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Armagh manager Greg McGonigle has paid tribute to his goalscorers Aimee Mackin and Kelly Mallon, along with the versatile and long-serving Caroline O’Hanlon, as they led the way as the Orchard County maintained their brilliant start to the Lidl NFL with a 2-12 to 0-8 win over Meath at Donaghmore-Ashbourne on Sunday.
Mackin and Mallon struck 1-4 as Armagh remain the only side to win all four games in the top flight.
“As I keep saying to younger players coming into our set-up, Aimee Mackin and Kelly Mallon are the last two people to leave the field every single night and they’re the first two people on the field,” said McGonigle. “It doesn’t come from our coaching, it comes from them being diligent and putting in the hard work. That’s obviously why they’re two of the best forwards in Ireland.
“She is nearly superhuman,” McGonigle added about O’Hanlon who had played for Leeds Rhinos in the Netball Superleague on Saturday. “She’s a credit to not even just female athletes, but any athlete as regards playing at the top of your game. Her knowledge of the game as regards her coaching of younger players. We have a lot of 18, 19 year olds on the panel, who mightn’t get game time, but they’re getting some experience playing with Caroline O’Hanlon.”
Armagh led by 0-7 to 0-5 at the interval and pushed for victory when Mackin found the net seven minutes after the restart, while Mallon’s strike killed off any notion of a comeback by Meath.
““It was obviously a big game, whoever won would get on top of the table,” said Meath player Mary Kate Lynch. “It’s not gone away from us. We still have three games left and it’s still there for the taking. I think it’s still there for anyone really at this point in time. We’ll have to just reassess, go back. See where the errors were and kick on from there.”
Weekend Results
Lidl Ladies National Football League Division 1
Waterford 2-12 Cork 1-6
Dublin 0-16 Galway 1-12
Kerry 0-8 Mayo 0-8
Armagh 2-12 Meath 0-8
Lidl NFL Division 2
Monaghan 2-10 Donegal 1-13
Kildare 0-8 Tipperary 0-7
Tyrone 2-8 Laois 2-8
Cavan 1-4 Westmeath 0-6
Lidl NFL Division 3
Down 3-12 Antrim 1-11
Clare 1-9 Offaly 0-8
Roscommon 0-17 Sligo 0-8
Wexford 0-10 Louth 1-7
Lidl NFL Division 4
Longford 2-17 Derry 3-5
Fermanagh 10-12 Kilkenny 0-5
Leitrim 2-11 Limerick 1-7
Carlow 3-9 Wicklow 0-11
