Armagh 0-16 Tyrone 0-5
By Shaun Casey
A strong second-half display form Division One champions Armagh put rivals Tyrone to the sword in round two of the Lidl NFL at St Paul’s.
The sides were all square at the break but the Orchard County were the dominant force once the sides switched ends.
Tyrone failed to score after the turnaround and a yellow card to corner forward Chloe McCaffrey midway through the second period left last year’s beaten TG4 All-Ireland intermediate championship finalists with an even more difficult task.
Armagh, who needed three late goals to secure an opening day win over All-Ireland champions Kerry last weekend, didn’t hit the net this time but kept the scoreboard ticking over with points.
It was the Red Hands were who the commanding side during the opening exchanges, however. As the rain trickled down at the Lurgan venue, the visiting side raced into a 0-4 to 0-1 lead.
Maria Canavan, her side’s only scorer in their first round defeat to Meath, got things up and running with a pointed free. Armagh top scorer Niamh Reel played provider early on and set up the energetic Emily Druse for the equaliser.
Canavan fired over two more frees while McCaffrey also raised a white flag to put her team three ahead. That gap could have been wider, but McCaffrey’s goal chance sailed harmlessly wide.
Caroline O’Hanlon pointed and two from Reel, her second a marvellous outside-of-the-boot effort, got the Orchard back on level terms. Canavan and Reel traded scores to bring the first-half to a close, with the sides tied at 0-5 apiece.
Within 90 seconds of the second period, Armagh stretched three ahead with Druse, Niamh Coleman and O’Hanlon all firing over scores. Roisin Mulligan and Reel grew the lead further as Tyrone were reduced to 14 players for a ten-minute period.
A stunning Amelia Coyle stop denied Druse a goal, but Armagh continued to split the posts with Reel landing four of the final five points (all frees) while Maeve Lennon also got in on the scoring act.
The victory sets Armagh up well for their trip to Dublin next weekend and they’ll be keen to extend their winning streak. Tyrone on the other hand have yet to get off the mark and will hope to do so against Mayo in round three.
Scorers – Armagh: N Reel 0-8 (5f), C O’Hanlon 0-2 (1f), E Druse 0-2, R Mulligan, N Coleman, M Lennon, C McNally 0-1 each.
Tyrone: M Canavan 0-4 (4f), C McCaffrey 0-1.
ARMAGH: A Carr; M Ferguson, C Garvey, C Towe; E Druse, L McConville, R Mulligan; N Coleman, C O’Hanlon; A McCoy, M Feehan, B Mackin; N Reel, E McGeown, M Lennon. Subs: N Henderson for E McGeown (39), C McNally for B Mackin (44), M Lavery for E Druse (54), L Kavanagh for M Ferguson (56) R Cunningham for A McCoy (56).
TYRONE: A Coyle; J Lyons, J Barrett, E Quinn; C Canavan, M Corrigan, A Strain; A McHugh, M Mallon; C Campbell, S Byrne, E McNamee; C McCaffrey, M Canavan, A Quinn. Subs: A Horisk for A Quinn (39), S McCarroll for E McNamee (44), A Grimes for C Canavan (47), E Conroy for S Byrne (52), C Daly for A Strain (57), M Moore for C Campbell (59).
Referee: Eoghan O’Neill (Kildare).
Kildare 1-8 Dublin 0-8
By Seamus Dillon
Kildare caused a major upset when they enjoyed a well-deserved three point win over Dublin in a hugely entertaining Lidl NFL Division One encounter at Manguard Park.
On a afternoon where Dublin would have been fancied to make it back to back wins it was a superb Kildare showing that secured the points with Alannah Prizeman's 10th minute goal proving the difference.
Kildare opened the brightest but both sides stuggled for scores in the early stages.
Kildare opened the scoring after nine minutes when Gillian Wheeler played a quick free to Nessa Dooley who tapped over. Sixty seconds later Dooley forced a 45 and when her effort dropped short, Prizeman was on hand to raise a green flag for the home side.
Wheeler and a Roisin Byrne free had Kildare six points up after 20 minutes.
Niamh Hetherton and Jodi Egan, inside a minute, landed Dublin's opening scores but Kildare finished the half with Dooley and Wheeler scores to lead 1-5 to 0-2 at the break.
The introduction of Kate Sullivan and Carla Rowe at half-time quickly paid dividends for Dublin as both pointed inside three minutes. Kildare lost Lauren Murtagh to a yellow and from the resultant free Rowe added her second.
Byrne settled Kildare with a 41st minute free to open a four-point buffer again but Rowe quickly pointed two more frees and with 15 minutes left Dublin were back within two. Egan reduced it to the minimum with 11 minutes remaining.
But Kildare finished the stronger and a third Byrne free on 59 and a late Leah Doran effort put three between and Kildare held on for a deserved victory.
Scorers – Kildare: A Prizeman 1-0, R Byrne 0-3f, N Dooley and G Wheeler 0-2 each, L Doran 0-1
Dublin: C Rowe 0-4 (3f), J Egan 0-2, N Hetherton and K Sullivan 0-1 each.
KILDARE: M Hulgraine; R Sargent, L Dunlea, M Doherty; L Murtagh, L Lenehan, M Aspell; C Sullivan, L Curran; E Wheeler, C Moran, G Wheeler; N Dooley, A Prizeman, R Byrne. Subs: A Rattigan for Prizeman (50), L Shaw for Wheeler (55), S Galvin for Curran (55), A Mahon for Murtagh (63).
DUBLIN: K Moran Tighe; J Tobin, M Byrne, A Nyhan; N Donlon, L Caffrey, A Curran; G Kós, H McGinnis; R McDonnell, C Darby, S McIntyre; A Timothy, N Hetherton, J Egan. Subs: K Sullivan for McIntyre (half-time), C Rowe for Nyhan (half-time), O Martin for Timothy (45), K Murphy for Egan (50), C Fox for McDonnell (55).
Referee: Shane Curley (Galway).
