WOMEN'S FOOTBALL ALL-IRELAND CHAMPIONSHIP:REIGNING ALL-IRELAND champions Dublin walloped hapless Kildare, 4-15 to 0-5, in a one-sided round-one qualifier at Pearse Park, Longford, yesterday evening.
The Jackies bounced back from their shock Leinster semi-final defeat at the hands of Meath with an ominous display, as the Lilywhites were totally overwhelmed.
Dublin, with some key personnel back in harness, including Mary Nevin and Siobhan McGrath, were in superb form and had it wrapped up by half-time.
At the midway point, Dublin had established a 3-7 to 0-1 lead, with player-of-thematch Noelle Healy, Sinead Aherne and Lindsay Peat scoring the first-half goals.
Healy and Peat finished as joint top scorers with 1-3 apiece, Aherne grabbed 1-2, while the strength in depth of Dublin’s bench was illustrated as Lyndsey Davey nabbed 1-1.
Amy McGuinness also made a welcome return from injury with a substitute’s appearance and Tommy Brown’s side will prove difficult to stop as the season progresses.
Sligo advanced to the second round with a surprise seven-point victory – 3-12 to 2-8 – over Armagh at Pearse Park, Longford, on Saturday afternoon.
Armagh were heavy favourites before throw-in but a committed Sligo tore up the formbook and were full value for an impressive win. With 28 minutes on the watch, Sligo were 3-5 to 0-0 clear as they put their Connacht championship mauling against Mayo firmly behind them.
Armagh’s top scorer Kelly Mallon scored 1-1 before half-time to give the Orchard County some hope but they had little chance of pulling back a deficit which had stood at 14 points.
Armagh cut the gap back to six points twice in the closing stages but Sligo held their nerve to close the game out. Noelle Gormley scored 2-2 for the Yeats County as full forward Sandra Scully chipped in with 0-4.
