Cork 1-10 Kildare 2-7
By Ger McCarthy
Cork and Kildare played out a thrilling Lidl National Football League Division 1 draw at MTU Cork.
The new rules being trialled in this year’s league had an immediate and positive effect on a cracking first round encounter.
The solo and go was used to good effect and both teams were penalised for not retreating, resulting in numerous close-range frees.
Pat Sullivan’s Kildare adapted better and deservedly led for most of an entertaining game.
The Lillies were 2-6 to 1-6 ahead with less than 10 minutes remaining when Cork found another gear. Two Abigail Ring efforts and a Katie Quirke free, meant it was all square with time almost up.
Then, Alannah Prizemann’s converted free looked to have won it for Kildare. That was until Quirke’s fifth converted free of the afternoon, four minutes into injury-time, salvaged a point for the Rebels.
Kildare were the better team in the opening half and built a 0-5 to 0-3 lead thanks in part to Aoife Murnane’s brace of points.
Mayah Doyle, Aoife Rattigan and Prizemann also scored while Quirke and Grace Ní Mhurchú points kept Cork in touch.
It was Joe Carroll’s team who first billowed the net via a Melissa Duggan goal and looked set to change ends a point to the good. Instead, Aoife Murnane made her presence felt with an injury-time green flag to send the visitors in 1-5 to 1-3 ahead.
A low scoring third quarter saw the team draw level, 1-6 apiece, as Emma Cleary, Leah Hallihan and Quirke (free) scored. Kildare’s Prizemann converted a 13-metre free in response.
Both goalkeepers, Caoime Richmond and Rachel Fennin, produced excellent point-blank saves to keep the score unchanged until the 50th minute.
That was when Murnane left three Cork defenders in her wake and walloped the ball into the net to make it 2-6 to 1-6. An exciting finale saw Cork draw level before Prizemann and Quirke exchanged frees at either end.
Kildare will feel this is one that got away with a new-look Cork thankful to have a point on the board on their first day back in Division 1.
Scorers for Cork: K Quirke 0-5 (0-5 f), M Duggan 1-0, A Ring 0-2, G Ní Mhurchú, E Cleary, L Hallihan 0-1 each.
Kildare: A Murnane 2-2, A Prizemann 0-2 (0-2 f), M Doyle, A Rattigan, J Harney 0-1 each.
CORK: C Richmond; M Duggan,D Kiniry, K Horgan; A Corcoran, S McGoldrick, R Corkery; A Healy, A O’Mahony; R Leahy, G Ní Mhurchú, E Cleary (captain); R O’Regan, K Quirke, L Hallihan. Subs: Á Terry O’Sullivan for R O’Regan (42), K Redmond for A O’Mahony (50), A Ring for L Hallihan (50), E Hurley for R Leahy (57), C Hughes for R Corkery (58).
KILDARE: R Fennin; E Wheeler, R Sargent, M Doherty; H McLoughlin, L Shaw, L Lenehan (captain); N Murphy, G Wheeler; M Doyle, C Wheeler, A Rattigan; A Murnane, L Curran, A Prizeman. Subs: J Harney for L Curran (2, inj), M Aspell for M Doyle (37), M McDonagh for G Wheeler (52), R Forde for A Rattigan (46), A Mahon for J Harney (57), A Cahill for A Prizemann (58).
Referee: Jonathan Murphy (Carlow).
Waterford 2-14 Armagh 0-8
By Shaun Casey
Waterford made a winning start to their Lidl NFL Division 1A campaign against last year’s league finalists Armagh at the BOX-IT Athletic Grounds.
Waterford were 10-points better off when these sides met in the 2025 league and improved that result by two-points this time around and were full value for their comfortable victory.
Armagh were without experienced players such as Caroline O’Hanlon, Niamh Henderson, Niamh Reel, the Mackin sisters, Blaithin and Aimee, along with the Coleman siblings, Niamh and Dearbhla.
The travelling side made the perfect start to proceedings with Chloe Fennell raising a green flag inside six minutes. Brid McMaugh’s shot had dropped short and Fennell was on hand to knock home a major.
Armagh made a rapid response with debutant Lara Marsden, daughter of 2002 All-Ireland winner Diarmaid Marsden, nabbing two scores inside 30 seconds.
Fennell grew her own personal tally but neither side split the posts for the next ten minutes. Waterford could, and should, have added another goal but Brianna Mathers pulled off a fine save while they also hit the post and crossbar during that period.
Áine O’Neill notched three quickfire points inside 90 seconds and added a fourth straight score to make six the difference. Maeve Lennon grabbed the final score of the half for the Orchard County, who trailed 1-5 to 0-3 at the interval.
McMaugh got the game up and running after the turnaround but her effort was cancelled out by Aoife McCoy. O’Neill and Clare Walsh grew the margin to seven before the hosts hit a purple patch for the first time.
Gregory McGonigle’s side nailed three on the bounce, with Lennon pointing twice from the dead ball while skipper Lauren McConville also raised a white flag. Waterford substitute Kellyann Hogan then converted two frees to restore their six-point advantage.
Kelly Mallon tagged on a score after coming off the bench but any hope of a revival was washed away when Treasa Ní Chrontaigh slashed home her sides second three-pointer and they tagged on the final three points of the day to soar into a 12-point win.
Scorers - Waterford: Á O’Neill 0-5, C Fennell 1-1, T Ní Chrontaigh 1-0, K Hogan 0-2 (2f), C Walsh 0-2, B McMaugh 0-2, K Murray 0-1, J Queally 0-1.
Armagh: M Lennon 0-3 (2f), L Marsden 0-2, K Mallon 0-1, L McConville 0-1 A McCoy 0-1.
WATERFORD: K Gardiner; C Murray, L Mulcahy, R Casey, L Ní hArta, K McGrath, L Cusack; E Power, B Browne; K Murray, B McMaugh, Á O’Neill; C Fennell, C Walsh, L McGregor. Subs: K Hogan for C Walsh (41 mins), A McGrath for E Power (49 mins), T Ní Chrontaigh for C Fennell (55 mins), A Hahesy for A O’Neill (59 mins), J Queally for K Murray (59 mins).
ARMAGH: B Mathers; M Ferguson, C McCambridge, G Ferguson; Emily Druse, L McConville, C Towe; S Quigley, C Marley; L Marsden, A McCoy, C McNally; M Lennon, A Donnelly, K Mallon. Subs: K Mallon for C McNally (39 mins), E Cassidy for S Quigley (45 mins), E Lavery for M Lennon (53 mins), Elsie Druse for L Kavanagh (59 mins).
Referee: Maggie Farrelly (Cavan).
Galway 0-16
Meath 0-8
By Deniese O’Flaherty
Kate Slevin scored seven points as Galway made a winning return to the Lidl NFL Division 1 with an eight point victory over Meath in Grangegoggen, Kells.
Slevin was in fine form throughout with Galway very much in control for large parts of the game. Meath struggled to get scores and their first point of the second half didn’t arrive until the 53rd minute. They ended the game with four points in a row but they were mere consolation scores.
Galway dominated proceedings from the start but Meath’s defence held them firm for the early exchanges. Andrea Trill opened the scoring in the fourth minute. Galway were ahead by two in the eighth minute before Emma Duggan got Meath’s first point in the 10th minute from a free.
A second point from Roisin Leonard gave the Tribeswomen a three point lead in the 15th minute. Duggan replied for the home side before Galway hit a purple patch and kicked over four unanswered points; Niamh Divilly and Leanne Coen with two excellent scores. A point from Meadhbh Byrne just before the break saw Meath trail by five - 0-9 to 0-4.
Points from Leonard and Slevin (2) in the early minutes of the second half extended Galway’s lead to eight points after 38 minutes of play. Minutes later Slevin scored the first two pointer of the game to stretch the lead to 10 points.
Galway were excellent in the tackle in the second half and Meath found it hard to break them down when in forward positions. Aoife Molloy got up from wing-back to fire over a point for the Connacht side in the 50th minute. Meath got their first point of the second half and first in over 23 minutes of play in the 53rd minute through captain Niamh Gallogly. Duggan and Megan Thynne followed up with points for the Royals.
Meath sub Orla Finnegan fired over a free in the 60th minute to cut the deficit to eight points in the end.
Scorers - Galway: K Slevin 0-7 (1tp, 1f), R Leonard 0-3 (1f), M Glynn 0-2, A Trill, N Divilly, L Coen, A Molloy 0-1 each.
Meath: E Duggan 0-3 (1f), R Casserly, M Byrne, M Thynne, N Gallogly, O Finnegan (1f) 0-1 each.
GALWAY: L O’Halloran; R Quinn, S Ní Loingsigh, B Quinn; S Healy, C Trill, A Molloy; N Divilly, A Madden; M Glynn, K Slevin, K Thompson; A Trill, L Coen, R Leonard. Subs: E Noone for Leonard and A O’Rourke for Glynn 44, E Power for Molloy and H Noone for Healy 53, S McGovern for Quinn and K Mee for C Trill 60+1.
MEATH: R Murray; Á Sheridan, M.K. Lynch, O Gore; Ó Smith, S Wall, K Bermingham; O Sheehy, N Gallogly; M Thynne, C Smyth, M Farrelly; E Duggan, R Casserly, M Byrne. Subs: L O’Neill for Smyth and O Finnegan for Byrne 41, C Lawlor for Farrelly 42, A Gaffney for Gore 47, M McConnell for Duggan 54, S Ní Scaláin for Quinn 55.
Referee: Ray McBride (Dublin).
Weekend review:
Kerry midfielder Mary O’Connell said they were pleased to get the defence of their Lidl NFL Division 1 title off to a winning start under the new rules.
She found the net along with Jadyn Lucey to see off TG4 All-Ireland champions Dublin by 2-9 to 0-9 in difficult conditions.
“I think we’re adjusting well to the new rules,” she said. It’s going to take a few games obviously. The three up is something we have to look at and the space that’s there. Obviously maybe today wasn’t the day for it with the conditions, but solo and go helped quicken the game a bit. Then obviously the mark we only used once or twice, but hopefully it will get better as the league goes on.”
Dublin joint manager Paul Casey said they tried out a lot of new players and gained a lot from that despite the loss.
“Really tough conditions, for both teams as well. We’d loads of new faces on the pitch today. I thought the honesty of effort they had was fantastic. They fought there until the end and kept plugging away. It was really, really tough conditions there, but good to get the show on the road as they say and good to see so many new faces play for Dublin today as well,” he said.
Galway manager Daniel Moynihan said they needed to make an immediate impression on their return to the top flight and they did it with a 0-16 to 0-8 victory over Meath, with Kate Slevin leading the way with a haul of 0-7.
“It’s important for us to get off the mark very early, we had an awkward experience two years ago in Division 1 so it’s nice to have a
better one for ourselves starting off,” said Moynihan. “Happy with the performance, happy with the players and what they are doing on the football field but we know ourselves there is plenty to work on too.”
Meath manager Wayne Freeman said they have plenty to work on but the signs are encouraging.
“There are things we can look at and work on and I do think if we clean up the areas of our game that we were poor on today, I think we’ll be a lot better next week. We know the areas we need to look at this week,” said Freeman.
Cork needed a late point from Katie Quirke to get a share of the spoils with Kildare on their return to Division 1 but manager Joe Carroll said they build on the display.
“I suppose there’s relief that we got the draw and a bit of a disappointment because we gave away two very bad goals of our own making,” said Carroll. “Look, I suppose we have a new team, there were a lot of learnings in it for our players and I was very, very pleased.”
Kildare manager Pat Sullivan was also pleased with what his side produced in the contest.
“Overall, I'd be really, really happy. It’s the first round of the league, it's a learning zone for a lot of these players who haven’t been here before. We are trying to develop players as well,” said Sullivan.
Waterford, with goals from Chloe Fennell and Treasa Ní Chrontaigh, secured an impressive 2-14 to 0-8 win in Armagh, and manager Tomás Mac an tSaoir was delighted with the winning start.
“There not many teams that are going to come up here and win so we can be really happy with that. But I wouldn’t read too much into it. Armagh are going to be there or thereabouts in every competition they play so for us to come up with a win, we’re really happy with that,” he said.
Armagh manager Gregory McGonigle was without several key players and knew they would have a battle on their hands with Waterford.
“Waterford beat the girls well down in Waterford last year so we knew we were coming up against one of the favourites, I would think, for the All-Ireland,” he said.
In Division 2, a goal early in the game from Catherine Dolan helped Cavan lead Mayo by 1-8 to 0-8 at the break, but a goal from Sinead Walsh secured a draw in a contest which finished 1-13 apiece.
Cara McNamee and Niamh O’Neill scored two goals each as Tyrone notched a 7-11 to 0-11 win over Monaghan, while second half goals from Suzanne White and Cait Gillespie helped Donegal to a 2-11 to 1-6 win over a Westmeath side for whome Anna Jones converted a penalty in the opening half.
Tipperary, thanks to goals from Lauren Cunningham and a penalty from Emma Morrisey edged out Wexford by 2-12 to 2-9. Ciara Roban and Grace Donovan found the net for a Wexford side who trailed by 1-7 to 1-4 at the break.
In Division 3 there were wins for Roscommon and Antrim, while Laois and Fermanagh drew and there was also stalemate between Louth and Down.
Leitrim, Longford, Carlow and Sligo carved out victories in Division 4.
RESULTS
Lidl National Football League Division One Round One
Kerry 2-9 Dublin 0-9
Cork 1-10 Kildare 2-7
Galway 0-16 Meath 0-8
Waterford 2-14 Armagh 0-8
Lidl National Football League Division Two Round One
Cavan 1-13 Mayo 1-13
Tyrone 7-11 Monaghan 0-11
Donegal 2-11 Westmeath 1-6
Tipperary 2-12 Wexford 2-9
Lidl National Football League Division Three Round One
Roscommon 3-6 Limerick 0-8
Laois 3-13 Fermanagh 3-13
Antrim 3-15 Clare 1-8
Louth 3-6 Down 1-12
Lidl National Football League Division Four Round Two
Leitrim 1-11 Offaly 1-8
Longford 3-8 Wicklow 0-7
Carlow 4-28 Kilkenny 0-1
Sligo 1-20 Derry 2-8
