Armagh going “full throttle” – Parkinson

ARMAGH know exactly what they have to do in the BOX-IT Athletic Grounds on Saturday to claim top spot in their three-team group, and the Orchard ladies will be going “full throttle” for a win against Kildare.

Following their opening round draw with Meath, Armagh now have to defeat Kildare by any margin to top the group given that the Royals defeated the Lilywhites last weekend. A draw will be enough for second and defeat will see them miss out on a shot at a first-ever All-Ireland title at this level.

In the All-Ireland series, when teams draw in the group, the head-to-head rule goes on who scored the most points in the draw – and that favours the Ulster champions after they hit 2-11 to Meath’s 3-8.

Armagh did meet Kildare during their Division One league campaign and picked up a home win, at Silverbridge, in round five. Goals in either half from Niamh Henderson and Emily Druse were key to victory that day.

“I suppose now with us having the two-week break, we know exactly what we have to do against Kildare, which is a bit of an advantage,” said Parkinson, who manages the team alongside Joe Feeney.

“We’ll be going full throttle into that Kildare game to sort ourselves as best as possible then for hopefully a quarter-final.”

The Ulster champions have been hit with a bit of an injury crisis and came through that Meath clash without three of their best players in captain Clodagh McCambridge and the Mackin sisters, Aimee and Blaithín.

Roisin Mulligan also missed the Ulster final win over Donegal, although she returned the last day out, while Moya Feehan is out for the season with an ACL injury.

“Honestly, Clodagh’s injury was just something completely freakish,” added Parkinson.

“For Blaithín and the likes of Eve (Lavery) it was just a case of fitness tests during the week for the Meath game. We had to think of the bigger picture and what’s to come down the line and make really tough calls, but probably the right ones overall.”

With the two-week break in between games, Parkinson is hoping that they could have a couple of extra bodies back as the Lilywhites come to town, although Aimee Mackin’s return date is July.

“It could be a case that we might have five or six bodies back on the pitch here. The Meath game was Aimee’s first squad appearance since her injury and that’s a big, massive step forward for her.

“We’ve just tried to get the girls back out on the pitch and just make sure that we build from the last day. We just can’t let this one performance and leave it behind us here. We have to take everything we can out of it and then see where this takes us.”