Armagh Squeeze out Laois

Armagh Squeeze out Laois

Armagh secured their second victory of their Division 1A Suzuki National League campaign with a one-point win over Laois in Killeavy . This was the Laois team’s second successive defeat in the League to Ulster opposition. The O’Moore County went down to Tyrone by a margin of one point last weekend and remain pointless in the league so far. They now face a vital home game against table toppers Kerry next weekend.
Laois started this game on the front foot and established an early lead with Tracey Lawlor and Noreen Kirwan doing very well up front. Laois maintained a slender one-point advantage of 0-6 to 0-5 at the interval. Armagh however continued to push forward spurred on by the middle third axis of twins Bronagh and Alma O’Donnell, Rhona O’Mahony and Marion McGuinness.
Armagh’s Aoife Lennon scored a vital goal ten minutes into the second half and Orla Murtagh’s inspirational point gave the home side a four-point lead heading into the final quarter. Dervala Toal and Maeve Moriarty were outstanding in this period for Armagh but Laois’s Lorraine Muckian and Anna Moore were also very much to the fore. Laois continued to press forward and were rewarded with a goal of their on from substitute Moore with ten minutes remaining.
This set up a grandstand finish with both sides hell bent on securing the winning score. It was Armagh however who prevailed when Bronagh O’Donnell struck the winning point with minutes remaining. Laois will no doubt consider themselves to be extremely unlucky however they will have another opportunity to redeem themselves against Kerry next weekend. Armagh now travel to play a disjointed Mayo side and then face a possible play off decider against near neighbours Tyrone in the final game of their group.
Kerry remain the only unbeaten side in Division 1A of the League as they held on to record a one point success away to Tyrone 3-9 to 1-14. Debra Murphy once again showed her predatory instincts as she struck twice against the Ulster champions. All star Gemma Begley kept Tyrone in touch with a tally of 1-5 as the sides went to the break 2-3 to 1-6. Patrice Dennehy is relishing a return to the forward department and her goal and two points managed to get Kerry over the winning line and maximum points from their opening three matches and the Kingdom ladies look good to book a semi final berth.
In Division 2A Clare secured their second victory out of three League games with a 3-10 to 1-3 victory over reigning All Ireland Junior champions Leitrim. An under strength Leitrim team played with the aid of the breeze in the first half and despite dominating possession they went into the interval 1-2 to 0-3 in arrears. Leitrm’s three first half points came from the boot of Naomi Lee while Clare’s first half goal was scored by Aine Kelly.
Emer Considine scored Clare’s second goal in the 35th minute of the game but this was quickly cancelled out when Michelle Reynolds goaled for Leitrim. This was however to be the last score of the game for the Leitrim ladies. A combination of poor shooting by Clare and good defending by Leitrim meant that Clare only really pulled away from Leitrim in the final four minutes of the game.
Boosted by the introduction of Western Gaels duo Maria Kelly and Majella Griffin and Ann Marie Callanan Clare finished the game with a flourish scoring 1-4 in the final four minutes. Callanan was responsible for 1-1 of the total while Maria Kelly tapped over two points. Clare now face Westmeath at home knowing that a win will secure them a place in the Division Two play offs. Leitrim on the other hand remain pointless after their opening two League games

Results:
Division 1A: Armagh 1-9 Laois 1-8, Tyrone 1-14 Kerry 3-9, Wexford 0-10 Mayo 0-13.
Division 1B: Kildare 1-11 Monaghan 3-13, Dublin 2-9 Galway 2-9, Cork 4-8 Meath 0-3.
Division 2A: Clare 3-10 Leitrim 1-3, Sligo 2-13 Westmeath 1-6.
Division 2B: Fermanagh 2-10 Tipperary 0-6, Longford 2-11 Donegal 0-9.
Division 3A: Cavan 0-18 Offaly 0-2, Louth 3-14 Carlow 0-3.
Division 3B: Derry 4-10 Antrim 1-6, Wicklow 2-7 Kilkenny 3-8, London 1-6 Limerick 0-11.