FIRST FOR DRUSE AS ORCHARD WIN AGAIN
ARMAGH 2-15 KILDARE 1-7
Richard Bullick at Silverbridge
Emily Druse scored the first goal of her Orchard career having earlier created another major for Niamh Henderson as National League title holders Armagh all but booked their place in a second consecutive Division One decider at Croke Park.
Armagh had a fantastic spread of nine scores in Silverbridge where the host club’s Niamh Reel led the way with six points as she top-scored for the fourth time in five matches this season to take her tally for the current campaign to 0-25.
The Orchard outfit’s fifth consecutive victory under new joint managers Joe Feeney and Darnell Parkinson means they are six points clear at the top of the table with two rounds of fixtures remaining later this month.
To be denied a place in the final, Armagh would need to lose to both Waterford and Meath, with the Royals winning against Kerry in their penultimate match and the Kingdom women then bouncing back by defeating Dublin.
That would mean Armagh, Kerry and Meath all finishing level on 15 points, but even then it would take a significant swing against the orangewomen in scoring difference for them to drop to third in the standings.
Of course the Orchard crew can simplify matters by winning in Waterford next time out, though their hosts will have been buoyed by their incredibly comprehensive 6-15 to 0-6 victory away to Tyrone in round five.
That said, newly-promoted Kildare came to Silverbridge scenting another notable scalp having beaten both their Leinster rivals – and recent All Ireland winners – Dublin and Meath in their last two matches.
This month was the first time these counties had met since a Division Two match at the same venue just over a decade ago when Armagh won 2-19 to 2-8 in February 2015 on their way to a second consecutive promotion in the National League under James Daly.
Playing with the breeze behind them, Kildare registered the opening point but Moya Feehan levelled for Armagh, who then went in front when a scorching break from the back by Druse led to Henderson hitting the roof of Mary Hulgraine’s net.
The Ulster champions never looked back as they established a 1-6 to 0-2 interval lead and went on to win by a double-digits margin in a game where Armagh had a fantastic spread of nine scorers.
Derrynoose prospect Caoimhe McNally extended her run of scoring a nice point off the bench at the start of her inter-county career to five matches on an afternoon when Armagh used seven subs.
The change of venue from Crossmaglen denied Lauren McConville the chance to captain Armagh in her own backyard but understated Silverbridge girl Reel rose to the occasion on her home pitch.
The hospital doctor’s last point was swung over on the turn from an acute angle after she had left tending an opposition player for cramp and dashed to the left corner to be an outlet for another Armagh attack as the game entered injury-time.
It was Reel’s fourth from play to go with a couple of frees, while Eve Lavery also had two set-piece conversions in her haul of three points. Having netted twice in her Player of the Match performance against Mayo eight days earlier, Henderson hit 1-1 here.
There was a point apiece from Feehan, All Star Grace Ferguson straight after her half-time introduction, fellow sub McNally, skipper McConville and also Blaithin Mackin, who got her first taste of captaining Armagh in the last 20 minutes.
Raising a green flag also made it a memorable afternoon for the irrepressible 21-year-old Druse, who has now started 29 of the last 32 Armagh matches under three different managements and despite fierce competition for places.
Having featured earlier in the attack, Druse continued her run and took a pass inside from Feehan. The ball broke loose as she was hit hard by a defender but the tough little Harps player scrambled after it and calmly dabbed it past the onrushing Hulgraine to the net.
Druse had come close to her first Armagh major against Tyrone last month, when she scored two points, but her shot was saved by the keeper on that occasion so this was a proud moment just before being substituted.
There were two changes to Armagh’s run-on line-up from the team which started against Mayo, first choice goalkeeper Anna Carr returning in place of Brianna Mathers and Maeve Ferguson coming in for Ciara Garvey.
Orchard captain Clodagh McCambridge, her predecessor Kelly Mallon, star forward Aimee Mackin – all of whom were water-girls – were again absent from Armagh’s matchday squad due to injury along with 2024 Ulster All Star Dearbhla Coleman and Sarah Quigley.
None of those five have togged out yet this season so it is a great tribute to the Orchard’s depth that, without them, Armagh have been able to record away wins against All Ireland champions Kerry and Dublin along with home victories over Tyrone, Mayo and now Kildare.
Kildare kicked a very early wide before going in front with a second minute point from corner back Ruth Sargent and Lavery was off-target with a free soon afterwards but Feehan finally opened the Orchard account and the opening goal quickly followed.
Referee Angela Gallagher played good advantage when Niamh Coleman was fouled from Carr’s short kickout and Druse showed her searing pace in racing upfield on a long burst before exchanging passes with Henderson and then laying off to McCoy.
McCoy gave the ball back to Clann Eireann captain Henderson and she blasted high past Kildare’s heavily-tattooed netminder Hulgraine, who had been the special guest on the BBC’s GAA Social podcast during the week.
Reel’s tasty first point put Armagh four up and Neasa Dooley kicked a wide at the other end under persistent pressure from Roisin Mulligan but an Orchard chance went astray too when Feehan rolled a shot past the left post.
Lavery kicked a nice point from play and dropped a free in early in the second quarter which led to two close-range shots by Caroline O’Hanlon, a right-footed effort which was blocked followed by a hack with her left which went wide.
A lovely diagonal ball by O’Hanlon to McCoy was rewarded with a superb point from Reel, though that was quickly cancelled out when Dooley split the points with a free, making it 1-4 to 0-2 with 22 minutes gone.
O’Hanlon tapped down a high ball in the Kildare goalmouth but it was mopped up by Druse’s successor as Queen’s University captain, Mia Doherty, and Mackin nudged Armagh further ahead with a point having kicked a rather wild wide earlier.
Perhaps in two minds about allowing for the wind, Dooley dragged a relatively straightforward free past the right post and the visitors chalked up another wide after going back on the attack from Carr’s kickout.
Armagh had the last word of the half when two minutes of relentless Orchard pressure ended with McConville being fouled and the left-footed Lavery landing the free from well out on the right.
The industrious Niamh Coleman snuffed out the first Kildare attack of the second half and Grace Ferguson, on for younger sister Maeve, confidently finished an attack which had featured herself, Druse and Henderson.
Dooley pointed from long-range but McConville kicked a lovely point from out on the left in the 34th minute and Reel made no mistake from a free which was won by her namesake Henderson.
A sharp point by Ballyhegan’s Lavery was followed by an excellent Reel free from wide on the left after Kildare’s kickout didn’t go far enough just before the former was replaced by McNally, who took less than five minutes to get on the scoreboard.
Kildare had posted a couple of points meantime but, after the second, O’Hanlon caught Carr’s long kickout cleanly and found Henderson. She fed McNally and the youngster struck a typically lovely left-footed score from the left of the posts.
McConville came off for, by my reckoning, just the third time in five seasons, replaced by Garvey – who was originally listed to start rather than Kenny – before Feehan shot straight at the Kildare keeper midway through the half and the visitors notched another wide.
New acting captain Mackin exchanged passes with Druse, who kept running while the ball went through Coleman, McNally and Feehan, and despite being clattered as she got it back, was resilient and alert enough to score the second Armagh goal.
Both she and Feehan were replaced immediately afterwards by the experienced Catherine Marley and Derrynoose forward Maeve Lennon and Armagh’s next score was a towering effort from Reel after a 45 was played short to her out on the left.
Kildare and Lennon exchanged wides after Towe was replaced by Clann Eireann clubmate Megan McCann and the Lilywhites scored their sixth point, well struck by sub Aoife Rattigan, just before Granemore’s Millie Lavery came on for Coleman.
Armagh gave the ball away and, although Carr produced a great save initially from Sargent, she could only parry the shot and sub Leah McGovern slotted home the rebound socccer-style to reduce the arrears to 10 points in the 55th minute.
A nice point by one of Kildare’s leading lights Roisin Byrne then cut the deficit to single-digit proportions but the Orchard dominated the remainder of this contest, though Garvey added to her team’s relatively modest tally of wides for the day.
Henderson delivered a slick point after approach play by O’Hanlon, Marley, Lennon and McCoy while O’Hanlon, Marley and Lennon were again involved in the lead-up to that woman Reel completing the scoring.
This was Armagh’s 24rd victory in their last 26 National League games with the only exceptions being the 2022 Division Two final – when Ronan Murphy foolishly left out O’Hanlon – and last season’s dead rubber against Dublin.
With Armagh already through to their first ever NFL final on the back of six consecutive victories, manager Greg McGonigle justifiably fielded a very experimental line-up for that last regular league game with several Orchard debutants and others making their first starts.
This time round, injuries to leading lights like McCambridge, Aimee Mackin and Mallon have opened up more opportunities for others and there will be positive selection headaches for Parkinson and Feeney if and when everyone is available later.
ARMAGH: A Carr; M Ferguson, C Towe, R Mulligan; L Kenny, L McConville (capt; 0-1), B Mackin (0-1); N Coleman, C O’Hanlon; E Druse (1-0), M Feehan (0-1), E Lavery (0-3; 2f); N Reel (0-6; 2f, A McCoy, N Henderson (1-1). Subs used: G Ferguson (0-1) for M Ferguson (ht), C McNally (0-1) for Lavery (40), C Garvey for McConville (44), C Marley for Feehan (47), M Lennon for Druse (47), M McCann for Towe (51), M Lavery for Coleman (54).
KILDARE: M Hulgraine; R Sargent (0-1), L Murtagh, E Wheeler; M Doherty, L Lenehan (capt), M Aspel (0-1); C Sullivan, L Dunlea; C Moran, G Wheeler, N Dooley (0-2; 1f); C Price, A Prizeman, R Byrne (0-2). Subs used: A Murnane for Price (34), A Rattigan (0-1) for Wheeler (34), L McGovern (1-0) for Prizeman (42), A Mahon for Dunlea (42), L Curran for Murtagh (50), L Shaw for Sullivan (50), L Doran for Doherty (59).
Referee: Angela Gallagher (Dublin).
