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Our Lady’s Grammar School, Newry won the 2025 Junior Netball League on Monday, 17 February.
They played hosts, Victoria College, Belfast; Lumen Christi, Derry; Glenola Collegiate, Bangor and Sacred Heart Grammar School, Newry, winning all matches with fantastic performances from everyone.
They also played and beat Glenola in a shield match after the blitz, placing them into the quarter-final stages of the shield!
A great day’s netball from everyone. Many congratulations to all involved.
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Armagh's meeting with Mayo yesterday at the Box-It Athletic Grounds was always going to be unpredictable, but Armagh came out all guns blazing, and a goal from Paddy Burns fifteen minutes in saw them go in at half time eight points ahead, 1-10 to 0-5. It was easy to think the game was in the bag, but Mayo were certainly not playing to that script, taking the first two points of the second half.
That was cancelled out a minute later by an Ethan Rafferty two pointer. Fifteen minutes into the second half and Armagh still had a healthy seven point lead, but a ten minute dry spell for the Orchard County saw Mayo catch up on 18 points each, aided by a goal from Davitt Neary.
A black card for Niall Grimley saw Armagh down to 14 for a crucial ten minute spell. Two further points from Mayo and it looked like Armagh were going to lose the game they looked like they had won in the first half, but a point from play by Stefan Campbell and a converted free by Conor Turbitt saw the game go 1-17 apiece. A pressure attack from Mayo could have sealed victory in the dying seconds but thankfully for the massive home crowd the shot went wide.
Certainly an exciting game to watch even if blood pressure levels did rise as the second half went on.
Roll on Dublin next weekend.
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Armagh added to their impressive start to the Lidl National Football League campaign as they picked up their fourth win on the trot at the BOX-IT Athletic Grounds and proved too strong for Mayo.
Two sublime Niamh Henderson goals were key for the reigning Division One champions and while Mayo hit the net through Saoirse Lally, it wasn’t enough to turn the tide significantly.
The sides were evenly matched early on as Blaithin Mackin and Eve Lavery exchanged pointed efforts with Bree Hession. Sinead Walsh put the Westerners ahead briefly before Niamh Coleman levelled things up.
A brace from Moya Feehan kickstarted Armagh’s scoring spree and they added further scores from Mackin and Henderson. A Niamh Reel double was split by a Lavery free before Mayo got their first score in 13 minutes through Kayla Doherty.
Any hope of a Mayo revival was quickly washed away as Henderson lobbed the visiting netminder to drive Armagh further in front. Captain Lauren McConville grabbed the final score of the opening period, with the Orchard County leading 1-11 to 0-4 at the interval.
Aoife Geraghty got Mayo up and running after the break before full back Lally raised a green flag to close the gap to six. Armagh substitute Caoimhe McNally scored with her first touch, but it was cancelled out by Maria Cannon at the other end.
TG4 Player of the Match Henderson nailed another fantastic goal while Aoife McCoy got her name on the scoresheet to extend the gap to ten. Ciara Whyte hit two on the bounce while a second from McNally split final scores from Hession and Riona Jordan.
It’s Kildare up next for the Ulster champions and they’ll once again enjoy home advantage at Crossmaglen. Liam McHale’s Mayo face the challenge of All-Ireland champions Kerry and are still searching for their first win of the season.
Scorers – Armagh: N Henderson 2-1, B Mackin 0-2, M Feehan 0-2, E Lavery 0-2 (2f), N Reel 0-2, C McNally 0-2, L McConville 0-1, N Coleman 0-1, A McCoy 0-1.
Mayo: S Lally 1-0, B Hession 0-3, C Whyte 0-2, A Geraghty 0-1, M Cannon 0-1, S Walsh 0-1, K Doherty 0-1, R Jordan 0-1.
ARMAGH: B Mathers; M Ferguson, C Towe, R Mulligan; C Garvey, L McConville, B Mackin; N Coleman, C O’Hanlon; E Druse, M Feehan, E Lavery; N Reel, A McCoy, N Henderson. Subs: M Lennon for M Feehan (half time), G Ferguson for R Mulligan (34), C Marley for E Druse (39), M McCann for C O’Hanlon (40), C McNally for E Lavery (40), R Cunningham for N Reel (49), E McConaghy for N Henderson (56), L Kavanagh for C Garvey (59), E McGeown for N Coleman (59).
MAYO: J Gawalkiewicz; L Wallace, S Lally, E Brennan; D Caldwell, J Mortimer, H Reape; A Geraghty, A Gough; B Hession, M Cannon, M Sheridan; S Walsh, C Keane, K Doherty. Subs: N O’Malley for A Gough (half time), S Delaney for S Walsh (33), R Jordan for E Brennan (36), C Doherty for E Sheridan (40), C Whyte for C Keane (44), C Durkan for K Doherty (48), S McNulty for J Mortimer (54), S Touhy for B Hession (59).
Referee: Brendan Rice (Down).
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A Newry boxer has been named in the Ireland team that will take on Wales in a Youth international competition in the Guildhall in Derry this Saturday 1 March.
James McCann, of St. Monica’s ABC weighing in at 54kg, is a reigning IABA National Youth Competition champion. St Monica's is based at Daisy Hill and is open to anyone from complete beginners all the way through to professional boxers.
This is the first Youth international to take place since March 2023, when Ireland took on England in a dual-nations following a training camp in Ballina, Co Mayo. The last Elite international, when Ireland met Ukraine, took place in Castlerea, Co. Roscommon, in April 2024, also following a training camp.
Ireland last met Wales in a dual-nations in February, 2022, in a predominantly Youth programme. That ended in 5 wins, apiece, for each federation.
The team have been in training at Dealgan BC, Louth and at the National Stadium, Dublin, and concluded their final training session on Saturday.
Team Ireland
46kg Ava McCabe, Jobstown BC, Dublin
48kg Abbey Molloy, Sacred Heart Boxing Club Dublin
52kg Kayleigh Byrne, Gorey BC, Wexford
54kg Elma Barry, Setanta Boxing Academy, Kildare
57kg Grace Conway, Tredagh Boxing Academy, Louth
51kg Michael Reilly, St. Paul’s Boxing Club, Waterford
54kg James McCann, St. Monica’s ABC, Newry
57kg Sean McCusker, Dealgan BC, Louth
60kg Daniel Hunter, Corpus Christi ABC, Belfast
67kg John Donoghue, Olympic Boxing Club, Westmeath
71kg Rati Abulzade, Togher BC, Cork
75kg Jason Whelan, Dublin Docklands BC
80kg Chulainn McDonnell, Whitechurch BC, Dublin
The Guildhall, BT48 7BB - Doors open at 7pm
Tickets:
Adults: €20
Children, under 16: €10
Club bundles: 10 tickets €150/£150
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Armagh joint manager Darnell Parkinson said that strong competition for places is driving the standard for the reigning Lidl NFL champions as they maintained their 100% start to the defence of their crown with a 2-14 to 1-10 win over Mayo.
“We were happy with the first half, maybe not so much with the second half but it’s always good to get a win and still come out with a lot of things to improve on. We got to use a lot of our squad as well, so you’ve got to take that into consideration,” he said.
“Last week was actually the first time where we were able to have a full in-house game, full pitch. It ended up that we had one team winning by a point and you come away from that absolutely delighted, that’s exactly what you want.
“Everyone is playing for their jersey and when an in-house game is as competitive as that, that is showing the depth in the squad.”
Niamh Henderson got a goal before the break to lead by 1-11 to 0-4 and she added a second after Mayo’s Saoirse Lally got a goal after the restart and the champions pushed on from there to maintain their impressive defence of their title.
“We’re disappointed again; that’s four losses in a row,” said Mayo manager Liam McHale. “Armagh are a very good outfit, very slick, great kick passing which stretched us around the place but again we’re very frustrated because I thought we’d loads of opportunities to be closer and stay in the game. We have four stone-wall goal chances that we either got a point from or missed.
“We gave away bad turnovers at bad times and made mistakes and these good teams punish you, but I think the scoreline flattered them a wee bit. We were closer than that but we’re learning on the hoof here now and it’s a tough learning experience for us.”
Results
Lidl National Football League Division One Round Four
Armagh 2-14 Mayo 1-10
Kerry 4-5 Tyrone 1-7
Dublin 2-7 Waterford 0-13
Kildare 2-7 Meath 1-5
Lidl National Football League Division Two Round Four
Cork 1-9 Monaghan 1-3
Galway 1-14 Westmeath 0-3
Roscommon 0-10 Donegal 1-7
Tipperary 2-6 Clare 0-7
Lidl National Football League Division Three Round Four
Laois 5-8 Offaly 1-4
Down 1-8 Louth 1-6
Wexford 2-5 Cavan 0-9
Lidl National Football League Division Four Round Five
Antrim 3-8 Leitrim 1-10
Sligo 3-19 Kilkenny 1-1
Wicklow 3-16 Derry 1-6
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By lining out at inter-county level for their native Armagh, Niamh Coleman and her younger sister Dearbhla are maintaining a strong family legacy.
Formerly their manager when the Orchard County claimed an Ulster minor ladies title nine years ago, the Colemans’ father Tommy played senior football with the Armagh men and was a starter in an Ulster championship final defeat to Tyrone in 1984. While their mother Avoureen has always had a keen interest in the big ball game – representing the Lurgan-based Clann Eireann in the past – it was in the sport of camogie that she donned the orange and white.
In the same year she jointly-captained the minor side to that provincial crown, Niamh followed in her parents’ footsteps when she made her debut for the Armagh seniors in a Lidl National Football League encounter against Dublin at the BOX-IT Athletic Grounds on April 3, 2016. Fast forward a few short years and Coleman, who recently secured a permanent teaching position at St Francis’ Primary School in Lurgan, was thrilled to be joined on the Orchard panel by her aforementioned sibling Dearbhla.
“Dad, he still has some of his Armagh jerseys. He would have played football for Armagh as well. Some of his Ulster final jerseys he still has. He would have been involved in our club and then he got into the county as well. He would have taken a lot of the girls for county minors. We had a bit of success under him as well. He’s football mad!” Niamh explained.
“Then Mum’s first sport would have been camogie. She had success with the county as well. She would have played football for our club, but never really progressed for the county. Camogie was her number one sport.”
In more recent times, Tommy and Avoureen have become proud supporters of their daughters as they have enjoyed success with the Armagh footballers. Last April saw the Coleman sisters featuring in the starting line-up – Niamh at midfield and Dearbhla at left half-back – when the Orchard defeated Kerry in Croke Park to secure their maiden Lidl NFL Division 1 title.
While this game began brightly for the elder Coleman when she rattled the Kerry net in response to a Lorraine Scanlon three-pointer for the Kingdom, she was unfortunately withdrawn before the opening half had come to a close. The nature of her injury ensured Niamh wasn’t in the ground by the time her Clann Eireann colleague Clodagh McCambridge climbed the steps of the Hogan Stand to lift the top-tier league trophy, but she nevertheless found a way to keep up to speed with how the second period action unfolded.
“It was a strange one. I got injured I think 20 minutes in, unfortunately. I was coughing up blood, so the doctor advised that I should go to the hospital and get checked out. Thankfully I think it was just from the impact.
“I was fine, but as I was waiting in the waiting room, I had the game on my phone. The TG4 Player! Trying to watch and cheering the girls on. It was lovely to see the celebrations and then I was able to meet up with the girls afterwards. I didn’t miss out on too much. The girls did the work for me!”
Having won Division 2 and Division 1 league crowns under the guidance of Shane McCormack and Greg McGonigle respectively in the past two seasons, Coleman and Armagh now find themselves under the joint management of Darnell Parkinson and Joe Feeney for 2025. The fact that this duo were part of McGonigle’s backroom team last year means there is some level of continuity and the Orchard are currently flying high at the summit of the NFL top-tier with four wins from as many games.
Remarkably, Armagh have secured victory in 19 of their last 20 league fixtures stretching back to the start of the Division 2 campaign in 2023 with a solo reversal coming at the hands of Dublin in last year’s Division 1 – by which point the Orchard women had already booked their spot in the league final.
The Ulster outfit did previously fall short to Kerry in a Division 2 decider back in 2022 and while there have also been some difficult defeats at the quarter-final and semi-final stages of the TG4 All-Ireland senior football championship, Coleman acknowledged a desire to keep improving year-on-year has helped them to reach their current position of strength.
“It was a bit hard to push out of Division Two. Obviously, Kerry beat us that first time in the final, but from there then, we kicked on. We just wanted to keep building and building and pushing. We know that we’re able to compete with those top teams. Obviously Kerry beating us in the All-Ireland semi-final last year too.
“We know we’re there or thereabouts. We just want to keep pushing ourselves on to reach our full potential. The past couple of years has been brilliant, the success the county has had. We’re really happy with our results and our performances in the league so far.”
Having already overcome the challenges of Kerry, Tyrone, Dublin and Mayo, Armagh will be hoping to make it five straight wins in this year’s Lidl NFL Division 1 when they face Kildare at Silverbridge Harps this afternoon (2 March, throw-in 2pm).
A year on from Armagh securing the same title, Kildare claimed the National Football League Division 2 crown for 2024 with an impressive final triumph over Tyrone.
After being in a similar position to the Lilies themselves not so long ago, Coleman (whose sister Dearbhla is currently battling her way back from injury) is careful not to take their upcoming opponents for granted – particularly when they have gotten the better of provincial rivals Dublin and Meath in recent weeks.
“They’re a really exciting team and it’s going to be a big challenge for us. We know that they’re going to be coming out with great fight, especially because we have the home advantage. Hopefully we try and push on from that,” Coleman added.
“It’s a team that is new, like we were playing in previous years coming up from Division Two. We know what it is like. Sometimes even media or other teams can write you off, but we definitely won’t be sitting on our laurels.”
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Reigning Division One champions Armagh secured their fifth win of the Lidl National League with an impressive performance against Kildare.
Goals in either half from Niamh Henderson and Emily Druse were key to victory for the home side.
The Orchard County, playing against the breeze at Silverbridge in the opening period, led by seven points when the half time whistle sounded and pushed on after the turnaround to complete an 11-point triumph.
Kildare opened the scoring inside the first 90 seconds with corner back Ruth Sargent bombing up the field to split the posts. Armagh levelled matters through Moya Feehan before pushing on with a scoring spree.
Henderson continued her fine goalscoring form with a three-pointer after nine minutes of play. Emily Druse burst through the Kildare rearguard and quick hands from Aoife McCoy played Henderson through on goal and she made no mistake.
Niamh Reel, playing on her home club ground, raised two white flags either side of a point from Eve Lavery. Nease Dooley and Blaithin Mackin swapped scores while Lavery grabbed the final point of the half to give her side a 1-6 to 0-2 advantage at the break.
Half time substitute Grace Ferguson pointed with her first touch at the start of the second period, but it was soon cancelled out at the other end of the pitch when Dooley added a second to her account.
Lauren McConville got her name on the scoresheet as Lavery split a brace of frees from the accurate Reel. Roisin Byrne and Molly Aspel pulled two back for the Lilywhites while Caoimhe McNally clipped a score after being introduced.
Druse extended the gap to 13-points with the games second goal while Reel and Aoife Rattigan exchanged pointed efforts. Kildare were offered a lifeline with a goal as Leah McGovern slotted home an easy finish after Anna Carr had denied Sargent from close range.
Byrne did add another for the travelling side, but Armagh finished with a flurry as Henderson and Reel grew their tallies with a point apiece.
Final score Armagh 2-15 Kildare 1-7
Scorers – Armagh: N Reel 0-6 (2f), N Henderson 1-1, E Lavery 0-3 (2f), E Druse 1-0, L McConville 0-1, B Mackin 0-1, M Feehan 0-1, G Ferguson 0-1, C McNally 0-1.
Kildare: L McGovern 1-0, N Dooley 0-2 (1f), R Byrne 0-2, M Aspel 0-1, R Sargent 0-1, A Rattigan 0-1.
Armagh: A Carr; M Ferguson, C Towe, R Mulligan; L Kenny, L McConville, B Mackin; N Coleman, C O’Hanlon; E Druse, M Feehan, E Lavery; N Reel, A McCoy, N Henderson. Subs: G Ferguson for M Ferguson (half time), C McNally 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, L Murtagh, E Wheeler; M Doherty, L Lenehan, M Aspel; C Sullivan, L Dunlea; C Moran, G Wheeler, N Dooley; C Price, A Prizeman, R Byrne. Subs: A Murnane for Price (34), A Rattigan for Wheeler (34), L McGovern 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)
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Cunningham has opened a new gym facility with the aim of providing employees with the tools and space they need to enhance their fitness and wellbeing.
The new gym C-FIT was officially launched 28 February 2025, in alignment with their ongoing Health & Wellbeing Strategy. C-FIT is equipped with the latest fitness equipment, including treadmills, a Stairmaster, a weights bench, and a variety of strength and conditioning tools, ensuring there’s something for everyone, from beginners to seasoned fitness enthusiasts.
Enya McAliskey from Enzo Fitness was on-site on launch day to lead gym inductions. Employees dressed down for the day, encouraging everyone to relax and fully enjoy the celebrations around the opening of C-FIT.
Yoga and strength and conditioning sessions took place, providing employees with diverse ways to improve their fitness and overall wellbeing. Cunningham were delighted to welcome guest speaker, Kieran McGeeney, who spoke passionately about the importance of a healthy mind and healthy body. Employees had the opportunity to engage in a Q&A session.
Lisa Murtagh, COO, commented: "Our employees are at the heart of everything we do, and C-FIT is our way of investing in a space that supports their personal health and wellbeing journey.”
C-FIT is more than just a gym; it is part of Cunningham’s ongoing commitment to creating a supportive space for employees to prioritise their health and wellbeing, in line with one of their core values, Can-Do.
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Hot on the heels of his incredible treble win at Clonmel in February, Newry man Brendan Matthews has been inducted into the Greyhound Racing Hall of Fame in celebration of his outstanding contribution to the sport throughout Ireland.
Brendan, one of the most respected figures in the greyhound racing community was honoured at the National Greyhound Racing Awards at Shelbourne Park on Sunday night 9 March. The event, saw Brendan admitted to the Hall of Fame by Pat Flanagan, Chairman of Greyhound Racing Ireland.
Brendan's illustrious career began in the 1960s, and over the decades his kennels have produced numerous top champions. Greyhounds from Brendan's kennels at Doran's Hill, Newry have dominated the greyhound racing scene for almost 60 years.
Brendan initially started his kennels with six dogs at Doran’s Hill, overlooking the town, which inspired the ‘Townview’ prefix he later adopted. Continuing what is very much a family affair are his sons and grandchildren.
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