The LGFA weekend at a glance

Compiled by John Fallon

ARMAGH joint manager Darnell Parkinson said they still have plenty of room for improvement despite maintaining their winning start to the defence of their Lidl NFL crown with a tight 0-11 to 2-4 win over Dublin in Parnell Park.

“We don’t make it easy for ourselves, but I suppose it’s maybe not a bad thing as well,” said Parkinson. “There’s a lot of learning to take when we watch the tape back and look at a few chances we left behind us. The main thing is, we got the points on the board.

“We’re just trying to tell the players to back themselves, that we have a lot of faith in them. We’ve got really good defenders and the more players we can keep high up the pitch, then the better chance we have of getting scores on the board.”

Niamh Reel kicked five points as the defending champions held off a late surge from Dublin to maintain their winning start to the campaign.

A goal from Kate Sullivan after 18 minutes kept Dublin in touch but they trailed by 0-6 to 1-2 at the interval.

Reel’s fourth of the afternoon extended Armagh’s lead after the restart and efforts from Caroline O’Hanlon (free), substitute Caoimhe McNally and Niamh Henderson pushed them further clear but they faced a nervous finish when Niamh Hetherton got a Dublin goal three minutes from time to reduce the deficit to the minimum.

“We thought we could have maybe snatched something at the end, but probably wouldn’t have deserved to,” said joint Dublin manager Paul Casey. “Disappointed, but pleased with the fight the girls showed at the end. They showed great battling skills and we could have nicked it, but it wasn’t to be.”

Meath also maintained their impressive start with a third straight victory as Kerrie Cole helped herself to an outstanding haul of 2-2 in Navan as they withstood a strong final quarter fightback from Waterford to triumph by 2-11 to 1-13.

“The first half we were getting out and we had loads of time on the ball with the wind,” said Meath goalkeeper Robyn Murray. “Obviously they didn’t have a big press on because they wouldn’t want us to go over the top, but in that second half they had some serious pressure on us.”

Cole rattled the net inside the opening 30 seconds for her fourth goal in just three games this year but 1-2 from Lauren McGregor kept Waterford in touch at 1-9 to 1-4 at the interval. Cole’s second goal after 33 minutes extended Meath’s lead but they had to dig deep to stave off a spirited Waterford finish.

“We left too much work to do after the first half, we stood off them too much,” said Waterford manager Tomas Mac an tSaoir. “Very disappointed leaving without even a point maybe. It probably would have been a fairer result getting out of here, but I’m very happy with the performance.”

Elsewhere in the top flight, TG4 All-Ireland senior champions Kerry made it back-to-back wins as they saw off Kildare at Fitzgerald Stadium by 2-10 to 0-7.

“Delighted to get the win here in that it separates us in the table and takes the pressure off us some bit,” said Kerry manager Mark Bourke. “I thought that the second half there was excellent.”

Danielle O’Leary’s goal after ten minutes saw Kerry lead by 1-3 to 0-3 at the break before Siofra O’Shea’s goal in the 38th minute put Kerry into a commanding 2-6 to 0-4 lead and they never looked back.

“Overall the stats show that we had more scoring opportunities than Kerry but their efficiency was obviously more effective in that,” said Kildare manager Pat Sullivan. “We’ll learn today and we’ll go with our own process as we go game by game.”

And in a crucial tie at the bottom of the table, Tyrone finally registered their first points of the season when they came from behind to oust Mayo by 1-15 to 2-11 in Swinford.

“It was probably a game of two halves,” said Tyrone manager Darren McCann. “Quite a strong breeze and I felt we managed to contain Mayo rightly and then they got that goal to stretch their lead to seven points. We made a few tactical switches in the second half, we decided to push and go at Mayo. We had a lot of joy and we unleashed the bench.”

A goal from Clodagh Keane put Mayo into a commanding 1-9 to 0-5 interval lead but Tyrone used the wind in the second half and fought back after Sinead Walsh got Mayo’s second goal, with Chloe McCaffrey, who finished with 0-7, leading the way.

A goal from Sorcha Gormley got Tyrone level and while Erin Murray edged Mayo back in front, Tyrone finished strongly and two points from Niamh O’Neill secured an invaluable win for the Ulster side.

““Very disappointed. It was a game we had pencilled in to win and needed to win,” said Mayo manager Liam McHale. “We had a seven point, a six point lead a got careless. We just messed things up, got careless. We asked them to be careful in the first ten minutes of the second half because we finished the first half well and got a good lead. We said the next ten minutes was crucial but we got careless, lost ball. They got four without reply and it’s a dogfight from thereon in.”

In Division 2, Kate Slevin hit the net for Galway from a penalty at the end of the first half to leave then 1-8 to 0-8 ahead at the break. Roscommon hit a second half goal through Abby Curran but result wasn’t in doubt as Galway notched their third win since being relegated.

Cork defeated Tipperary by 3-12 to 0-9. Tipperary battled well early on but were rocked by two goals in a minute on the 20th mark with Orlaith Roche and Laura O’Mahony putting Cork in to a 2-2 to 0-7 half-time advantage. Emma Cleary hit a third goal for Cork in the second half to make sure of the result.

Goals from Ailish Considine and Teresa Collins, along with a haul of 0-6 from Fidelma Marrinan, helped Clare to a 2-17 to 0-7 win over Westmeath.

Donegal snatched a 1-7 to 0-8 win over Monaghan when captained Roisin Rodgers got a last minute goal to secure victory.

Cavan, Laois, Limerick and Louth secured victories in Division 3.

There were two games in Division 4, where Fermanagh got the better of Longford by 4-14 to 4-8, and Leitrim pipped Wicklow by 1-11 to 3-4.

RESULTS

Lidl National Football League Division One Round Three

Armagh 0-11 Dublin 2-4

Kerry 2-10 Kildare 0-7

Tyrone 1-15 Mayo 2-11

Meath 2-11 Waterford 1-13

Lidl National Football League Division Two Round Three

Donegal 1-7 Monaghan 0-8

Galway 1-18 Roscommon 1-11

Cork 3-12 Tipperary 0-9

Clare 2-17 Westmeath 0-7

Lidl National Football League Division Three Round Three

Cavan 6-17 Carlow 1-4

Laois 2-11 Down 4-3

Limerick 5-12 Offaly 1-4

Louth 1-6 Wexford 0-6

Lidl National Football League Division Four Round Five

Fermanagh 4-14 Longford 4-8

Lidl National Football League Division Four Round Two (refixed)

Leitrim 1-11 Wicklow 3-4