Early goals 'allowed us to play our game' says Armagh Ladies boss Darnell Parkinson after the Ulster Final

Aoife McCoy had the ball in the back of the Tir Chonaill net twice in the opening 15 minutes, allowing Armagh to take control of the game, and they never looked back.

“We knew Donegal were going to sit in and that was key for us to be able to play our game and not let them play their game,” he said.

“We wanted to try and get ahead early, that forced them to come out a bit and allowed us to play our game. Thankfully we got the early scores on the board and then after that it panned out in our favour. We had to do that because we know how Donegal play, we saw the game last year, if you don’t put the game to bed then you’re going to be biting your nails until the final whistle.

“The next thing you know, you’re going into injury time. Donegal are a team in transition so we just knew we had to get on top early and use our experience to see the game out after that.”

It was a measured and controlled performance from the Orchard County as they led throughout and never allowed Donegal a chance to comeback into the game. Parkinson – who manages the team alongside Joe Feeney – said it was a ‘monkey off our backs’ for the group, after a disappointing loss to Kerry in the NFL Division 1 league final.

“I suppose after the last final we were in, we were looking for a big performance first and foremost and thankfully we got that today, it’s a bit of a monkey off our backs.

“That’s what we told the girls, it doesn’t matter who the opposition is in front of you, you have to go out and do the job and that’s what they done today. We’re absolutely delighted for the whole group.

“We wanted a reaction, we had a good few weeks there to regroup and get a couple of hard weeks training under our belts. Obviously the game was moved forward a week with the men playing but the scheduling worked out well.

“We were able to get the training in that we needed and now we can look forward to the All-Ireland coming up.”

Armagh benefitted from impact off the bench, with three of their substitutes, Kelly Mallon, Caoimhe McNally and Maeve Lennon finding the target, and Parkinson says that he has come to expect those sorts of impacts from the bench players.

“They’ve done that all year really,” he said.

“At the start of the league, we were almost forced to give those young girls a chance because we gave a lot of the Clann Eireann girls an extended break.

“It’s very much a case of, they need these opportunities because you don’t get experience without getting out on to the pitch. They’re the future of Armagh and this year will really stand to them over many years to come.”

Saturday was a wonderful occasion for the supporters of both Armagh and Donegal, as a huge crowd descended on Clones for the Ulster Final double-header.

Parkinson told his players to ‘stay connected’ despite the deafening noise, but ultimately he encouraged the players to enjoy the experience.

“At half time, we said there’d be a lot of people here by the end of the game so we wanted to stay as connected as possible, keep the communication really good and then enjoy it as well at the end of it.

“There’s so many connections between the groups, half the girls are going to be sitting down now watching brothers, boyfriends, cousins so it’s a really good occasion.”

Silverware was achieved on Saturday, but Armagh have their sights set on bigger and better things to come.

Having reached the semi-finals of the All-Ireland SFC last year, the Orchard Ladies know that they’re in the mix to win it, and Parkinson says that is the ultimate goal for 2025.

“It has to be the goal,” said the former Pearse Ogs player.

“It was our target from the start of the year as a group. I said it after the league final, it doesn’t change that overall goal. We had beaten Kerry the previous year in the league final, they still went on and won the All-Ireland.

“Obviously the way the league final went, it was more disappointing than we expected it to be but as I said that day, you don’t become a bad team overnight. This is a really good team, we just have to stick together and react and work and respond in the right way.”