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Armagh booked their spot in the last four of the TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship, as they scored a 3-9 to 1-12 win over Kildare in an entertaining encounter at the Box-It Athletic Grounds.
All-Ireland Senior Championship quarter-final match between Armagh and Kildare
at BOX-IT Athletic Grounds in Armagh. Photograph: Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile
It was the visitors who started the better, as Kildare hit four of the opening five points. Aoife Rattigan got two of those, with Nanci Murray and Alannah Prizeman also getting the scoreboard, while Aimee Mackin opened Armagh's account.
Emily Druse and Kelly Mallon (free) grabbed the next two scores of the game, but Kildare led 0-5 to 0-4 after 25 minutes after Rattigan and Mallon traded frees.
However, two overturned kick-outs in the space of 30 seconds turned the game on its head. The first was punished by a Blaithin Mackin point, and for the second, she set up her sister Aimee to find the back of the Lilywhites net.
Moments later, Aimee Mackin raised another green flag after a one-two with Mallon, and on this occasion the Shane O'Neill's woman rifled her shot into the top corner of the net superbly.
Senior Championship quarter-final match between Armagh and Kildare at BOX-IT
Athletic Grounds in Armagh. Photo by Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile
Rattigan closed the first half's scoring, but it was Armagh who led 2-5 to 0-6 at the break.
Kildare's Mayah Doyle and Armagh's Aimee Mackin (free) exchanged the first two points of the first half, but Kildare kept chipping away, with Lara Curran on target.
Traded points between Aimee Mackin and Prizeman had Armagh four points up heading into the last quarter, before a third Orchard goal on 48 minutes looked to have put the game out of reach for Kildare. A shot from Aimee Mackin dropped short but Mallon read it well and punched the ball into the back of the net.
Prizeman had other ideas though, and she fired home into the bottom corner to pull her side back into contention. Kildare then had another goal chance when Molly Aspell got in behind the defence, but she fired wide.
A Lisa Shaw point made it a one-score game late on, but Armagh finished well with scores from Roisin Mulligan and Caroline O'Hanlon to see them over the line. Late scores from Abaigh Cahill and Ruth Sargent for Kildare were mere consolations.
Final score Armagh 3-9 Kildare 1-12
Scorers – Armagh: A Mackin 2-3 (2f), K Mallon 1-2 (2f), E Druse 0-1, B Mackin 0-1, R Mulligan 0-1, C O'Hanlon 0-1.
Kildare: A Prizeman 1-2, A Rattigan 0-4 (2f), N Murphy 0-1, M Doyle 0-1, L Curran 0-1, L Shaw 0-1, A Cahill 0-1, R Sargent 0-1.
ARMAGH: B Mathers; A Donnelly, C McCambridge, C Towe; E Druse, L McConville (capt.), G Ferguson; B Mackin, C O'Reilly; L Marsden, A McCoy, C Marley; A Mackin, C O'Hanlon, K Mallon. Subs: C Henderson for O'Reilly (37), R Mulligan for McCoy (49), C McNally for Marsden (52), N Reel for Mallon (57), M Ferguson for Donnelly (59).
KILDARE: C Nallen; L Reilly, M Doherty, L Shaw; H McLoughlin, R Sargent, L Lenehan (capt.); N Murphy, G Wheeler; L Curran, J Harney, M Aspell; A Rattigan, M Doyle, A Prizeman. Subs: A Murnane for G Wheeler (38), C Moran for Harney (42), A Cahill for Curran (48), E Wheeler for L Reilly (56), A Irhue for Shaw (57).
Referee: Anthony Marron (Monaghan).
