Big chance to end Armagh hoodoo
Lily Mae, and Claire and Emma Queeney, The Walk, Roscommon Town, supporting the county junior camogie team during their recent championship game against Wicklow
The Roscommon junior camogie team will sense a golden opportunity to end “the Armagh hoodoo” when they travel to the BOX-IT Athletic Grounds today (throw-in at 3.30 p.m.) for their penultimate group game in this year’s Premier Junior Championship.
Three wins on the bounce have Mary Grehan’s side sitting pretty on top of the table alongside Cavan, with their place in the last four assured with two games to spare.
But a win on Saturday afternoon, followed by another victory against Cavan in their final game, would propel Roscommon into top spot outright, and present a great chance of reaching the final.
But Armagh have been a familiar thorn in Roscommon’s side — most recently when PJ O’Mullan’s charges defeated Roscommon in the Division 3A League final in April.
Since the start of 2024, these sides have squared off seven times. On all seven occasions, Armagh have emerged triumphant. Yet, there is a sense that Roscommon have been gradually closing the gap.
Add in the fact that Armagh enter this contest after suffering a sobering nine-point defeat to Cavan in their second game and perhaps Roscommon have an opportunity to pounce. On the flip side, Armagh did bounce back with an emphatic 3-15 to 0-9 win over Tyrone last time out as Rachel Trainor struck for 0-10 while Ciara Geoghan bagged two goals.
Roscommon have shown a keen eye for scores in the championship to date. Orla Connolly has enjoyed a superb 2026 while Kaitlin Egan has made the step-up to adult intercounty level camogie seamlessly.
Áine O’Meara has been prolific, while Rachel Fitzmaurice enters this contest with confidence after bagging a hat-trick of goals during Roscommon’s rout of Wicklow. It is set to be another busy weekend for “Fitzy”, with the ladies’ footballers lining out against Leitrim on Sunday afternoon.
Erin McDermott did an excellent marking job on Ciara Hill in the league final, and it is hard to see Roscommon deviating from giving the Oran clubwoman that role again on Saturday. Michaela Lohan looks set to become reacquainted with Sinead Quinn once more, while Anna Hussey could be tasked with trying to curb the influence of Rachel Trainor.
This is an opportunity for Roscommon to produce a statement of intent, but home advantage and their spread of attacking threats may see Armagh go level on points with Roscommon by the time 5 p.m. rolls around next Saturday evening.
