Armagh prevail in a chaotic cracker despite Dubs' unlikely revival
OUT OF REACH: Jason Duffy of Armagh and Conor Tyrrell of Dublin. Pic: INPHO/Andrew Paton
A first half that was entirely orange, a thrilling sky blues revival and ultimately a strong Armagh finale that secured the NFL points for the hosts.
All in all, a cracker at the Athletic Grounds where All-Ireland champions picked up an important, if slightly chaotic, Division 1 win.
Leading by 15 points with less than half an hour to go, Armagh should have cruised to their second win of the campaign with the minimum of fuss.
But Dublin finally woke up and reeled off 1-8 without response to belatedly make a game of it, sub Lorcan O'Dell smashing a goal for Dessie Farrell's crew.
Con O'Callaghan inspired the Sky Blues revival with 0-4 during that mini blitzkrieg and the final pass for O'Dell's 43rd-minute goal.
It looked like the Leinster champions might even snatch a remarkable win when they got the gap down to five points with 15 minutes remaining. But Armagh had saved a strong kick for the last lap of this intriguing Round 5 encounter and struck four of the game's last five points.
Conor Turbitt knocked over two frees late on, taking his tally to 0-6 while Barry McCambridge snatched Armagh's only goal. Ross McQuillan and Greg McCabe starred too for an Armagh side that burst out of the traps and racked up a huge lead.
It was the sort of first-half onslaught that Dublin, fresh off wins over Kerry and Derry, and a point off top spot travelling north, couldn't have expected.
Armagh lined out with just seven of their All-Ireland final team and handed both Oisin O'Neill and Peter McGrane their first starts of 2025.
McCabe was also brought back into an Orchard team missing talisman Rian O'Neill and the suspended Aidan Forker. There was no Tiernan Kelly, Aaron McKay or Joe McElroy either.
But it didn't stop Armagh from tearing Dublin asunder with the visitors pinned back for most of the first 35 minutes.
Dublin's first point didn't arrive until O'Callaghan, making his first start of the season, split the posts in the 20th minute.
By that stage Armagh had already posted 1-9 on the board with McCambridge sniping a terrific goal in the 13th minute.
Goalkeeper Ethan Rafferty arrowed an outside-of-the-boot pass at McCambridge who collected the ball in a crowded area, turned and blasted to the net.
Truth be told, Armagh could have had five first-half goals and their 1-12 to 0-3 interval lead was the very least they could have expected.
Evan Comerford pulled off saves from O'Neill, Turbitt and McCabe while four Armagh point attempts dropped short, causing havoc for the Dubs 'keeper each time.
McCabe and McQuillan wore numbers six and seven respectively but piled on the pressure high up the field, scoring three first-half points between them.
All-Star Turbitt finished the half with four and injury was literally added to insult for Dublin when they lost attacker Niall O'Callaghan to a leg injury.
Brian O'Leary replaced him and Lorcan O'Dell came on for ex-hurling star Eoghan O'Donnell but it was hard to see how Dublin could possibly turn this one around.
Comerford was in the eye of the storm for Dublin and referee Niall Cullen did him no favours.
The Ballymun goalkeeper was penalised for taking too long with a kick-out in the third minute. Turbitt tapped over the free for Armagh and the increasingly influential Rory Grugan did the needful when Comerford was caught out again in the 39th minute.
That point left Armagh 1-15 to 0-3 clear though things finally got interesting after that.
King Con lofted over a two-pointer from a free, added another one pointer and then played in sub O'Dell for a Dublin goal.
Suddenly, a game that appeared to be over was a contest again.
Dublin kept the hammer down and another O'Callaghan two-pointer was followed by points from Luke Breathnach and sub Kevin Lahiff.
Armagh supporters stuffed into the Athletic Grounds could barely believe there was just five in it now. Their side finally caught a break when sub Cormac Costello had a point overruled.
Dublin thought they'd cut the arrears to four points but were doubly suckered when Armagh went down the other end and scored through Darragh McMullan.
That left six in it again, 1-17 to 1-11, but crucially Armagh had sapped Dublin of their momentum and managed to see out the remaining minutes.
C Turbitt 0-6 (4frees), B McCambridge 1-0, G McCabe 0-3, R Grugan 0-3 (1 free), O O'Neill 0-2 (tp), R McQuillan 0-2, A Murnin 0-1, E Rafferty 0-1 (1 45), D McMullan 0-1, T McCormack 0-1.
C O'Callaghan 0-6, 1tpf, 1tp, 1f, L O'Dell 1-0, L Breathnach 0-2, C Costello 0-1, K Lahiff 0-1, B Howard 0-1, C Kilkenny 0-1.
E Rafferty; T McCormack, B McCambridge, P Burns; C Mackin, G McCabe, R McQuillan; J Duffy, O O'Neill; P McGrane, R Grugan, D McMullan; C Turbitt, A Murnin, O Conaty.
G Murphy for Burns (h/t); S Campbell for O'Neill (48); J Og Burns for Duffy (53); J Hall for McQuillan (61); S McPartlan for Conaty (67).
E Comerford; D Byrne, T Clancy, C Tyrrell; G McEneaney, S MacMahon, C MacMahon; B Howard, T Lahiff; N Scully, C O'Callaghan, C Kilkenny; N O'Callaghan, E O'Donnell, L Breathnach.
B O'Leary for N O'Callghan (16); L O'Dell for O'Donnell (28); A Gavin for McEneaney (39); K Lahiff for Clancy (50-51, blood); C Costello for Breathnach (53); K Lahiff for Scully (62).
N Cullen (Fermanagh).
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