-02 for Elaine Duffy and three Bridget Lynch points helped to put the Leinster outfit firmly in the driving seat.
They managed just two points after the restart as Armagh looked to arrest the deficit, but the home side couldn’t get close enough, despite the best efforts of Shauna O’Hagan and Caroline O’Hanlon.
O’Hagan finished with four points for Armagh, while Duffy added a second-half point for Meath to finish with a personal haul of 1-03.
In Division 3, Waterford maintained their 100 per cent record with a narrow 1-10 to 3-6 victory over Longford in Dungarvan.
Limerick crushed Kilkenny in Mungret by 1-19 to 0-03 in Division 4.
