Armagh continue winning ways

Sligo 0-08 Armagh 0-16

Steven McDonnell top-scored for Armagh as they moved a step closer to the Allianz NFL semi-finals with a eight-point dismissal of Sligo at Markievicz Park.

Running out 0-16 to 0-08, deadly marksman McDonnell chipped in with five points for the Orchard men with John McEntee and Oisin McConville kicking three each.

The Yeats men led 0-02 to 0-01 by the tenth minute as Mark Brehony and Sean Davey cancelled out an early Martin O'Rourke effort.

Crossmaglen team mates McConville and McEntee bagged their openers as Joe Kernan's men got motoring towards a 0-06 to 0-03 break lead. Brehony notched Sligo's first point for 25 minutes by the end's half.

Brehony had watched his long range point shot deceive Armagh stopper Paul Hearty and hit the woodwork but a quick retrevial of the situation saw the visitors' goal intact.

With the Sligo midfield suffering in the enforced absence of Eamonn O'Hara, there was little leeway for the home side centrally as Armagh powerhouses Paul McGrane and John Toal dominated.

Two Davey points marked a good opening to the second half for the hosts and they got back to within two by the 43rd-minute.

Unfortunately, that was about the time Armagh got their challenge up and running again, and although Paddy McKeever and Toal were lost to yellow cards, Kernan's men romped home as McConville, McDonnell and Ronan Clarke went on a six-point flurry at the finish.