Armagh 2-10 Down 1-09

Down got of to a bright start with a Kate McKay point in the first minute getting them off the mark. Amagh kicked three wides before Shauna O’Hagan opened the scoring with a point and quickly added to her tally when her long range effort slipped through the fingers of Down netminder Kate Farrell. Mags McAlinden extended the lead with a free before Farrell redeemed herself with a superb save and Natasha Ferris narrowed the gap with a well taken point. With captain Caolimhe Marley driving her team by example and Sinead McCleary and Meabh Moriarty covering every blade of grass Armagh held on to their advantage throughout the first half. Points from Caroline O’Hanlon and Maria O’Donnell cancelled out similar scores from Kyla Trainor and Ciara Lovell leaving the half time score reading 1-4 to 0-4 in Armagh’s favour.Maraian McGuinness opened the second half scoring with a well taken point. Dervla Mallon worked tirelessly at the back to thwart the Down attack but Kate McKay kept the Mourne girls in touch with a point. Maria O’Donnell extended Armagh’s lead with a point before struck the ball past Emma Guy to leave the minimum between the teams. A Lisa Morgan free levelled the game and Down then took the lead when Kyla Trainor pointed following an excellent save from Emma Guy. This seemed to spur Armagh on however with a Mags McAlinden goal restoring their advantage. Down were dealt a furher blow when Emma Mullen was sinbinned and Armagh capitalised on their numerical advantage with points from Mags McAlinden, Sinead McCleary and Shauna O’Hagan leaving the final score 2-10 to 1-09 in favour of Armagh.

Armagh E Guy, C Morgan, D Mallon, S McCoy, S Marley,