'Everyone is playing for their jersey' says Armagh Ladies co-manager Darnell Parkinson after win over Mayo

The Orchard girls have been without key players Aimee Mackin, Clodagh McCambridge and Kelly Mallon, whilst All Star defender Grace Frerguson got her first minutes off the bench.

However, their absence has meant that Armagh have had the opportunity to test out the depth in their squad, with Parkinson – who manages the team alongside Joe Feeney – stating that ‘everyone is playing for their jersey’.

“We knew at the start of the season, that we have eight or Clann Éireann players and we made the call very early that we weren’t going to bring them back in immediately. They deserved a bit of extra rest, so we told the squad there were going to be chances there for all of them.

“We didn’t want them seeing it that they were just waiting for someone to come back in and take their jersey. The likes of Moya Feehan kicked a couple of points in the first half. She forced herself to go off because she was sick at half-time.

“Maeve Ferguson got injured in a college match midweek, so we had to make the call there. The squad is really healthy, and we still have a couple of players to come back in as well so we can’t be unhappy with that.

“Last week was actually the first time where we were able to have a full in-house game, full pitch. It ended up that we had one team winning by a point and you come away from that absolutely delighted, that’s exactly what you want.

“Everyone is playing for their jersey and when an in-house game is as competitive as that, that is showing the depth in the squad.”

The win – which was spearheaded by 2-1 from Niamh Henderson – takes Armagh’s record to four from four in the National League and last year’s Division 1 champions are moving in the right direction towards retaining their crown.

“We were happy with the first half, maybe not so much with the second half,” reflected Parkinson.

“But it’s always good to get a win and still come out with a lot of things to improve on. We got to use a lot of our squad as well, so you’ve got to take that into consideration.”

“(Mayo’s second half fightback was) pretty much the exact same thing happened in the league game last year. We were nine up and they got it back, I think they actually went ahead in that game and then we ended up winning by a point.

“You saw in the men’s game before, we knew going up the hill that a team is always going to get a bit of a run on you so it’s just about weathering their purple patch and then trying to tag on scores when you get your own chances.”

Up next for the Orchard girls is a home tie against Kildare and the goal will be to keep momentum rolling.

“When myself and Joe took the job on, we had a fair idea of what was already there,” said Parkinson.

“We knew there were players there that possibly didn’t get opportunities last year that they maybe did deserve to get.

“This year we said we’d throw them in and see what they’ve got and if they’re good enough, if they’re hungry enough, they’ll prove it out on the pitch and thankfully they are doing that.”