Armagh fall to deadly rivals

ARMAGH were well beaten by their near rivals Down in Newry on Saturday night in a game which failed to live up to any of the pre-match expectations.

Most of the hype surrounded two former Down All-Ireland winners, namely James McCartan and Paddy O’Rourke.

McCartan will, no doubt, play down the win and keep his side focused on clinching their promotion to division one. For O’Rourke, however, the defeat will have raised serious questions about the quality of his Orchard side who are now rated as rank outsiders for the All-Ireland series.

The crowd fell well short of what the organising bodies had suggested, with large swathes of the terracing behind both goals unfilled.

Down, it appeared, were not unduly influenced by the hype as they raced out of the blocks with an early goal from Benny Coulter. Although the visitors succumbed to an early onslaught, which saw them trail by eight points, they fought back to cut that lead to just two.

That was as good as it would get, however, as Armagh lost all remnants of shape or structure in the second half when the game began to slip well beyond reach.

Victories over a poor Westmeath side, the gallantry of a late win in Portlaoise and the victory over Kildare have now been put into some perspective as the lights of Pairc Esler showed a lot of fundamental flaws.

Following the outrageous dismissal of Finnian Moriarty for what appeared to be a ‘nothing’ incident, Armagh were on the road to defeat. The two second half points were a paltry addition to McDonnell’s well-dispatched penalty, which came midway through the first half, and proved no more than token resistance.

Throwing Tony Kernan and Michael McNamee into the fray were late gestures, the earlier introductions of Charlie Vernon and Malachy Mackin seemed crazy considering that Armagh were trailing and needed scores. Ryan Henderson, who played just 20 minutes, would have been bitterly disappointed.

Stefan Forker, who played well last time out, was also hauled ashore and with McDonnell double-marked, following Armagh’s loss of Moriarty, the manager’s attempts to go for power players in an attempt to win possession simply faltered.

Several yellow cards, some for tiny infractions, were issued and bad wides from both sides peppered the 70 minutes which ended with Armagh supporters pouring towards the exits and wondering what lies ahead in the Anglo-Celt cup.

The game, although not quite living up to its huge billing, did see some decent hits. Armagh skipper Ciaran McKeever will not be receiving too many Christmas cards from Mourne supporters this year following his clattering of former Oz star Martin Clarke who caused problems before retiring with an injury.

It would appear, however, that Armagh goalkeeping concerns prevail. Andy Mallon obviously did not get a shout from net-minder McEvoy who dealt poorly with a Danny Hughes cross, the end result of which was an easy tap-in for Mayobridge’s Coulter.

Down’s first victory over their nearest rivals for 15 years probably speaks louder about the standard to which Armagh have fallen than the heights reached by the ‘Black and Reds’. Down are making steady progress, a statement evidenced by their early burst and their discipline in defending their lead. It should be said, however, that O’Rourke’s decision to replace footballers with ‘tacklers’ only added to the defensive nature of the game.

Brendan Donaghy, for the losing side, showed his quality yet again despite being under pressure throughout. Kieran Toner took some great early catches whilst Aaron Kernan, at number 11, looked confused and failed to register a score.

The question now is whether or not Ronan Clarke’s reintroduction will help to lift the county’s scoring potential. It was clear to the average punter on Saturday evening that Clarke would have helped the Orchard attack had he played.

Down hit six unanswered points in the second half as the visitors failed to register for a full 32 minutes before Gareth Swift’s late score brought their tally to two in the second half.

One saving grace for the Orchard is that Derry, who Armagh are set to face in Celtic Park come June, are not exactly setting the GAA world alight with their recent form either.

The Orchard side may have one big performance in their locker which could see them beat the Oak Leafers in their own back yard but it will take the team to improve hugely on this All-Ulster game to do so.