Brave Laois ladies comeback falls short as Armagh once more have their number

Despite losing twice in their two outings in the Leinster Ladies football championship, Donie Brennan’s Laois side would have been feeling relatively confident heading into the All-Ireland series.

The Laois Ladies gave reigning All-Ireland champions Meath a real tough match the last day. Laois faced Armagh once more in the All-Ireland series opener in MW Hire O’Moore Park, the same team who had defeated them in the Division 2 final back in April.

Laois were slow to start in Portlaoise though and that ultimately proved costly. They trailed by eight points at half-time, and despite Katie Donoghue bagging a brace of goals in the second half, Laois lost out by seven in the end here.

Laois 2-8

Armagh 3-12

Armagh looked dangerous right from the offset here, as they carved out an early goal opportunity. Centre-back Lauren McConville came through the heart of the Laois rearguard but her effort was expertly saved by Laois number one, Eimear Barry.

Kelly Mallon, the Armagh captain and full-forward, curled an earlier free though to get the away side up and running. While Laois answered through a Sarah-Anne Fitzgerald point, Armagh were dominating primary possession and began to make it count.

Niamh Reel pushed Armagh back ahead and then Eimear Barry was forced into action once more. This time it was Blaithin Mackin with the shot, but Barry once more had the answer for Laois in goals.

Armagh worked the resulting 45’ short though and Blaithin Mackin atoned for her miss by blasting one between the posts. Lauren McConville and Eve Lavery added further points for Armagh, as they led 0-5 to 0-1 after the opening quarter.

While Eimear Barry had come to the rescue twice for Laois already, there was nothing she could do to stop Armagh getting in for a goal the third time. Aoife McCoy found Niamh Reel inside and Reel coolly slotted low into the left corner.

Laois’ Mo Nerney and Armagh’s Kelly Mallon exchanged points from frees before Armagh struck for their second goal. Caitriona O’Hagan picked out Aoife McCoy inside, with McCoy managing to get enough of a palm to the ball to guide it home.

Blaithin Mackin added her second point from play to push Armagh’s advantage out to eleven with only three minutes of normal time remaining in the first half. Laois though, to their credit, tacked on a couple of scores before the interval.

Mo Nerney (free) and Orla Hennessy raised much-needed white flags for the women wearing blue and white. Nerney managed to make a bit of space for herself for an attempt at goal, but unfortunately it drifted harmlessly wide.

Sarah-Anne Fitzgerald landed the final score of the first half for Laois from a free. They trailed 0-5 to 2-7 at this stage and they had played the first half with a decent breeze behind them as well.

Whatever Donie Brennan and his backroom team said to the players at half-time seemed to work. They came out for the second half and hunted Armagh down with far more intensity.

Laois’ Katie Donoghue and Armagh’s Kelly Mallon swapped points early on in the second half before Laois struck for their first goal. Laura-Marie Maher’s shot was blocked down, but Donoghue was there to drill the ball home.

 Armagh steaded themselves after that with points from Caitriona O’Hagan, Eve Lavery and Aoife McCoy. However, Laois came again and struck for goal number two.

It was once more Katie Donoghue who raised the green flag, as the Timahoe native drilled another unstoppable shot into the roof of the net. Sarah-Anne Fitzgerald added another point for Laois soon after to leave just three between the teams.

However, Armagh once more composed themselves to finish strongly and take home the points. Eve Lavery pointed her third to take the pressure off them slightly, and then they hit the clinching goal.

Laois pushed bodies forward in search of a third goal but it was Armagh who caught them on the counter-attack. They turned Laois over and swiftly played the ball forwards.

Substitute Aoife Mackin played it inside to Aoife McCoy who very calmly rounded Barry and finished home. There would be no more scores after that, as Armagh finished out deserved seven-point victors.