COLEMAN RELISHING RETURN TO CROKER

Richard Bullick

If Lidl National League title holders Armagh can retain their crown with victory over All Ireland champions Kerry in this Saturday’s Division One showpiece at Croke Park (5pm, TG4), the celebrations will be especially sweet for Niamh Coleman.

The Clann Eireann midfielder scored a goal in the corresponding game a year ago, the first ladies NFL final in Orchard history, but unfortunately the Lurgan woman was no longer in the stadium by the time her clubmate Clodagh McCambridge lifted the trophy.

Schoolteacher Coleman had been taken to hospital after her involvement in the final was cut short by a nasty collision which left her with alarming symptoms, so she wasn’t there to share the special moment with her younger sister Dearbhla, who also started.

“Last year’s final was a bit of a strange one for me.  Unfortunately, I got injured towards the end of the first half and started coughing up blood so the doctor advised that I should be brought to the hospital to get checked out,” recalls Niamh.

“Thankfully I think the issue was just from the impact, so there was nothing to worry about, but there I was in the waiting room, watching the game on the TG4 Player via my phone and cheering the girls on!

“Naturally I would’ve wanted to be there but it was lovely to see the celebrations and I was well enough to meet up with the girls later so I didn’t miss out on too much.  Armagh got over the line with a great performance in the second half and it was an historic day for us.”

Both Coleman siblings picked up Ulster All Stars last season on the back of a memorable Orchard campaign which yielded two trophies and was eventually ended by a narrow defeat to Kerry in the All Ireland semi-final.

Liverpool-based postgraduate student Dearbhla has yet to feature for Ulster champions Armagh this season due to a hamstring problem, but the 26-year-old Niamh has been putting in her usual industrious shifts for Joe Feeney and Darnell Parkinson’s side.

An experienced campaigner now who made her first Orchard appearance nine years ago and has been an established starter since 2020, Coleman is a valuable cog in the Armagh machine even though her contribution can often go under the radar a bit.

Joint captain of the only Armagh Minor team to have been crowned provincial champions, back in 2016 with her dad Tommy as manager, Niamh has been an influential figure in Clann Eireann’s back-to-back Ulster Senior Club title triumphs these past two seasons.

She has been part of multiple Ulster Senior Championship successes in the other orange jersey of Armagh and tasted victory in Croke Park with the Orchard crew in the 2023 NFL Division Two final, but Coleman and her colleagues are hungry for fresh success.

Despite having the toughest of starts away to the All Ireland champions in their opening game in January, Parkinson boldly declared ahead of that trip to Tralee to tackle Kerry that Armagh’s goal for the first phase of the season was retaining their National League title.

A team missing McCambridge, previous skipper Kelly Mallon and All Star Grace Ferguson backed up the joint gaffer’s ambitious statement by starting with away wins against Kerry and Dublin either side of a victory over newly-promoted neighbours Tyrone in Lurgan.

They then beat Mayo in the Athletic Grounds and Kildare at Silverbridge before a jolting 10-point defeat in a wind-affected game away to Waterford, though Meath’s loss to Kerry later that afternoon confirmed Armagh’s ticket to the final in Croke Park.

The title holders suffered a second consecutive defeat last time out, losing by a point to a last-kick free by a Meath team who had just grabbed an equalising goal moments before, but the result seemed secondary on an afternoon Armagh made a dozen substitutions.

Having lost to Armagh in the first regular league game, Kerry were narrowly beaten by Dublin in their last fixture, leaving the two finalists level on points at the top of the table but with the Orchard deemed to have finished first courtesy of winning the head-to-head.

That photo-finish actually reflects the keen rivalry between these counties in recent years, with Armagh winning both times the teams met in the National League last season but the Kingdom coming out on top in that subsequent All Ireland semi-final.

Last season’s NFL final was a very competitive match which was all square at the interval, Armagh then handing Kerry a soft goal early in the second period before storming back to dethrone the then title holders on a 2-12 to 2-9 scoreline.

Both teams are under different management now, with Greg McGonigle having vacated the Armagh gaffer’s role and the All Ireland-winning duo of Declan Quill and Darragh Long stepping down from the Kerry hot-seat after achieving the holy grail.

Feeney and Parkinson, who were previously part of McGonigle’s set-up, have inherited a panel largely along the same lines as last season but being without several big names at the start of the current campaign has created opportunities for others to impress.

The result is that the new men at the Orchard helm may have a few positive selection headaches coming into this biggest game of the season so far with several previously injured players having made a timely return to action.

The Armagh management may need a slightly longer discussion about the goalkeeping position on the back of Brianna Mathers’ heroics against Meath, but 2024 All Star nominee Anna Carr has much credit in the bank and a wealth of valuable big game experience.

Cait Towe wasn’t one of the 27 players who featured for Armagh in that Meath match despite being named to start but, assuming she is fit for the final, five Orchard backs seem nailed on despite the claims of an expanded pool of credible contenders.

Captain McCambridge and Lauren McConville, who skippered the side in the first six NFL fixtures, form a fantastic spine in an Orchard defence also set to include Towe, new national All Star Grace Ferguson and Armagh’s current Player of the Year Roisin Mulligan.

If Coleman and the iconic Caroline O’Hanlon form their usual midfield pairing, the adaptable Blaithin Mackin could be listed at wing back rather than another specialist defender, which would be tough on the ever-reliable Louise Kenny and the emerging Maeve Ferguson.

The returning Catherine Marley could come into the mix more so as the season progresses but Armagh Harps livewire Emily Druse and Ballyhegan’s Eve Lavery are worthy wing forward incumbents at present.

Dromintee stalwart Aoife McCoy and Clann Eireann captain Niamh Henderson – who turns 30 tomorrow (Wed) – are a dynamic duo rotating through the middle with former skipper Kelly Mallon and Niamh Reel the likely inside forward choices.

That’s assuming Reel, Armagh’s top-scorer so far this season but not part of the matchday squad against Meath, is fit and available, which along with Mallon’s timely return from injury might mean the accomplished Moya Feehan missing out on a starting spot.

So even with ace markswoman Aimee Mackin and Dearbhla Coleman ruled out by injury, Feeney and Parkinson could still field a strong starting team along the lines above with the likes of Kenny, Maeve Ferguson, Feehan, Marley and fit-again Sarah Quigley on the bench.

Derrynoose newcomer Caoimhe McNally has been the Orchard’s classic super-sub this season with five scoring cameos followed by her first Armagh goal in the Meath match and she could well be sprung in Croke Park at some stage.

O’Hanlon paid tribute in an interview on the pitch after last season’s final to those who hadn’t even made the matchday squad, which is limited to 30 players so several of Feeney and Parkinson’s panel won’t get to tog out this Saturday.

Armagh have arguably gone off the boil a bit after such a fantastic start to the season but those earlier results meant management was able to focus more on spreading game-time around in those last couple of fixtures.

For their part, Kerry are coming into this NFL final on the back of a home defeat by Dublin but both teams will want to put their best foot forward in Croke Park and are capable of serving up an absorbing showpiece, the outcome of which could come down to the wire.

It took three late Armagh goals down in Tralee to turn January’s game on its head, while the teams have one win each against each other in Croke Park recently as a late Kerry raid snatched victory in the 2022 NFL Division Two final there.

Aimee Mackin scored a cracking goal in last season’s first division showpiece within her contribution of 1-4 while Mallon weighed in with five points so, although the former would be a loss to any team, the latter’s recent return to action is timely.

The Kingdom might have the edge in terms of physical robustness, but Armagh’s sheer energy and fitness could prove a significant factor in the wide open spaces of Croke Park, where it is hoped they will have strong support.

The Armagh men’s match against Antrim having an early start of 12.30pm in Belfast should enable those families connected to the two Orchard teams to attend both games, though the NFL finals’ scheduling is less satisfactory from a female sport perspective.

Unfortunately, this double bill of NFL finals is on the same afternoon as the Ireland women’s rugby team tackle England in the Guinness Six Nations at Musgrave Park in Cork, whose county team are up against Galway in the Division Two decider (3pm).

The big rugby game starts 15 minutes before the main match in Croke Park, with the direct clash not just preventing anyone interested attending both but also reducing the number of viewers who will watch either of them on television.

The NFL Division Three and Four finals take place this Sunday, with Cavan meeting Wexford in Drogheda (2pm) as they aim to bounce back from last season’s relegation, while Antrim and Fermanagh meet in Clones (3pm) to determine who escapes the basement section.