Kerry have won at Mayo in the Lidl Ladies National Football League.
The game in Swinford finished Kerry 2-8 Mayo 0-4.
By Stuart Tynan
Despite only scoring two points in the first half through Saoirse Lally and Kayla Doherty when they had the wind, Mayo were competitive in the opening 30 minutes but Danielle O'Leary’s goal a minute after the restart was a huge set-back for the home side in Swinford.
Any faint hopes of a comeback were ended by Siofra O’Shea’s goal on 52 minutes, the full-forward finishing with 1-5, with Kayla Doherty getting Mayo’s only scores in the second half from frees late on.
Kerry know victory over Meath in their next game will see them guarantee their spot in the league final, while Mayo must beat both Kildare and Waterford if they are to have any chance of staying up.
Mayo opened the scoring through a fisted effort by Lally on six minutes but a point from Rachel Dwyer and two monster frees by O’Shea put the visitors 0-3 to 0-1 up at the end of the first quarter.
Liam McHale’s side were proving a difficult nut to crack however, with Lally, Erin Murray, Bree Hession and Hannah Reape making life difficult for the Kingdom. O’Shea’s third free of the half on 29 minutes was Kerry’s sole score of the second quarter and Kayla Doherty’s first free of the day left only two between them, 0-4 to 0-2, at the break with Mayo set to play with the wind.
The introduction of All Star Naimh Carmody and Kayleigh Cronin saw Kerry up the tempo. After two quickfire points, another of their All Stars O’Leary rifled home a goal to put them 1-6 to 0-2 ahead.
O’Shea added another free before she wrapped the game up for the visitors when her free from 20 metres looped into the net. Niamh Ní Chonchúir rounded off the scoring for Kerry late on with a well-taken effort.
Scorers - Kerry: S O'Shea 1-5 (1-4f), D O'Leary 1-0, R Dwyer 0-1, M O'Connell 0-1, N Ní Chonchúir 0-1.
Mayo: K Doherty 0-3f, S Lally 0-1.
KERRY: M Bolger; E Lynch, D Kearney, R Rahilly; A O'Connell, N Broderick, C McCarthy; M O'Connell, A Galvin; A Dillane, N Ní Chonchúir, L Boyle; R Dwyer, S O'Shea, D O'Leary. Subs: C Evans, N Carmody and K Cronin for McCarthy, Broderick and Boyle (all half-time), J Lucey for Dwyer (45), K Sugrue for Dillane (57), K Brosnan for Ní Chonchúir (57), F O’Donoghue for Rahilly (59).
MAYO: J Gawalkiewicz; L Wallace, N O'Malley, C Durkan; D Caldwell, J Mortimer, S Lally; E Murray, H Reape; C Whyte, C Keane, R Jordan; K Doherty, B Hession, M Cannon. Subs: A Gough for Cannon (43), C Doherty for Whyte (43), E Brennan for Durkan (56), S El Massry for Murray (56), S Delaney for Keane (60+1).
Referee: Gus Chapman (Sligo).
Kerry manager Mark Bourke
Kerry forward Siofra O'Shea
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.
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)
Waterford 6-15Tyrone 0-6
By Alan Gunn
LAUREN McGregor scored a hat-trick as Waterford hit six goals in a comfortable victory over Tyrone in round five of the Lidl National Football League at Aghyaran.
The Deise, who came into this fixture sitting in mid-table with a win over Kildare and a draw against Dublin last weekend from their previous four rounds, have taken another huge step to consolidating their top tier league status for next season with two rounds remaining.
The pressure continues to mount for Tyrone, who despite a having three points on the board, are in relegation territory with Mayo.
Waterford dominated from start to finish at St Davog’s, their slickness in quickly moving the ball through the hands on the attack, causing Tyrone all sorts of problems and they visitors were well on their way to victory by half-time with a 3-8 to 0-2 lead.
McGregor got the first of her side’s goals as early as the fifth minute, setting the tone for the afternoon and with further goals from Chloe Fennell, who was a late replacement for Alice Hahesy, in the 26th minute and another from Katie Murray just before the break, the home side found themselves 15 points adrift at the interval.
They also hit seven wides as Tyrone struggled to contain their fast moving attacks. Chloe McCaffrey (free) and Meabh Mallon were Tyrone’s two first half scorers while Sorcha Gormley was the Red Hands’ most dangerous player when they could get the ball to the Carrickmore club player.
McGregor completed her hat-trick from the penalty spot in the second half as she finished with 3-2 while Kellyann Hogan got her side’s other goal as she rounded off the afternoon with a personal tally of 1-8, six points from frees.
Tyrone’s cause in the second half was not helped by the sin-binning of Niamh O’Neill while the Waterford management team could afford to give their fringe players a run out as they rung the changes in the final ten minutes with victory secured.
Scorers - Waterford: L McGregor 3-2, K A Hogan 1-8 (6f), K Murray, C Fennell 1-1 each, B McMaugh, A O’Neill, E Murray 0-1.
Tyrone: M Mallon 0-2, S McCarroll, N O’Neill, M Canavan C McCaffrey (1f) 0-1 each.
WATERFORD: K Gardiner; C Murray, H Power, M Ryan; Á O’Neill, K McGrath, R Casey; E Power, E Murray (capt.); K Murray, B McMaugh, C Fennell; C McCarthy, K Hogan, L McGregor. Subs: C Walsh for C McCarthy, A Brazil for C Fennell (43), A Power for A O’Neill, E Bolger for K McGrath, A Murphy for C Murray (51), L NiHarta for E Power, A Hahesy for H Power (54), L O’Shea for K A Hogan, N Wheelan for R Casey, C Reynolds for K Murray, N Power for L McGregor (55), D Beresford for M Ryan, H McGrath for B McMaugh, O Kennedy for E Murray (56).
TYRONE: A Coyle; J Lyons, E Quinn, C Campbell; M Moore, M Corrigan, A Strain; A McHugh (capt.), M Mallon; E McNamee, S McCarroll, A Horisk; C McCaffrey, A McGahan, S Gormley. Subs: E McCanny for Moore, N O’Neill for E McNamee (ht), M Canavan for E Quinn (42), A Grimes for A Horisk (58).
REFEREE: Eddie Cuthbert (Down).
In Round 2 of the Ladies Munster U16 Football Championship Kerry lost away to Cork; Kerry 0-7 Cork 4-7.
The Sharon O'Keefe Tournament game between the same counties saw the Kingdom lose 3-9 to 1-8.
