Armagh lose out to Laois


Armagh lose out to Laois

 

 

Laois 1-11 Armagh 2-04

Armagh suffered defeat to Laois in the third round of the Bord Gais Energy National League in Mountmellick at the weekend.

Laois started brightly with a point from Tracy Lawlor. Dervla Toal equalised but when Martina Devlin put Laois back in front it was a lead they didn’t relinquish. In one of Armagh’s best moves of the match Sinead McCoy soloed from the heart of the defence and passed to Lisa Knox on the wing. Knox found Dervla Toal and the midfielder used her great vision and pace to find room to have a shot at goal. Unfortunately for Armagh the ball crashed back out of the crossbar and Laois took the ball to the other end of the field and converted a point. Further scores from Martina Dunne and Tracy Lawlor left Armagh always playing catch up but a superb individual point from Dervla Toal seemed to spark the team into life. Laois had the perfect reply though with a Mary Kirwan goal on the stroke of half time leaving Armagh trailing 1-06 to 0-02.

The O’Moore County started the second half just as they’d finished the first with two points on the board in as many minutes from Tracy Lawlor and Mary Kirwan. Lawlor added her fourth point of the day before Laura Brown opened Armagh’s second half account. Sharon Reel sent in a long ball and Clan Eireann star Brown was on the end of it to finish to the net past Tracy Fallon. Armagh finally showed glimpses of the superb football they are capable of with Caroline O’Hanlon adding a point before substitute Caoimhe Murray banged the ball to the roof the net. O’Hanlon converted another free kick to leave just a kick of the ball between the sides with five minutes remaining. Tracy Lawlor added a point and when Caroline O’Hanlon’s penalty was saved the Orchard fight back had run out of time with the final score reading Armagh 2-04 Laois 1-11.

Despite the defeat Armagh proved they have massive potential. When they play the best football they are capable of they are very difficult to play against. The performances of the substitutes was particularly encouraging and when the Orchard county fell behind by nine points they chose to fight back rather than lie down.. Their next match is against Mayo in a crunch game next weekend.

Armagh: D Hagan, C Marley, C McCann, S McCoy, G McAlinden, M Moriarty, S McCleary, D Toal (0-2), C O’Hanlon (0-2), L Brown(1-0), S O’Hagan, L Knox, M O’Donnell, K Mallon, M McAlinden Subs: S Reel, C McDaid, C Murray (1-0), R O’Mahoney, C Malone

Laois: T Fallon, M McEvoy, L Muckian, M O’Grady, T Fogarty, G Weston, A Casey, A O’Loughlin, E McEvoy, T Lawlor(0-5), N Kirwan, A Moore, M Dunne(0-4), A Quigley, M Kirwan (1-2) Subs: M Kirwan, L Dunne

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