Derry dominant at Celtic Park

Derry 3-7  |  Armagh 0-6

Derry bounced back from defeat to Offaly last week in Very National Camogie League Division 2A to record their second victory and now sit second in the table behind the mid-landers.

Derry manager Éamon Melaugh, while happy with his team’s performance, cautioned against getting carried away with ideas of returning to Croke Park after the next two games.

“Another strong performance today. Getting off to a good start helps. In contrast to the last game we got a goal and a point in the first four or five minutes. We made a few changes, bringing Clíodhna Ní Mhianáin back to half-back, pushing the midfielders up more into the scoring area and the team as a whole played well.

“I thought we controlled the game throughout, our half-backs were excellent. Aimee (Lennon) is a handful for any defender. Lauren scored a great goal as well.

“I was very happy with the work-rate of the girls. Lauren and Rachel (McAllister) driving forward at every opportunity, the defence very solid.

“We probably should have been a lot further ahead at half-time. We missed a lot of chances, but we were still very strong going forward.

“We have two weeks now to prepare for Meath and I am expecting that game to be different. They ran Offaly close today, I hear. So we will have our work cut out. But we are coming together well, working hard and improving. I’m definitely happy with the progress we are making. We just need to keep working hard.”

Armagh were the visitors to Celtic Park for this round three game that was played as part of a double-header with the Derry v Meath hurling game. Armagh of course are managed by PJ O’Mullan who had guided Derry to the All-Ireland Intermediate title two seasons ago and kept them in the All-Ireland senior championship last year.

Derry's Sinead McGill regains possession.

Armagh are only up from Division 3 and PJ was unlikely to have harboured any real hopes of an Orchard win.

It was the home side who got off to the perfect start when Aimee Lennon nipped in for a goal after a high ball came back off the stick of goalie Ciarraí Devlin. Derry pushed on with points from Áine McGill and Rachel McAllister before Armagh opened their account through a Rachel Merry free.

The home side missed a number of scoring chances during the rest of the first half, but still led by 1-3 to 0-3 at the break.

Their second half began similar to the first with a goal from Lauren McKenna and the Oak Leaf again pushed on with three points from Orlaith Hull and another from Jackie Donnelly. Lennon grabbed her second goal around ten minutes from time while Ciara Hull and sub Tierna Maxwell added late points for Armagh.

Both teams emptied their benches in the final quarter, by which point the result was already assured.

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In Glenisk O’Connor Park, a goal from Aedin Slattery helped Meath to equality at half-time, 1-7 to 0-10. However table-toppers Offaly scored the first three points of the second half and that gap proved too difficult for Meath to close.

Derry’s last group games will be challenging enough away games. They go to Meath on Saturday 22nd and a week later make the long trip to Kerry who beat Carlow by a point on Saturday.

An aerial battle at Celtic Park.

Scorers and Teams

Derry: A Lennon 2-0, L McKenna 1-1, O Hull 0-3 (1f), Á McGill, R McAllister and J Donnelly 0-1 each.

Armagh: R Merry (fs) and C Hill 0-2 each, C Doyle and T Maxwell 0-1 each.

Derry: L Coyle, E Doherty, R Cassidy, L Lennon, C Ní Mhianáin, N Quinn, R Bradley, Á McGill, R McAllister, S McGill, L McKenna, O Hull, J Donnelly, A Lennon, C McCloskey. Subs: C Kerr for C McCloskey, R Draine for C Ní Mhianáin, R Keenan for Á McGill, S Scullion for E Doherty, M Boylan for J Donnelly, C Higgins for S McGill, C McElhinney for R Bradley.

Armagh: C Devlin, M O’Hare, G McWilliams, R Cunningham, C McClelland, G McCann, A McEntee, L Loughran, M McCone, C Hill, C Doyle, S Quinn, M O’Callaghan, R Merry, N Forker. Subs: A Doyle for C Hill, G Gaffney for C McClelland, N Woods for G Fitzpatrick, c Byrne for N Forker, T Maxwell for M O’Callaghan, N Murphy for C Doyle, N McClatchey for S Quinn.