​Armagh take on Mayo with place in the All-Ireland semi-final at stake

​Last time Armagh made the last four was in the pandemic-delayed campaign of 2020 when the group winners progressed straight to the semis and the orangewomen won the crunch clash with this weekend’s opponents Mayo at Parnell Park.

That was the first of four consecutive victories by Armagh over the western women so far this decade, followed by group games in 2021 and last year, and then this season’s NFL fixture in Ballina on St Patrick’s Day.

The last time that Armagh lost to Mayo was in the 2019 All-Ireland quarter-final just after their first-ever victory over Cork in the championship but that was a win which came at a cost with star forward Aimee Mackin sustaining a cruciate rupture.

Mackin was also absent through injury when Cork beat Armagh at the Athletic Grounds in last season’s quarter-final, a home tie secured by the ace markswoman’s last-kick penalty two weeks earlier which snatched victory over Mayo and top spot in the group.

Unfortunately for Armagh, Aimee Mackin is missing again this time following a second cruciate tear of her career but younger sibling Blaithin is back from injury and manager Greg McGonigle will hope to have veteran Caroline O’Hanlon available again.

The triple All Star missed the home victory over Meath and draw with Tipperary in Thurles which were enough for Armagh to finish first in Group A on the back of their historic NFL title triumph and regaining the provincial crown by defeating Donegal in the Clones showpiece.

This is the eighth consecutive season that Armagh have qualified for the last eight of the TG4 Senior Championship but they have lost all six quarter-finals played during that period so will be desperate to end that sequence.

Under four different management teams, the Orchard crew bowed out with defeats to Kerry, Donegal and Mayo in consecutive campaigns at the end of last decade followed by exits at the hands of Meath, Kerry and Cork respectively these past three seasons.

But McGonigle has steered teams – Monaghan and Dublin – to five All-Ireland finals in his last six seasons of county football management and the Orchard can also take confidence from having shown such character in getting results this season.

Their only defeat to date came with a very experimental line-up in a league game against Dublin after Armagh had already qualified for their first ever top flight final but they have won several very close contests followed by at least avoiding defeat against Tipperary.

The late equalising score at Semple Stadium after Armagh had been rocked by two opposition goals in the space of three minutes midway through the second half came from Niamh Henderson, a real revelation on her return to county football after a long absence.

Although this season’s Clones showpiece was Armagh’s seventh consecutive Ulster final it was the first in a decade for Player of the Match Henderson, who had captained Clann Eireann to their historic provincial club championship success last autumn.

Originally side-lined by a serious knee injury and thereafter focusing on motherhood, Henderson was tempted back into the Orchard fold in February by her club boss McGonigle and she is enjoying her second coming in the Armagh jersey.

“We’ve really had to dig deep in those two crucial league games against Kerry and Mayo, both finals and our two All Ireland group matches. They were all tight games we could easily have lost but didn’t and hopefully those experiences stand to us going forward.

“Against Tipperary, we were favourites and didn’t play badly but didn’t score enough so when they got the two quick goals, we were really up against it. But our response showed the character and determination in the team and now we need to keep pushing on,” she insists.

Aimee Mackin’s cutting edge would be missed by any team but Armagh had 11 different scorers in May’s Ulster final while the impressive Eve Lavery, fit-again Blaithin Mackin and Emily Druse have each raised white flags since.

Armagh have lost the hero of last season’s victory over this Sunday’s opponents, Niamh Marley, to rugby but several leading lights have turned their backs on Mayo in recent years in favour of the AFLW Down Under.

Despite that absenteeism, Mayo have remained a formidable force and although they, slightly surprisingly, lost this season’s Connacht final to relegated Galway, Armagh will have to be at their best to break that long losing streak in All Ireland quarter-finals.

O’Hanlon had to sit out both group games but if the 39-year-old is fit to return to action after missing the end of netball’s British SuperLeague season through injury, her huge experience could prove very valuable.

Crossmaglen’s Lauren McConville has had taken on the mantle of the Orchard’s inspirational player more recently and she won Player of the Match last time Mayo came to the Cathedral City as well as in this season’s NFL final.

Her fellow stalwart Aoife McCoy netted twice against Meath last month while Lavery offers an alternative left-footed free-taker in Aimee Mackin’s absence.