Armagh secure Ulster semi-final spot with impressive win over rivals Tyrone

Another outstanding performance from the Armagh U20s saw them defeat fierce rivals Tyrone 1-24 to 2-15 this evening, securing a home Ulster semi-final.

Eoin Duffy led the way on the scoring charts with 1-7, but he was just one of a number of superb players alongside Diarmaid O’Rourke, Aaron Haughey and Keelan McEntee.

Orchard men lead by two at half-time

Armagh came flying out of the traps and took a 0-5 to 0-0 lead. An Eon Duffy free got them up and running, which was followed by ones from Killeavy pair Fergal Boylan and Aaron McGuinness, before Duffy nailed a two-point free.

It took Tyrone 13 minutes to open their count, after they saw four early attacks snuffed out by the Armagh defence. Their account was opened by a Shea McDermott free and followed by a Adrian McGurren point.

Armagh’s Boylan and Tyrone’s Conor O’Neill traded points before Aaron Haughey nailed the only two-pointer of the first half with a superb effort to put the hosts 0-8 to 0-3 ahead.

Tyrone responded well and grabbed three of the next four points with Jamie Concannon, Peter Colton and a McDermott free increasing their tally, whilst Duffy pushed his personal account out to four points at the other end.

Armagh appeared to be in a commanding position with half-time approaching when Liam McGeary and Boylan put them back into a five-point lead, but Tyrone created two goal chances before the short whistle, and took the second of them.

Initially, McDermott was denied in a one on one by Liam Carroll after he was set-up by O’Neill following a superb solo run from the midfielder. But Armagh weren’t able to keep the ball out of their net moments later, when a McDermott shot came off the inside of the post and was turned into an empty net by Leo Hughes from close range.

That was the final score of the half, and the sides went into the interval with Armagh leading 0-11 to 1-6.

The home side pull away in the second half

Armagh started the first half well, but they started the second half brilliantly – rattling off five points before Tyrone had a chance to draw breath. Duffy got two of those, with O’Rourke, Haughey and Michael McSorley also getting in on the act.

Tyrone thought they had stemmed the tide when Aodhan Quinn pointed at the other end, but instead Armagh were presented a golden chance when McSorley was brought down and the home side were awarded a penalty, which Duffy duly slotted into the bottom corner.

That finish put Barry O’Hagan’s men 1-17 to 1-7 to the good, and they never looked back from there.

To Tyrone’s credit, they almost answered back by raising a green flag of their own, but Brian Gallagher’s shot cannoned back off the crossbar. Following a McDermott converted ‘45 and a O’Rourke score Armagh were once again 10 ahead, but the away side showed signs of life.

A Concannon two-pointer, a McDermott goal and a Colton point meant all of a sudden there were only four between them, but Armagh steadied the ship following a McGuinness point.

Duffy and McDermott (two-pointer) traded scores, before O’Rourke did likewise with the Tyrone corner forward. But Armagh weren’t to be denied, as they scored three of the last four via Haughey, Boylan and O’Rourke to seal the win with Darragh Donaghy closing the scoring for the visitors.

The result means that they’ll be back at home for the Ulster semi-final in two weeks’ time.

MATCH STATS

Armagh: Liam Carroll; Tomas Fox, Gavan O’Rourke, Sean Kelly; Aodhan McGrane, Ryan Nugent, Diarmaid O’Rourke (0-5); Aaron Haughey (0-4, 1tp), Sean Burke; Eoin Duffy (1-7, 1f, 1tpf, 1pen), Aaron McGuinness (0-2), Keelan McEntee; Fergal Boylan (0-4, 1f), Michael McSorley (0-1), Liam McGeary (0-1).

Subs: Callum McKerr for McGeary (44), Toale for McGrane (47), Tiernan Brown for McGuinness (56), Conal Wilson for O’Rourke (60+2, temp).

Tyrone: Oisin Watson; Sean Broderick, Michael McNamee, Luke Neeson; Jamie Concannon (0-3, 1tp), Conor Devlin, Brian Gallagher; James Mulgrew, Conor O’Neil (0-1); Conall Sheehy, Leo Hughes (1-0), Peter Colton (0-2); Adrian McGurren (0-1), Aodhan Quinn (0-1), Shea McDermott (1-6, 2f, 1’45, 1tpf).

Subs: Enda Donaghy for Mulgrew (41), Darragh Donaghy (0-1, 1’45) for McNamee (43), Liam Lawn for Gallagher (55).

Referee: Barry McMenamin (Cavan).