Clarke celebrates on the double

JAMIE CLARKE celebrated his 21st birthday yesterday to put the finishing touches on a weekend where he was the toast of his local ground at Oliver Plunkett Park.

The Crossmaglen forward’s two goals in the first seven minutes against a listless Donegal practically sent the jury home before they even grew comfortable in their seats.

In truth, Donegal were wretched. And although they leaned as heavily as ever on Michael Murphy, who scored seven points, they were shapeless and lacked spirit.

Manager John Joe Doherty will now consider his position.

He admitted: “I will have a think about it over the next week or two and we’ll see then. I might have a review of it myself. We had plenty of the ball in the first half, but we never made any inroads up front. That’s been a case all year. You have to make that count on the scoreboard. The lads made a bit of a pact at half-time that they would go out and give it a rattle in the second half, and to be fair to them they did get the first score after the break.

“But it’s well and good saying things in a dressing room. It’s doing things on the pitch that counts.”

At the break, Doherty’s appraisals were optimistic. Donegal were well adrift as they trailed by 2-6 to 0-4. Armagh were full of running and consistently changed the point of their attack with sprayed balls, while Donegal’s players performed like a collection of individuals.

Clarke scored a goal on his championship debut last month against Monaghan and he took little time to find his rhythm on Saturday. His opening goal, with less than two minutes played, came after a flurry of Armagh passes with Anto Duffy providing the assist. Clarke’s first effort on goal was saved by Donegal goalkeeper Paul Durcan but the rebound was swept home with ease.

Then, five minutes later, Clarke was on target again. This time, Donegal’s defence was shambolic. From Stevie McDonnell’s boomer, Clarke didn’t even have to jump as he caught the ball into his chest with Michael Maguire and Karl Lacey all at sea, before he steered home, once more from the ground.

Between those goals, Charlie Vernon added a point and Clarke, Gareth Swift, Joe Feeney and Aaron Kernan were all on target for the hosts in the first 35 minutes. Donegal, for their part, started with wing-back cum centre-fielder Kevin Cassidy at full-forward, and only when Colm McFadden pointed with the last kick of the half did Murphy have a companion on the scoresheet.

Although Murphy landed the first score of the second half, it was to prove a brief respite. McDonnell, uncharacteristically scoreless in the first half, began to get the white flags waving, as did the likes of the impressive Swift as the game took on the feel of a training ground kick about.

Eamon McGee was sent off for a second yellow in the closing stages but his team, from whom Mark McHugh, Adrian Hanlon and Neil Gallagher scored late and inconsequential points, were well beaten by then. Recent history suggests Armagh’s recurrent hammerings of Donegal are perhaps not the most accurate indicator of their standings. But that will carry little consternation to Paddy O’Rourke after seeing his side make a big step toward eradicating the scars following their humiliation against Monaghan. Armagh were poor in that Ulster championship quarter-final loss, and comfortable on Saturday, so when the real side stands up he may well see a blend of those two performances. And in Clarke, they have a young man that can take them places.

“Playing on my home ground was great and the two early goals set us on our way,” he said. “I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time. That gave us a six-point lead early on and we just took it from there.”

Armagh: P Hearty, A Mallon, B Donaghy, V Martin, P Duffy, C McKeever, K Dyas, C Vernon (0-1), M Mackin, A Duffy, A Kernan (0-3, 1f), F Hanratty, G Swift (0-3), S McDonnell (0-3, 1f), J Clarke (2-2).

Subs: J Feeney (0-2) for A Duffy, P McKeown for Mallon, T Kernan for Hanratty.

Donegal: P Durcan, P McGrath, N McGee, K Lacey, M Maguire, B Dunnion, F McGlynn, N Gallagher (0-1), K Cassidy, M McHugh (0-1), R Kavanagh, D Walsh, C McFadden (0-1), M Murphy (0-7, 4f), C Dunne.

Subs: E Wade for McGrath, E McGee for Maguire, C Toye for Dunne, A Hanlon (0-1) for McFadden.

Ref: M Duffy (Sligo).