Armagh get the job done against Derry as they aim for Sam

Armagh enjoyed a fairly comfortable win against Derry on Saturday at the Box-It Athletic Grounds as their bid for Sam Maguire got underway. Having broken their duck with their Ulster Championship victory a couple of week's earlier, Kieran McGeeney's men faced tricky opponents who were on the comeback trail, having lost to Monaghan after extra time in the Ulster semi-finals. But Derry, never really got going in this game, while Armagh were methodical and looked like a team on a mission as they got the job done efficiently and kept Ciaran Meenagh's main men under wraps for the most part. Conor Glass opened the scoring for Derry with a point in the second minute and Oisin Conaty hit a wide at the other end in reply. Derry missed another couple before Armagh registered their first in the sixth minute with a two-pointer sent over the bar by Conor Turbitt and with that Armagh pulled away with their pace and accuracy from kick-outs too much for their opponents. A brace from Tomas McCormack, another point from Jason Duffy and one from Darragh McMullen gave the home side an 0-6 to 0-1 cushion with 12 minutes on the clock. But that five-point lead was swiftly reduced to one when Lachlan Murray found the net and Niall Loughlin tagged on a point to make it 0-6 to 1-2. Armagh responded superbly however, as Tiernan Kelly reacted to a miss from beyond the arc by Jarly Og Burns with a superb strike to the roof of the net - whether he meant it or not irrelavant, it was sublime. Conaty raised an orange flag seconds later with a beauty, and Burns made it 1-9 to 1-2 with 21 minutes played. Murray pointed at the other end a minute later but there would be no more scores in the next 13 minutes before the break with turnovers at both ends, Burns off target with another two-point effort and a goal chance from Conor McCluskey saved by Blaine Hughes, while a scramble in the area at the other end also denied Armagh a second maximum. As such the half ended 1-9 to 1-3 - a lead that the Orchard men would have preferred to be larger given they had the benefit of the breeze in the first half. It mattered little in the end however, as Armagh kept the lead intact throughout the second period. Traded scores between Murray and Turbitt preceded a black card dealt out to Duffy for a foul on Conor McCluskey on 41 minutes. But they survived the loss, with Derry only managing four points during those 10 minutes to one for Armagh. Conor Doherty got three of those for the oak Leafers with the other provided by Shane McGuigan, while Andrew Murnin sent one between the sticks for Armagh. But when Duffy returned, Joe McElroy, Conaty and Duffy pointed and Hughes nailed the first free of the evening from beyond the arc to give the home side a 1-16 to 1-8 lead. Sub Oisin O'Neill and Turbitt kept the eight point advantage intact with points either side of a two-pointer from Paul Cassidy. Sean Young scored another for Derry with seconds remaining and Ethan Doherty raised another orange flag, but Armagh were well clear by then and won the game with five points to spare at the hooter.

MATCH STATS Armagh: Blaine Hughes (0-2, 1tpf); Peter McGrane, Aaron McKay, Gareth Murphy; Joe McElroy (0-1), Tiernan Kelly (1-0), Greg McCabe; Jarly Og Burns (0-1), Andrew Murnin (0-1); Cian McConville, Darragh McMullan (0-1), Tomas McCormack (0-2); Conor Turbitt (0-4, 1tp), Jason Duffy (0-2), Oisin Conaty (0-3, 1tp) Subs: Ross McQuillan for McCabe (53), Oisin O'Neill (0-1,1f) for Duffy (59), Rory Grugan for Murnin (67)

Derry: Shea McGuckin; Shea Downey, Ruairi Forbes, Conor McCluskey; Conor Doherty (0-3), Gareth McKinless, Padraig McGrogan; Eoin McEvoy, Brendan Rogers; Ethan Doherty (0-2, 1tp), Conor Glass (0-1), Niall Toner; Niall Loughlin (0-1), Shane McGuigan (0-1), Lachlan Murray (1-2) Subs: Paul Cassidy (0-2 1tp) for Downey (42), Dan Higgins for Toner (48), James Sargant for Forbes (54), Sean Young (0-1) for Lachlan Murray (56)

Referee: Martin McNally (Monaghan)