Déise ladies off to a flyer with impressive away win

Lidl National Ladies Football League Division 1A 

Waterford 2-14 

Armagh 0-8 

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 side's second three-pointer, and they tagged on the final three points of the day to soar into a 12-point win.

Scorers for 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.

Scorers for 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).