ARMAGH REMAIN CREDIBLE CONTENDERS
Richard Bullick
Candidates wishing to manage the Armagh ladies gaelic county team next season have until next Wednesday to throw their hat in the ring, and whoever is successful can be confident that they will be taking over a genuine going concern in sporting terms.
Although Armagh had their earliest All Ireland exit since 2016 in the campaign just ended, and won only seven of their 12 matches, those who regarded the Orchard team as credible contenders for the sport’s top prize this season weren’t wrong in their thinking.
Having reached only the second National League final in Armagh’s history, the orangewomen were crowned provincial champions for a fifth time in six seasons this decade, courtesy of victory over Donegal in the Ulster showpiece in a packed Clones.
New joint managers Joe Feeney and Darnell Parkinson got their reign off to the perfect start with five consecutive victories, including notable away wins over All Ireland champions Kerry and Dublin in their first three NFL fixtures, booking a return to the Division One decider.
But Armagh then lost their last two regular league games, relinquished their NFL title with a chastening15-point drubbing by Kerry in Croke Park and, that triumph over second division Donegal in the Ulster final was their only win in a six-match sequence at one stage.
An away draw with Meath in Navan in their opening All Ireland group game had kept the Orchard outfit’s fate in their own hands, not only in terms of progressing but securing a home quarter-final, but instead they were knocked out by defeat to Kildare in the Athletic Grounds.
It was only the second time in 12 seasons that Armagh hadn’t reached at least the All Ireland quarter-finals, which is a tremendous record, and meant the team in orange going into their first-ever relegation play-off to preserve their Senior status.
They duly did so at the first attempt, defeating their former manager James Daly’s Donegal by double-digits in Stewartstown with a very professional performance, bringing the curtain down on the season and also the tenure of Feeney and Parkinson.
A season which promised so much initially ultimately delivered a lot less than hoped, primarily due to Armagh’s miserable luck with injuries, while small margins made a big difference and there were widespread rumours of fractures in the regime near the end.
So the announcement late on Saturday evening that the joint gaffers were standing down came as little surprise, but that isn’t to say the outlook for Armagh is bleak or that a major rebuild is needed under what will be a fifth management team in five seasons.
There are legitimate concerns about the Orchard conveyer belt after a sobering season for Armagh age group teams, albeit with the hope that Cassie Henderson can lead the U16s to victory in tomorrow (Wed) night’s All Ireland B final against Galway in Pearse Park (7.30pm).
But at adult level, there are grounds for optimism Armagh can keep punching above their weight for a relatively small county, providing the right management ticket can be put in place and the leading lights remain committed to the Orchard cause for another year.
The incomparable Caroline O’Hanlon will be 41 early next month but she was an asset throughout her 24th inter-county season and Armagh’s failure to go deeper in the All Ireland Senior Championship was no reflection on their midfield maestro’s age.
Former skipper Kelly Mallon, who turned 36 last week, had her hopes of emulating Kerry legend Louise Ni Mhuircheartaigh by winning the All Ireland in her 17th season dashed, but it is hoped she too will want to continue in the orange jersey.
The only other players in this set-up who have had a 30th birthday are 2024 All Stars Aoife McCoy and Lauren McConville along with Clann Eireann captain Niamh Henderson, who just returned to county football last season after a nine-year absence.
That thumping by Kerry in the NFL final was alarming but badly-depleted Armagh put up a wonderful fight against Meath in Navan, albeit being a bit disappointed to come away with that share of the spoils having led by four points in the final few minutes.
Against Kildare, the Orchard crew came agonisingly close to a winning goal in the closing stages on an afternoon when injured captain Clodagh McCambridge was sorely missed at the back and McCoy in attack.
The very valuable Blaithin Mackin only lasted until half-time that day, while her star sibling Aimee just made her delayed comeback from a torn cruciate with six minutes remaining before a similar cameo in the play-off victory over Donegal.
Dearbhla Coleman, a 2024 Ulster All Star, hasn’t been able to set foot on the field for Armagh this season due to a knee injury, while the luckless Louise Kenny missed the business end of the campaign as did her Shane O’Neills clubmate Moya Feehan.
Like McCambridge, Mallon wasn’t fit to make her first appearance of the year until the penultimate regular league game away to Waterford, while 2024 All Star defender Grace Ferguson also made a delayed start to the season because of injury as did Sarah Quigley.
Armagh’s 2024 Player of the Year Roisin Mulligan missed the Ulster final through injury and wasn’t fit to start the All Ireland opener against Meath. Ballyhegan’s Eve Lavery just came off the bench in both group games.
The previously ever-present Niamh Coleman missed the relegation game against Donegal due to overnight illness, with experienced campaigner Catherine Marley coming in and showing how much she still has to offer when fully fit.
Before this season, McCambridge had started 70 consecutive Armagh matches and 102 out of the last 103 – she missed the 2018 All Ireland quarter-final due to holidays – so the fact she started just three of 12 this year, and came off the bench twice, is a stark contrast.
The only two players to start every Armagh match in 2025 have been the seemingly indestructible McConville, who captained the team in nine of their games and the irrepressible livewire Emily Druse.
Medical student Druse has hit new heights this season to the extent that she is regarded as a worthy front-runner to win Armagh Player of the Year, while there have been other success stories too in the Orchard ranks.
It has been a big breakthrough year for Druse’s old team-mate from the St Catherine’s College All Ireland-winning Under 16 team of 2019, Maeve Ferguson, a tenacious corner back who started all but one of Armagh’s matches and made the NFL Team of Division One.
She was joined in that ceremonial line-up by McConville, top-scorer Niamh Reel and Blaithin Mackin, while the Crossmaglen legend, Druse and McCoy should head a realistically reduced Orchard contingent of Ulster All Stars this autumn.
Derrynoose prospect Caoimhe McNally certainly constitutes the find of the season, being one of only four players along with McConville, Druse and Niamh Henderson to feature in all 12 Armagh matches this year.
In McNally’s case, she played the supersub role perfectly for most of the campaign, consistently producing point-scoring cameos off the bench before being called upon to start both All Ireland group games due to the injuries elsewhere.
Hitherto a fairly peripheral figure, Megan McCann came into the starting team when Mulligan got injured in training just before the Ulster final and then filled in for her Clann Eireann clubmate McCambridge for the remainder of the campaign.
Feehan started the first six matches of the season until injury struck, while hospital doctor Reel relished her opportunity as a first-choice forward finally and being given responsibility for free-taking.
The Silverbridge woman was among six players to start all but one of Armagh’s dozen matches this season along with O’Hanlon, McCoy, Niamh Coleman, Maeve Ferguson and Clann Eireann defender Cait Towe.
Mulligan and first-choice goalkeeper Anna Carr each started 10 games as did Henderson after coming off the bench in the first two NFL fixtures having returned late after leading Clann Eireann to the All Ireland Senior Club semis at the start of December.
Blaithin Mackin had nine starts and Eve Lavery eight, with half a dozen each for Grace Ferguson, Kenny and Feehan, while Mallon and McCann made four apiece followed by three for McCambridge, Maeve Lennon and Ciara Garvey.
Back-up goalkeeper Brianna Mathers really impressed on her two starts, a tally matched by McNally albeit supplemented in her case by 10 outings off the bench, while Marley, Quigley and towering Wolfe Tones forward Eimear McGeown were all in the run-on line-up once.
McGeown pointed just 26 seconds into her Orchard debut against Kerry in Tralee in the opening game of the year back in January, when another teenage newcomer, Killeavy’s Rebecca Cunningham, netted with her first touch for Armagh having come off the bench.
In addition to the 26 players who had at least one start, a further eight got game-time off the bench, including Aimee Mackin, Laura Kavanagh, Millie Lavery, Eimear McConaghy, Lara Marsden, Blathnaid Hendron, third-choice goalkeeper Cailin Traynor and Cunningham.
Rachel McCabe and Erin O’Reilly featured in matchday squads but didn’t make it onto the field, while Dearbhla Coleman missed the full season and Armagh Minors captain Aoibhin Donohue suffered a season-ending injury just after being brought up to the senior panel.
McNally led the way for substitute appearances with 10, followed by half a dozen each for McCann, McGeown and Derrynoose’s Maeve Lennon, who can certainly feel frustrated not to have featured in either of the last two matches if fit.
Starter McGeown, along with subs McNally and Cunningham, made their first Armagh appearances in that season opener in Tralee, with McConaghy, Marsden and Traynor following suit later in the league campaign.
In terms of scoring, Reel comfortably topped the Orchard charts with 0-44, though when her 25 frees are taken out, she shared first place in terms of her contribution from open play with Henderson’s 3-10 followed by leading goal-scorer McCoy’s 4-6.
Lavery had seven frees in her haul of 0-16 and Mallon five in her 2-8. A dozen of O’Hanlon’s 0-13 came from frees and Blaithin Mackin’s 2-6 included netting a penalty in that wind-affected double-digit defeat away to Waterford.
Young McNally scored 1-7, all from play, a tally which was matched by McConville, whose haul included one free. Coleman hit 2-3 and the increasingly confident Druse weighed in with 1-5 including the first Armagh goal of her career.
There was a contribution of 1-2 from Mulligan, four points from Feehan, with Lennon’s three matched by Cunningham’s goal. McGeown raised those two white flags on debut, Grace Ferguson pointed twice while Aimee Mackin (free) and Marley got a single score each.
