Waterford 1-22 Armagh 1-12
Kerry 0-13 Meath 1-8
****
WATERFORD STUNNED THE Lidl NFL Division 1 leaders Armagh while Kerry have booked their place in a third consecutive league final.
The Déise blew the reigning champions away with 16 second-half points. Ballymacarbry trio Kellyann Hogan, Bríd McMaugh and Clare Walsh scored 1-15 between them as Tomás Mac a t’Saoir’s side registered their third win of the campaign. Rebecca Casey was another outstanding performer at centre back.
Armagh won the toss and elected to play with the strong breeze in the first half. It was Waterford who attacked straight away however and Áine O’Neill split the uprights after just 40 seconds. Niamh Reel levelled from a free. Bríd McMaugh then won a Waterford free which Kellyann Hogan converted.
Armagh defender Róisín Mulligan tied the scores again. A Karen McGrath tackle led to a McMaugh point at the other end. Eve Lavery made it three apiece after ten minutes. Aoife McCoy added another for Armagh off a Waterford short kickout. Déise captain Emma Murray cleared a ball off the line and then fired a point.
The next three white flags belonged to the wind assisted visitors. Lavery scored two more off her left before Niamh Reel got another. On 18 minutes, Maeve Ryan and Lauren McGregor sent Clare Walsh through on goal and she bended a shot off her right boot to the far corner of the Armagh net (1-5 to 0-7). Hogan extended Waterford’s lead.
Déise number one Katelyn Gardiner smothered a shot from Niamh Reel before Lavery (free), McCoy and Moya Feehan edged the Orchard County back in front at halfway (0-10 to 1-6). Waterford created two goal chances and three point chances before the break but got no return.
Points from Eve Power, Katie Murray and Lauren McGregor snuck the home side ahead early in the second period. Blaithin Mackin got one back but the league leaders were swept aside by a Waterford blitz. Tomás Mac a t’Saoir’s team struck seven points in the space of six minutes. The brilliant Bríd McMaugh accounted for three. Kellyann Hogan kicked two while McGregor and Walsh added one each.
Déise centre back Rebecca Casey kept Armagh at bay with inspirational tackles and interceptions. Late scores from Hogan and Emma Murray sealed a sensational home victory. Mackin converted a last minute penalty for Armagh.
Meanwhile, Kerry progressed to the league final after an exciting two point victory over a well drilled Meath at Austin Stack Park.
Playing with a strong breeze in the opening half, Kerry took a 0-6 to 0-2 lead in at the break. It was Meath who were first off the mark however when Niamh Gallogly slotted over after a bout of good patient play from the visitors. Kerry then had a goal chance in the seventh minute when Mary O’Connell picked up a kick out, but Jadyn Lucey shot straight at Robyn Murray with the goal at her mercy. Siofra O’Shea got Kerry’s first from a free two minutes later but in the 12th minute Danielle O’Leary had a goal ruled out for a square ball after Niamh Ní Chonchúir’s shot for a point fell short. Both sides were guilty of some basic errors but Meath, with Vikki Wall a major influence, took the lead in the 15th minute when Emma Duggan slotted over. Murray then made a brilliant save in the Meath goal from Niamh Carmody although O’Leary pointed soon afterwards to level up the game at 0-2 apiece. From here on the rest of the half belonged to Kerry as they found their rhythm and scores from Carmody, a fine individual point from Aishling O’Connell and two frees from O’Shea saw the hosts take a four point lead in at the break. Kerry started the second half like they meant business with scores from Anna Galvin and Carmody and Robin Murray was forced into another fine save, this time from O’Shea, Then Meath took control, scoring 1-5 in a nine minute spell with Meadhbh Byrne hitting a brilliant goal in the 42nd minute. Byrne saw yellow two minutes later and her loss hurt Meath. Rachel Dwyer struck a super point for Kerry off the bench and O’Shea struck for three to nudge Kerry 0-11 to 1-8 ahead with six minutes left on the clock. The large crowd were really involved now, and O’Shea pointed another free for Kerry and then Dwyer struck for her second to seal the Kerry victory after a very exciting second half. Scorers – Kerry: S O’Shea 0-6 (5f), N Carmody 0-2, R Dwyer 0-2, D O’Leary 0-1, A O’Connell 0-1, A Galvin 0-1. Meath: E Duggan 0-5 (2f), M Byrne 1-1, N Gallogly 0-1. C Smyth 0-1. Kerry: ME Bolger; E Lynch, D Kearney, R Rahilly; K Cronin, A O’Connell, A Dillane; M O’Connell, A Galvin (capt.); C Evans, N Ní Chonchúir, N Carmody; J Lucey, S O’Shea, D O’Leary. Subs: R Dwyer for J Lucey 47, C McCarthy for A Dillane 55, L Boyle for C Evans 58.J Curtin for N Carmody 59. Meath: R Murray; A Sheridan, S Wall, A Gaffney; K Newe, MK Lynch (capt.), C Millington; N Gallogly, E Moyles; M Thynne, O Sheehy C Smyth; M Byrne, V Wall, E Duggan. Subs: M Farrelly for E Moyles 21, K Kealy for C Millington 34, N Troy for A Gaffney 48, M Collins for K Newe 55. Referee: Shane Curley (Galway).
Scorers for Waterford: K Hogan 0-8 (4fs), C Walsh 1-2, B McMaugh 0-5, E Murray, L McGregor 0-2 each, E Power, A O’Neill, K Murray 0-1 each.
Armagh: B Mackin 1-1 (1-0 pen), E Lavery 0-4 (2fs), A McCoy, N Reel (1f) 0-2 each, R Mulligan, M Feehan, K Mallon (1f) 0-1 each.
Waterford: K Gardiner; C Murray, E Power, M Ryan; C McCarthy, R Casey, K McGrath; E Murray, H Power; Á O’Neill, K Murray; B McMaugh; K Hogan, C Walsh, L McGregor. Subs: L Ni Arta for McCarthy (48), N Power for Ryan (53), C Fennell for Walsh (56), A Brazil for McGregor (60).
Armagh: A Carr; M Ferguson, C Towe, L Kenny; G Ferguson, L McConville, R Mulligan; N Coleman, B Mackin; E Druse, A McCoy, E Lavery; N Reel, M Feehan, N Henderson. Subs: C McCambridge for G Ferguson (22), C McNally for M Ferguson (HT), K Mallon for McConville (40), E McGeown for Feehan (48), M McCann for Coleman (52), C Marley for Reel (58), S Quigley for Lavery (58), M Lennon for Druse (60).
Referee: E O’Neill (Kildare).
Reporting by Tomás McCarthy and Dan Kearney