ARMAGH GOT THEIR second win of the division 1 campaign with an incredibly entertaining win over Dublin at the BOX-IT Athletic Grounds.
Getting to grips with Evan Comerford’s kickout for Dublin, they continuously punished Dublin and had 1-9 on the scoreboard before Con O’Callaghan opened the Metropolitans account on 20 minutes.
The first half showcased what the game of Gaelic football could be, but it was being played by only one team.
From the second minute, the Dublin issue was identified. Andrew Murnin scored the first point and from his first kickout, Evan Comerford dithered too long for referee Niall Cullen’s liking who awarded a free in that Conor Turbitt converted.
So let’s crack into the numbers. From that point to 20 minutes in, Armagh scored 1-9 to 0-0, Dublin had nine more kickouts. They lost seven of them in the breaks, were fouled on one other, and the final one went too short to Theo Clancy, a free ensued that Armagh played a solo and go and they played out to Oisín O’Neill to loft over a two-pointer.
The goal arrived from a bullet pass from goalkeeper Ethan Rafferty to full-back Barry McCambridge who had drifted to full-forward, turned and blasted beyond Comerford.
Straight after, they had another sight of goal when Armagh again won the break, O’Neill was played through and got a hand to the ball to give Conor Turbitt a half-chance that Clancy prevented going in; the ball was brought out for a ’45 that Rafferty converted.
Comerford’s heads must have been spinning and he still had a mountain of work to do in preventing further goals from Turbitt and two from Greg McCabe, one that he flicked over the bar from close-range.
In all, eight Armagh players scored in the first half to go 1-12 to 0-3 ahead at the break.
Dublin’s own scores came from Brian Howard, Con O’Callaghan and Luke Breathnach, but they looked awestruck by the pace Armagh showed while bringing the ball upfield, and their ability to dominated the kickouts.
For those that say that the dubious, ahem, ‘art’ of the short kickout is dead, check out Ethan Rafferty who used his left foot to execute the difficult kick across the body to find a succession of Armagh defenders loitering on the cusp of the large arc and 21 metre line. That one will be copied.
We’ve seen these half time margins before, especially in this league. But as Armagh were attacking into the Drumarg Terrace in the first half, there wasn’t even the slightest hint of a breeze.
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While Armagh had the opening two points of the second half, they had to weather a massive third quarter from Dublin that brought a period of 1-7 unanswered, boosted by a brace of two-point scores from Con O’Callaghan.
However, for all their increased effort after the break, Dublin were incredibly wasteful with eight wides in the second half, while Armagh kicked back into gear with five points in the last twenty minutes.
While Comerford had some jitters in the first half from the kicking tee, this time Rafferty had a measure of discomfort. Dublin had spells when they were completely on top and when Rafferty tried to work a couple of short kickouts, he was in bother with one going out over the sideline.
Not a hanging offence, but on the night it was with the crowd jumpy enough, it made for a severe testing atmosphere.
For all Armagh’s excellence, Dublin grafted well with Lorcan O’Dell showing up well with a goal at an important stage and Kevin Lahiff clipping over a point when introduced as a blood sub for two minutes.
Cormac Costello looked bright and dangerous, still drawn to the endline and testing a defender.
With all this pressure, Dublin found themselves just five points down with 15 minutes to go. The margin should have been cut even finer when Costello clearly shot inside the posts with the entire press box in agreement that his shot was good.
Not for linesman Barry Cassidy though, who brought referee Cullen over to have a brief discussion, and he scratched the ‘score.’
With that, Armagh seized the reprieve and made a push for home.
Scorers for Armagh: Conor Turbitt 0-5 (3 frees), Greg McCabe 0-3, Barry McCambridge 1-0, Ross McQuillan 0-2, Rory Grugan 0-2, Oisín O’Neill 0-2 (1 2 point), Thomas McCormack, Darragh McMullan, Andrew Murnin 0-1 each, Ethan Rafferty 0-1 (1x’45’)
Scorers for Dublin: Con O’Callaghan 0-6 (1x2point, 1×2 point free, 1 free), Lorcan O’Dell 1-0, Luke Breathnach 0-2, Brian Howard, Cormac Costello, Ciaran Kilkenny, Kevin Lahiff 0-1 each.
Armagh
1. Ethan Rafferty (Granemore)
2. Tomas McCormack (Annaghmore) 3. Barry McCambridge (Clann Eireann) 4. Paddy Burns (Burren)
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Armagh inflict eight-point defeat on Dublin after holding them scoreless for first 20 minutes
Armagh 1-20
Dublin 1-12
ARMAGH GOT THEIR second win of the division 1 campaign with an incredibly entertaining win over Dublin at the BOX-IT Athletic Grounds.
Getting to grips with Evan Comerford’s kickout for Dublin, they continuously punished Dublin and had 1-9 on the scoreboard before Con O’Callaghan opened the Metropolitans account on 20 minutes.
The first half showcased what the game of Gaelic football could be, but it was being played by only one team.
From the second minute, the Dublin issue was identified. Andrew Murnin scored the first point and from his first kickout, Evan Comerford dithered too long for referee Niall Cullen’s liking who awarded a free in that Conor Turbitt converted.
So let’s crack into the numbers. From that point to 20 minutes in, Armagh scored 1-9 to 0-0, Dublin had nine more kickouts. They lost seven of them in the breaks, were fouled on one other, and the final one went too short to Theo Clancy, a free ensued that Armagh played a solo and go and they played out to Oisín O’Neill to loft over a two-pointer.
The goal arrived from a bullet pass from goalkeeper Ethan Rafferty to full-back Barry McCambridge who had drifted to full-forward, turned and blasted beyond Comerford.
Straight after, they had another sight of goal when Armagh again won the break, O’Neill was played through and got a hand to the ball to give Conor Turbitt a half-chance that Clancy prevented going in; the ball was brought out for a ’45 that Rafferty converted.
Comerford’s heads must have been spinning and he still had a mountain of work to do in preventing further goals from Turbitt and two from Greg McCabe, one that he flicked over the bar from close-range.
In all, eight Armagh players scored in the first half to go 1-12 to 0-3 ahead at the break.
Dublin’s own scores came from Brian Howard, Con O’Callaghan and Luke Breathnach, but they looked awestruck by the pace Armagh showed while bringing the ball upfield, and their ability to dominated the kickouts.
For those that say that the dubious, ahem, ‘art’ of the short kickout is dead, check out Ethan Rafferty who used his left foot to execute the difficult kick across the body to find a succession of Armagh defenders loitering on the cusp of the large arc and 21 metre line. That one will be copied.
We’ve seen these half time margins before, especially in this league. But as Armagh were attacking into the Drumarg Terrace in the first half, there wasn’t even the slightest hint of a breeze.
While Armagh had the opening two points of the second half, they had to weather a massive third quarter from Dublin that brought a period of 1-7 unanswered, boosted by a brace of two-point scores from Con O’Callaghan.
However, for all their increased effort after the break, Dublin were incredibly wasteful with eight wides in the second half, while Armagh kicked back into gear with five points in the last twenty minutes.
While Comerford had some jitters in the first half from the kicking tee, this time Rafferty had a measure of discomfort. Dublin had spells when they were completely on top and when Rafferty tried to work a couple of short kickouts, he was in bother with one going out over the sideline.
Not a hanging offence, but on the night it was with the crowd jumpy enough, it made for a severe testing atmosphere.
For all Armagh’s excellence, Dublin grafted well with Lorcan O’Dell showing up well with a goal at an important stage and Kevin Lahiff clipping over a point when introduced as a blood sub for two minutes.
Cormac Costello looked bright and dangerous, still drawn to the endline and testing a defender.
With all this pressure, Dublin found themselves just five points down with 15 minutes to go. The margin should have been cut even finer when Costello clearly shot inside the posts with the entire press box in agreement that his shot was good.
Not for linesman Barry Cassidy though, who brought referee Cullen over to have a brief discussion, and he scratched the ‘score.’
With that, Armagh seized the reprieve and made a push for home.
Scorers for Armagh: Conor Turbitt 0-5 (3 frees), Greg McCabe 0-3, Barry McCambridge 1-0, Ross McQuillan 0-2, Rory Grugan 0-2, Oisín O’Neill 0-2 (1 2 point), Thomas McCormack, Darragh McMullan, Andrew Murnin 0-1 each, Ethan Rafferty 0-1 (1x’45’)
Scorers for Dublin: Con O’Callaghan 0-6 (1x2point, 1×2 point free, 1 free), Lorcan O’Dell 1-0, Luke Breathnach 0-2, Brian Howard, Cormac Costello, Ciaran Kilkenny, Kevin Lahiff 0-1 each.
Armagh
1. Ethan Rafferty (Granemore)
2. Tomas McCormack (Annaghmore) 3. Barry McCambridge (Clann Eireann) 4. Paddy Burns (Burren)
5. Connaire Mackin (Camlough) 6. Greg McCabe (Camlough) 17. Peter McGrane (Ballyhegan)
8. Jason Duffy (Cullyhanna) 9. Oisín O’Neill (Crossmaglen)
7. Ross McQuillan (Cullyhanna) 11. Rory Grugan (Ballymacnab) 12. Darragh McMullan (Madden)
13. Conor Turbitt (Clann Eireann) 14. Andrew Murnin (Naomh Pól) 15. Oisin Conaty (Tír Na nÓg)
Subs:
19. Gareth Murphy (Killeavey) for Burns (HT)
23. Stefan Campbell (Clann na Gael) for O’Neill (48m)
22. Jarly Óg Burns (Silverbridge) for Duffy (53m)
10. Jemar Hall (Forkhill) for McQuillan (60m)
24. Shane McPartlan (Clann na Gael) for Conaty (67m)
Dublin
1. Evan Comerford (Ballymun)
2. David Byrne (Naomh Olaf) 3. Theo Clancy (Kilmacud) 4. Conor Tyrrell (Oliver Plunkett Eoghan Ruadh)
23. Greg McEnaney (Skerries) 6. Sean MacMahon (Raheny) 7. Cian Murphy (Thomas Davis)
8. Brian Howard (Raheny) 9. Thomas Lahiff (St Jude’s)
10. Niall O’Callaghan (Cuala) 20. Ciaran Kilkenny (Castleknock) 12. Niall Scully (Templeogue Synge Street)
13. Eoghan O’Donnell (Whitehall) 14. Con O’Callaghan (Cuala) 15. Luke Breathnach (Ballinteer)
Subs:
26. Brian O’Leary (Na Fianna) for O’Callaghan (15m)
25. Lorcan O’Dell (Templeogue Synge Street) for O’Donnell (28m)
5. Alex Gavin (Ballyboden) for McEnaney (40m)
21. Kevin Lahiff (St Jude’s) for Clancy (49m-51)
11. Cormac Costello (Whitehall) for Breathnach (52m)
21. Lahiff for Scully (62m)
Referee: Niall Cullen (Fermanagh)
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Armagh Dublin GAA Gaelic Football kicking game National League