The Women’s NFL Division One saw an extraordinary match between reigning All-Ireland champs Dublin and Armagh. The Dubs delivered an impressive performance, maintaining their chances to contest in the Lidl Ladies’ Football Division One finale, with a high scoring win over Armagh. The game was held at Athletic Grounds in Box-It, where Armagh had already secured their position in the national league finale after their prior week’s victory against Mayo.
However, Dublin needed to clinch the match to keep Kerry’s challenge under control, who are scheduled to compete against Galway on the following Sunday. Kerry needs this win to grab the final position over the Dubs. Considering these conditions, Gregory McGonigle, Armagh manager, didn’t hesitate to provide rest to 10 key members of the squad, apart from Caroline O’Hanlon’s unavailability due to an injury.
Dublin initiated the match with a bang, scoring their maiden set of four goals in the first half, within three minutes of the kick-off. Hannah Tyrrell scored from a close-range shot that came off the pole from Niamh Hetherton’s attempt. In two minutes, young goalkeeper Brianna Mathers from Armagh, was retrieving the ball from the net for the second time when Tyrrell hit the mark. Dublin was leading 3-3 to nil with just six minutes into the game, thanks to Orlagh Nolan’s execution.
Though Armagh tried to steady their ship with two goals from Kelly Mallon free kicks, Carla Rowe tore through their home defence to score another goal. Dublin was leading over Armagh by 4-7 to 0-3 as they entered halftime, despite Armagh fixing its defence.
At the commencement of the second half, Armagh hoped for a turnaround with six substitutions and a goal and point by Kelly Mallon. However, Niamh Crowley confirmed Dublin’s fifth goal and dismissed such notions. Armagh’s efforts were impacted by Meave Ferguson’s sinbin 13 minutes towards the end, although their effort was commendable. With Armagh failing to handle Chloe Darby’s long ball, the Dubs scored their sixth goal in the 53rd minute, followed by Annabelle Timothy’s final kick that made it a huge victory for the Dublin side.
In the match between the ARMAGH and DUBLIN teams, the ARMAGH team was comprised of players such as B Mathers, G Ferguson, C McCambridge, M Ferguson, L Kavanagh, L McConville, C Garvey, E O’Brien, S Quigley, E Druse, M O’Callaghan, C Doyle, M Lennon, K Mallon who scored 1-4 with 0-4 frees, and N Reel. Substitutions included N Coleman replacing E O’Brien, A Carr for B Mathers, N Henderson for C Doyle, C O’Hagan for M Lennon, M McCann for G Ferguson, C McCormack for M O’Callaghan, and S Grey for L Kavanagh. L Kenny replaced L McConville, D Coleman replaced E Druse, and M Feehan was swapped for C Garvey.
On the other hand, DUBLIN had players like A Shiels, M Byrne who scored 0-1, L Caffrey, J Tobin, N Crowley who scored 1-0, O Carey, N Donlon, G Kos scoring 0-1, J Dunne scoring 0-1, O Nolan with a 1-0 score, C Rowe with a score of 1-4, and C O’Connor. The substitutes comprised H McGinnis who replaced J Tobin, A Timothy with 1-1 who substituted C O’Connor, S Aherne for H Tyrell, C Darby for G Kos, A Nyhan for O Carey, C Coffey for J Dunne, J Egan for K Sullivan, E Deeley for N Donlan, C Kirwan for M Byrne, K Owens for O Nolan.