Armagh blow away Donegal with emphatic display

Armagh 2-14 Donegal 0-11

Armagh re-launched their championship season with a thumping win over Ulster rivals Donegal in the big derby qualifier tie at Crossmaglen.

The Orchard men demanded that they be taken seriously as genuine contenders with a high-tempo display that simply blew their opponents away.

Local lad Jamie Clarke, playing on his hometown pitch, stunned the visitors with two early goals, and despite the efforts of Michael Murphy, Donegal never recovered.

Clarke netted twice in the opening six minutes to leave Donegal with a mountain they were unable to climb.

First he netted on the rebound after goalkeeper Paul Durcan had stopped his initial effort in the second minute.

Five minutes later, another soccer-style finish from the Crossmaglen youngster exposed catastrophic Donegal defending, and the home side led by six points.

Michael Murphy pulled back a couple of Donegal points, one of them from a free, but they were unable to live with the movement and hunger of hteir opponents, and former Allstar defender Karl Lacey had no answer to the danger posed by Clarke.

Armagh, with Brendan Donaghy and Paul Duffy imperious at the back and Charlie Vernon lording midfield, continued to press forward.

Clarke swung over a couple of points, and there were scores from substitute Joe Feeney, Aaron Kernan and Gareth Swift, and went in at the break with a commanding eight points lead, 2-6 to 0-4.

Amazingly, ace attacker Steven McDonnell didn’t get his first score until the second half, and the gap had widened to 11 points within 10 minutes of the restart, with Swift drilling over a couple of classy points.

Murphy continued to represent Donegal’s only scoring threat, steering another volley of scores between the posts.

Neil Gallagher and Adrian Hanlon also found the target during a brief revival, but they were reduced to 14 men after substitute Eamon McGee picked up a second yellow card six minutes from the end.

Mark McHugh brought Donegal’s points tally into double figures, and as Armagh’s resistance waned, Murphy brought his total to seven.

Paul Hearty had to make a brilliant save from Rory Kavanagh as Donegal continued their quest for redemption, but there was no way back for them.

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

Referee: M Duffy (Sligo)