Disappointment for Whites

However, any hopes of an easy fixture were soon quashed as Armagh quickly gained the upper hand and took the lead on nine minutes as Shea McGerrigan took advantage of some poor defending by the home side as he duly slotted the ball into the bottom corner of the net, the Whites defence giving the striker far too much space and time to think.

The hosts settled a little after this and Martin Jones nearly had the Whites back on track as his cross come shot was parried over the bar by visiting ‘keeper Sean Morgan - so close for the equaliser for the home side.

Armagh were playing five across the midfield trying to block Distillery advancing and it was clear to see it was frustrating the home bench, however, Jones had a superb chance to get level only for a world class save by the big presence in goal in the shape of

Morgan.

A very uninspiring first half for the Whites and overall a poor game with no real volume of clear cut chances being created by the hosts.

Ryan Corrigan was replaced at half time by Jimmy McIlhagga, Stephen Doyle also was introduced coming on for Colm Kirgan a stern piece of business by the Distillery gaffer and indeed for the first minutes of the half it seemed to work as Distillery had the ball in the net to level on forty nine minutes, Whites skipper Darren Nixon bundling the ball over the line to the sigh of relief from the Distillery fans.

And so the scores were level, the Whites tails were up and the home fans sensed that the game was now there to be won but sadly this wasn’t to be the case as the hosts simply wilted away after equalising, whilst Armagh went on to dominate in every area of the park.

Armagh got the winner when from a corner Ultan Lennon headed the ball into the net past the despairing dive of McBride on 82 minutes.

Things went from bad to worse when Distillery were reduced to ten men as Derry showed his frustration by retaliating after a Murray tackle. And so a really poor performance from the Whites and doubtless one which will have left manager Kincaid frustrated and thoughtful as he seeks to somehow rebuild confidence ahead of next week’s Steel and Sons Cup game against Carrick Rangers.