Kerry 3-14
Armagh 2-11
– Jackie Cahill reports from Nowlan Park
TEEN SENSATION HANNAH O’Donoghue produced a sparkling senior debut as Kerry stormed into the TG4 All-Ireland ladies senior football championship semi-finals.
The Kingdom will face Dublin in a mouth-watering clash on 26 August, after claiming a six-point victory over Armagh in Saturday evening’s quarter-final at Nowlan Park, Kilkenny.
O’Donoghue, an underage Ireland soccer international, collected 1-4 from play, while experienced attacker Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh added 1-3 for the Munster champions.
Graham Shine’s Kerry were two points down at half-time, 2-7 to 2-9, but they outscored Armagh by 1-7 to 0-2 in the second half.
Kerry were much the better side after the break — and Armagh suffered a massive blow with 11 minutes left when Niamh Marley was sin-binned.
While 16-year-old O’Donoghue caught the eye for Kerry, Aimee Mackin was superb for Armagh, particularly in the first half.
The Shane O’Neills player went into battle nursing a hand injury but still finished with 2-4, including 2-3 in the opening half.
O’Donoghue was a late inclusion in the Kerry starting line-up and the Beaufort star, who won two All-Ireland U16 medals under Shine’s guidance, more than justified that call-up.
She opened the scoring with a point in the first minute and Kerry added two more to lead by 0-3 to 0-0 within eight minutes.
They also had goalkeeper Laura Fitzgerald to thank for a brilliant stop from Mackin –while the Na Gaeil player would do even better late in the half with one of the finest saves you’ll ever see.
O’Donoghue netted in the tenth minute for Kerry, finishing off good approach play from the lively Sarah Houlihan and Laura Rogers, and Shine’s charges had a 1-3 to 0-0 lead.
But Armagh roused themselves to register 2-5 without reply, as Kerry struggled on their own restarts.
Mackin netted twice in a minute midway through the half to turn the game on its head and both were cracking finishes past Fitzgerald.
But the goalkeeper produced a magnificent tip-over save three minutes before the break to deny Mackin a hat-trick goal — when it seemed certain that the net would bulge.
Anna Galvin drew Kerry level at 2-7 apiece with a 28th minute goal but Armagh’s response was impressive, as scores from Aoife McCoy and Lauren McConville established a two-point half-time lead.
It could have been even better as Armagh registered seven first half wides – and Fitzgerald produced those two fine saves — but the turnaround from six points down early on was impressive.
Sean O’Kane’s team needed to build on that platform against the pre-match favourites but they were rocked back on their heels just 20 seconds after the restart, as Ní Mhuircheartaigh scored Kerry’s third goal.
From there until the finish, they would not be caught, as McCoy and Mackin scored Armagh’s only points of the second half.
Mackin’s 36th minute point was verified by ‘score assistant’, in use for the second time after Ciara McAnespie’s goal for Monaghan was awarded against Cork last Monday.
That score kept Armagh in touch, as they trailed by just two points, 2-11 to 3-10, but Kerry on the spin to close the game out, with the Orchard County scoreless after Mackin’s effort.
They were four adrift, 2-11 to 3-12, when Marley was yellow-carded for a tackle on Ní Mhuircheartaigh, and there was no way back.
Armagh conceded just two further points after that but despite the fact that they were chasing the game, they still packed players behind the ball and Kerry were comfortable as they booked a massive date with Dublin.
That game, in a fortnight’s time, will mark Kerry’s first semi-final appearance since 2015.
Scorers for Kerry: H O’Donoghue 1-4, L Ní Mhuircheartaigh 1-3 (0-1f), S Houlihan 0-4 (2f), A Galvin 1-0, L Scanlon 0-2, E O’Leary 0-1.
Scorers for Armagh: A Mackin 2-4, A McCoy & F McKenna (2f) 0-3 each, L McConville 0-1.
KERRY: L Fitzgerald; E Lynch, A Desmond, A Leonard; C Kelly, C Murphy, S Murphy; L Scanlon, E Sherwood; L Ní Mhuircheartaigh, A Galvin, D Hallissey; S Houlihan, H O’Donoghue, L Rogers.
Subs: A O’Connell for S Murphy (37), F Tangney for Rogers (45), E O’Leary for Galvin (52), J Lucey for O’Donoghue (55).
ARMAGH: K Mallon; S Marley, C McCambridge, M Sheridan; M McGuinness, M Tennyson, S Reel; N Coleman, C O’Hanlon; A Mackin, A McCoy, N Marley; L McConville, B Mackin, F McKenna.
Subs: T Grimes for Sheridan (36), N Reel for McGuinness (55), A Donaldson for B Mackin (55).
Ref: J Murphy (Carlow)
Subscribe to The42 podcasts here:
Really feel like we can get two wins from three over there. They’ll have an inexperienced coach, a massive loss with pollard although the likes of jantjies,lambi and goosen aren’t bad, a few aging players and du preez is another huge loss for them.
Bring the likes of Henderson and O Mahony back into the set up and hopefully the likes of McCloskey,Olding,Gilroy,Marshall,Healy,Ringrose can get their chance to prove themselves. Looking forward to it.
1 win would be a success considering it’s never been done before. 2 would require some serious celebrations. And 3 would probably result in the boks going into hiding and would incite a civil war.
Given the publicised politics surrounding the appointment. It will be interesting to see the selection for the Boks. Coetzee will be under significant public pressure to select new players and will they be able to do the job ?
Can’t wait too. The Ireland camp will target a win. Everything else will be a bonus. As ever, worried about the third test. We could be knackered by then with a load of injuries.
Coetzee is a very conservative coach there wont be too many new players blooded.
What’s his record & style of play like? SA where pretty dour under Meyer
Coetzee was a strong front runner only for the fact that all his competitors pulled out of the race when it was made clear selections will need to be made to appease the politicians. Nick Mallet, Rassie Erasmus, Johan Ackermann and a no. of international coaches pulled the pin & rightly so. It was very publicly stated that the new coach needs to work within certain perimeters and achieve transformation targets. In other words results come second…..
What a joke
Well the job was never publicly offered at any point, so therefore no one technically turned downed the job. Rassie did publicly state that if the job was offered to him he would take it but like I said before SARU want him in his current position as the head of the high performance unit. Johan Akerman in my opinion will get the job eventually but on his own terms with his own team when he is ready. As long as SARU operate like they still in the amateur era then the Springboks will always play catch up to the All blacks. As a Springbok fan I’m not too worried just yet, watching our varsity cup teams and baby boks there is plenty talent to keep us challenging at the top table. The biggest problem south african rugby faces is poaching of our underage talent.
Johan will not get the job on his own terms, that’s my point exactly. Poaching is a massive problem, but politics is an even bigger issue, don’t lose sight of that.
He did take the stormers into the play-offs 4 times in 6 years and he won a currie cup with western province. To say he lacks ability is a bit far fetched. If you remember correctly Jake White had only won a junior world cup and had no super rugby experience when he took over the springboks.
Do you think 4 x playoffs in Super Rugby with a golden generation of players is a good return? Currie Cup is meaningless as none of the top players in SA compete in the compo. Facts are, there are way better out there to select, however they have made themselves unavailable… Coetzee has the experience, but is very limited. His hands will be tied when selecting his team & backroom staff.
100% its not a good return but in saying that domestic success does not equate to automatic international success they can be mutually exclusive. The Currie cup that he won in 2012 was when Springboks were still allowed to play in the knockout phase. SARU would never appoint a foreign coach because the general council of 14 unions would never agree to it regardless of policy. Therefore of the current SA coaches, Jake White will never come near the job again, Heyneke lost to Japan so he had to fall on his sword, Nick Mallet is a TV presenter, Rassie and his high performance team should have got the job but SARU dont want to let him go from his position of director of rugby and Johan Akerman is not ready for the job hence him signing a 2 year extension.
I’m sure if any of the above wanted the job a plan would have been made, problem is, they didn’t which is embarrassing considering SA is supposedly a super power rugby nation. 2012 was 4 season ago, yes top Boks played, but only in semi & finals…..
Wow! Wouldn’t even make the cut in T2 rugby…