‘We’re hoping for more brilliant support from the Armagh fans’ says Lauren McConville ahead of the Division 1 final

​Armagh Ladies meet Kerry in this weekend’s Division 1 league final, marking the latest chapter in a fascinating competitive rivalry.

The same two sides met in the 2022 Division 2 final and last year’s Division 1 showpiece, with Kerry winning three years ago, but Armagh getting their own back 12 months ago.

In league meetings, Armagh triumphed over Kerry last year and picked up an impressive win in Tralee this January, but in Championship action the Kingdom have ended the Orchard County’s season twice in the past three years.

Going by their previous match-ups, Armagh’s Lauren McConville believes that there won’t be much to separate the sides at HQ come 5pm on Saturday.

“We're very familiar with Kerry at this stage,” she said.

“Every game we've had over the last four years has been a massive battle and they've been close games too; it's always very competitive against them. They're a strong, athletic, skilful team so we'll expect nothing less next week.

“But look, we've prepared really well for it. We feel like our form is good and just looking forward to meeting them again.”

Armagh won the Division 1 title for the first time ever last year, and McConville says that winning silverware again at this stage of the season would set them up well for the Championship, and getting to play at Croke Park may stand them in good stead later on in the year.

“We said that we wanted to make a league final and when you're making a league final, you want to win one too,” said the Crossmaglen woman.

It's a belief thing as well. We do believe that we can do it.

“Leading into the Championship then, just going off with that winning momentum, it'll really stand to you. Knowing that you compete with all these top teams and winning the big day too is very important.

“And of course, you want to get that experience in Croke Park, hoping that you'll maybe be in an All-Ireland final later this year.”

Reflecting on the campaign, which saw Armagh win five in a row, but lose their final two matches, McConville says that the team are pleased that they achieved their goal of reaching the league final.

“We're very happy with how the league campaign went,” she said.

“Obviously we lost a couple of games towards the end, but the good thing out of that is that plenty of players got game time. We got new players on to the panel, getting those minutes in.

“We started well. It was great to beat Kerry in the first league game. That kind of set us in motion for the rest of the league. We're very happy that we finished in the top two and obviously having a league final to look forward to, that was kind of the goal that was set out at the start of the league.

“So, it's great to have achieved that so far.”

Earlier in the league campaign, Armagh were without captain Clodagh McCambridge, 2024 All Star winner Grace Ferguson and experienced forward Kelly Mallon due to injury, but the players who stepped in made their mark, and McConville says that the competition for places is very high as a result.

“Yeah, absolutely, every girl that's got a chance has really taken it and done so well.

“We've had the likes of Caoimhe McNally, who's come on in every game and scored in most of those and had really important points in games for us.

“Eimear McGeown made her debut against Kerry and did brilliantly. It's great to have all those players on board and great to see them get their chances. It certainly stood us throughout this league campaign and no doubt it will next week as well.”

Saturday’s final takes place at Croke Park, and McConville is hoping that the Orchard County’s fans come out in force to add to a ‘special occasion’.

“Any time that you get to play in Croke Park, it's a special occasion. We always cherish it.

“For me, it'll be my fourth time playing in it. But yeah, it's a great occasion. Last year, the support was brilliant from all the Armagh fans and we're hoping to see the same come Saturday.”

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'We want to defend our crown’

Armagh Ladies co-manager Darnell Parkinson agreed with McConville that reaching the league final was of massive importance to the team, saying that they want to experience the Croke Park atmosphere and defend their crown.

“Getting to the league final was really big for us for a couple of aspects,” he said in the wake of Armagh’s final league game against Meath.

“One, we’re getting that extra experience in Croke Park. We saw Kerry doing it over the last few years, they have been in those league finals and that experience has stood to them on the big day.

“The other thing is that, with the length of the break we have between the league and the Ulster Championship, because there’s only one game, it’s an extra game for us and it’s something to break up that time period.

“Obviously we’re the defending champions so we want to go out and defend that crown. Getting to the league final was a big goal for us so we ticked that box thankfully.”