Armagh 0-16
Tyrone 0-5

by Shaun Casey

A strong second-half display form Division One champions Armagh put rivals Tyrone to the sword in round two of the Lidl NFL at St Paul’s.

The sides were all square at the break but the Orchard County were the dominant force once the sides switched ends.

Tyrone failed to score after the turnaround and a yellow card to corner forward Chloe McCaffrey midway through the second period left last year’s beaten TG4 All-Ireland intermediate championship finalists with an even more difficult task.

Armagh, who needed three late goals to secure an opening day win over All-Ireland champions Kerry last weekend, didn’t hit the net this time but kept the scoreboard ticking over with points.

It was the Red Hands were who the commanding side during the opening exchanges, however. As the rain trickled down at the Lurgan venue, the visiting side raced into a 0-4 to 0-1 lead.

Maria Canavan, her side’s only scorer in their first round defeat to Meath, got things up and running with a pointed free. Armagh top scorer Niamh Reel played provider early on and set up the energetic Emily Druse for the equaliser.

Canavan fired over two more frees while McCaffrey also raised a white flag to put her team three ahead. That gap could have been wider, but McCaffrey’s goal chance sailed harmlessly wide.

Caroline O’Hanlon pointed and two from Reel, her second a marvellous outside-of-the-boot effort, got the Orchard back on level terms. Canavan and Reel traded scores to bring the first-half to a close, with the sides tied at 0-5 apiece.

Within 90 seconds of the second period, Armagh stretched three ahead with Druse, Niamh Coleman and O’Hanlon all firing over scores. Roisin Mulligan and Reel grew the lead further as Tyrone were reduced to 14 players for a ten-minute period.

A stunning Amelia Coyle stop denied Druse a goal, but Armagh continued to split the posts with Reel landing four of the final five points (all frees) while Maeve Lennon also got in on the scoring act.

The victory sets Armagh up well for their trip to Dublin next weekend and they’ll be keen to extend their winning streak. Tyrone on the other hand have yet to get off the mark and will hope to do so against Mayo in round three.

Scorers – Armagh: N Reel 0-8 (5f), C O’Hanlon 0-2 (1f), E Druse 0-2, R Mulligan, N Coleman, M Lennon, C McNally 0-1 each.

Tyrone: M Canavan 0-4 (4f), C McCaffrey 0-1.

ARMAGH: A Carr; M Ferguson, C Garvey, C Towe; E Druse, L McConville, R Mulligan; N Coleman, C O’Hanlon; A McCoy, M Feehan, B Mackin; N Reel, E McGeown, M Lennon. Subs: N Henderson for E McGeown (39), C McNally for B Mackin (44), M Lavery for E Druse (54), L Kavanagh for M Ferguson (56) R Cunningham for A McCoy (56).

TYRONE: A Coyle; J Lyons, J Barrett, E Quinn; C Canavan, M Corrigan, A Strain; A McHugh, M Mallon; C Campbell, S Byrne, E McNamee; C McCaffrey, M Canavan, A Quinn. Subs: A Horisk for A Quinn (39), S McCarroll for E McNamee (44), A Grimes for C Canavan (47), E Conroy for S Byrne (52), C Daly for A Strain (57), M Moore for C Campbell (59).

Referee: Eoghan O’Neill (Kildare)

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