Mackin targets more big days at Headquarters
2022 TG4 All-Ireland Ladies’ Football Championships
By DAIRE WALSH
SHE enjoyed a rare run-out at the venue earlier this year, but Armagh ladies’ footballer Aimee Mackin is hoping it won’t be long before she gets to grace the hallowed turf of Croke Park again.
Despite an impressive tally of six points from the Shane O’Neill’s ace, the Orchard County fell short to Kerry in a National Football League Division Two final held at Headquarters on April 10.
In years gone by, it was only the All-Ireland finalists in the LGFA – across the senior, intermediate and junior grades – who got to feature in Croke Park at Championship time.
Although Armagh’s most recent showpiece appearance in the top tier was as far back as 2006, a number of penultimate round games have been held there in recent years and Mackin is eager for more big days in Dublin.
“The Division Two final, it was nice to get out and play in Croke Park. I know a lot of our girls, it was probably our first time and the opportunities haven’t come around too often for Armagh to be playing in Croke Park,” Mackin remarked.
“It was nice to play on the pitch. Unfortunately it didn’t end the way we wanted it to. We’d like to get back there some day, but we’ll take each game as it comes.”
Mackin was back in Croke Park yesterday for the launch of the All-Ireland championships, which are returning to a more familiar format in 2022 following two seasons that were severely disrupted because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
A narrow extra-time victory over Donegal in an intense Ulster championship final last Sunday means Donegal will be seeded in Group B of the All-Ireland series. While this could work to their advantage, Mackin was just glad to get her hands on a piece of silverware in Clones after the disappointment of their NFL reversal to Kerry.
“Your province is so important and especially if you win it, it’s such a high regard. We watched it back, it was an intense game. There probably didn’t deserve to be a loser on the day. Donegal are a phenomenal team and we were just fortunate enough in the end. We got a chance and we took it.”
An inter-county debutant back in 2015, the LGFA landscape was dominated by Cork and Dublin during Mackin’s opening six seasons on the Armagh senior panel. That changed utterly in 2021, however, with Meath defeating both counties on their way to securing an historic All-Ireland senior title last September.
The Royals ascended to this position less than 12 months on from achieving national intermediate glory and Mackin believes their rise has added considerable intrigue for this year’s championship.
“Meath are phenomenal and what they’ve done in the game is just phenomenal. Winning the intermediate and going up straight to the senior. You have to take your hat off to them,” Mackin added.
“Their whole team and the backroom team behind them. They were brilliant last year and fully deserved it. They haven’t stopped. It will be an interesting championship and we’re all looking forward to it.”