McGonigle pleased with blend on Armagh ladies panel

By Shaun Casey

GREGORY McGonigle’s Armagh side compete in the final fixture of the Ulster Senior Championship round robin series on Sunday in a complete dead rubber with Tyrone ahead of an upcoming final between the pair.

Both sides have beaten Donegal, leaving them the top two in the group, meaning they’ll cross paths in the decider in two weeks’ time, no matter how this weekend’s meeting pans out.

The Orchard County held the upper hand against Donegal at the BOX-IT Athletic Grounds in round one before Tyrone overcame the Division Two league champions last Sunday with nine-points to spare, with a Chloe McCaffrey hattrick helping them on their way.

Tyrone fell out of the top tier in league football last season and finished mid-table in Division Two earlier in the year, but having won the Intermediate All-Ireland in 2025, they’ll be keen to display their talents among the best teams in the country.

McGonigle, who returned to the Armagh hotseat this season having previously been there in 2024 when the Orchard County won the Division One league title for the first time ever, is delighted with the three-team structure in the province this year, rather than just a final.

“I think it’s good for all the teams going out into the All-Ireland series,” he noted ahead of the round three tie. “If you’re looking at the other provinces, they’re getting four games to get themselves well road tested so that’ll hopefully stand to all of us.”

Armagh had an indifferent league campaign but came good towards the end to fight off relegation fears, stringing together a three-game unbeaten run, and kept their place in the top bracket for another year.

McGonigle handed out debuts to a number of fresh faces in the squad, such as Alana Donnelly and Lara Marsden, while some of the other younger girls that have been around the panel for a while picked up valuable minutes.

Some of the older heads are still doing the business in the orange and white as well. The Mackin sisters, Aimee and Blaithin, contributed 0-6 the last day out while Caroline O’Hanlon hit 0-2.

Kelly Mallon didn’t feature against Donegal but was their top scorer in the league while Lauren McConville, the 2026 captain, was named on the Division One Team of the League for the third consecutive season.

“You have young Alana Donnelly that never played any underage for Armagh, the likes of Maeve Lennon and Laura Kavanagh have got more game time, and they’ve been around the panel a few years,” McGonigle continued.

“We have Ella Reid and Lara Marsden, and we discovered during the league that Ella Reid can play half-back as well as she can play half-forward. We’re very positive and it’s exactly what you want.

“There’s a good blend there between the seniors and the underage players coming through, and then the seniors players can educate the younger players so when they go, there’s no big gap left over.”