O’Hanlon: We are focusing on ourselves

By Shaun Casey

ARMAGH and Galway are two teams that have been knocking at the door of the All-Ireland Championship title over the last few years, and after Saturday’s meeting, one of them will be 60 minutes away from the crown.

Galway have one All-Ireland title to their name, from back in 2004, and reached the decider just two years ago. Armagh have only competed on the biggest day once in their history, way back in 2006.

20 years on from that day, Caroline O’Hanlon is still chasing that dream with the Orchard County. 2026 marked her 25th season in the orange jersey, and she knows Armagh face a still challenge against the girls from the west.

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“There’s no easy teams at this stage and you just have to play it as it comes,” said the Carrickcruppen player. “Galway have been there or thereabouts over the last few years, a bit like ourselves, but haven’t got over the line.

“We have a lot of preparation to do. We have a lot of our own individual stuff to work on, there were a lot of errors and things against Kildare that Greg (McGonigle) will no doubt draw on so we have to focus on ourselves first and foremost.”

Kildare posed a huge test for Armagh at the BOX-IT Athletic Grounds the last day out in the All-Ireland quarter-final, but two first half goals from Aimee Mackin, along with another after the turnaround through Kelly Mallon, saw Armagh advance with three to spare.

“We’re absolutely delighted to be in the semis,” O’Hanlon added. “We’ve been a bit patchy in games to date and we’ve talked about it. We’ve had flashes of brilliance and then switched off for five or ten minutes and allowed teams back into it.

“I think against Kildare, we didn’t do that to the same extent which is a positive to take. But at the same time, I think we still have a lot of work to do to be consistent over the full 60 minutes.

“We were relieved to get over the line, especially because of what Kildare did to us this time last year. That was in the back of our minds, but we were trying to not get to emotionally invested in the game and just play it as we saw it.

“Kildare are a good side, and they’ve been building across the last few years. They are a tough team to play against because they keep the ball and all of their players are comfortable in possession.

“We just had to be patient and create the opportunities when they came and create a bit of space for each other in the forward line. Obviously if we can get Aimee in those positions, she’s deadly so we know that’s what we need to do.”

While O’Hanlon is one of the older heads in the Armagh dressing room, they have plenty of emerging talent coming through their ranks which has strengthened their panel throughout the course of the season.

Return

Roisin Mulligan returned to inter-county action in the quarter-final win over the Lilywhites and marked her first championship appearance with a point.

Youngster Cassie Henderson, who helped Armagh win an Ulster Minor Championship title back in May, along with Caoimhe McNally Niamh Reel and Maeve Ferguson all came off the bench the last day to see the game out.

“Roisin has been working so hard to get back. She’s been frustrated with niggles over the course of the year so it’s brilliant to have her back and brilliant for her to finally get back as well,” O’Hanlon said of her teammates.

“Cassie, as we’ve seen in every game since she joined up with us, she has that real impact off the bench. She’s a class act and you love to see her coming on, she really lifts the crowd, and she lifts us on the pitch.

“That strength in depth is so important and there’s girls fighting for positions there that haven’t had their chance yet, but they are chipping away at training and if they get the nod, we’d have no fear in them coming on.

“They’ve been showing in training what they can do so we have plenty of strength in depth and that’s what we’ve been building all year.”