Armagh U20s well beaten by Derry in their Ulster Championship opener

Armagh U20s got their Ulster Championship campaign off to a losing start, as they were defeated by an impressive Derry side.

Crossmaglen’s Aaron O’Neill top-scored for Armagh with 0-7, whilst captain Callum O’Neill kicked two well-taken scores, but ultimately it was a night of disappointment as the Orchard County fell behind early on, and never threatened a comeback.

Armagh took an early lead through an Aaron O’Neill point, but Derry set out their stall for the evening with two goals in the opening 10 minutes. The first came when the hosts were overturned in their own defence and Jude Bryson played Eamon Young in on goal. The Newbridge man made no mistake and slotted the ball under Michael Finnegan and into the net.

The second goal – which came after points from Johnny McGuckian and James Sargent – was once again buried by Young, this time coming after a well-worked one-two with Luke Grant.

Armagh were reeling, and Derry tagged on six more points before Barry O’Hagan’s side got back on the scoreboard, with Oisin Doherty taking centre stage by notching five of them. Callum O’Neill stemmed the tide with a two-pointer, before points from Derry’s Bryson and Doherty were answered by Aaron O’Neill.

However, Damian McErlain’s side remained well in control, and they took a resounding 2-15 to 0-4 lead into the changing rooms following further scores from Bryson (two), McGuckian and converted frees from the stars of the show, Young and Doherty.

Derry continued to make their mark on the scoreboard in the early exchanges of the second half, with Danny McDermott and Tommy Rogers adding their name to the scoresheet, either side of a Doherty free.

As the second half wore on, Aaron O’Neill hit two two-point frees for Armagh and finished with a tally of 0-7, Conall McGeough hit a two-pointer and Diarmaid O’Rourke and Callum O’Neill both found the target.

But Derry kept things ticking over on their end, and managed out their lead to the finish line with further points from Fionn McEldowney, Sargent and substitutes Sean Young and Ger Dillon – with Dillon hitting 0-3, to round out an impressive night’s work for Derry, but a night to forget for Armagh.

MATCH STATS

Armagh: M Finnegan; A McGrane, R Nugent, P Lynch; R Duffy, R Martin, D O’Rourke (0-1); S McCann, J Loughran; A Haughey, M McSorely, C O’Neill (0-3, 1tp); E Kane, A O’Neill (0-7, 2tpf), J Lavery.

Subs: C McGeough (0-2, tp) for Loughran (HT), E McEntee for McGrane (HT), O Callaghan for McCann (HT), P O’Keefe for Kane (43), J Hughes for Haughey (49).

Derry: K Campbell; R Small, C McGrogan, F McEldowney (0-1); L Grant, P McMullan, R Forbes; T Rogers (0-1), D McDermott (0-1); E Young (2-1, 1f), J Sargent (0-3, 1’45), J McGuckian (0-2); J Bryson (0-3), R McNicholl, O Doherty (0-8, 1tp, 3f).

Subs: G Dillon (0-3, 2f) for McDermott (41), C Spiers for E Young (50), S Young 0-1 for Bryson (50), C Bradley for Doherty (50), J Murray for McGrogan (60).

Referee: Mark Loughran (Tyrone).