Late surge gets Donegal over the line in cracker

Five unanswered points in a truly frenetic finish gave Donegal a deserved two points against a vastly improved Armagh side in a real Nickey Rackard Cup cracker in O’Donnell Park.

Donegal 1-22

Armagh 2-14

Man of the match Davin Flynn, Ritchie Ryan and Daire O’Maoileidigh got the precious points in the last eight minutes against a battling Armagh side whose manager Terence McNaughton was given a red card towards the end of an exciting affair.

Donegal manager Mickey McCann picked up a yellow card as passions flare on the line in a hard-hitting but mostly sporting affair.

It looked grim for McNaughton’s men as they trailed by 1-16 to 0-11 with 20 minutes to go-the goal coming from a fine flicked goal from Ritchie Ryan after team captain Ronan McDermott lofted a high ball into the Armagh square in the 41st minute.

“I wasn’t pleased with a lot of what went on" - Rory Kavanagh

The St Eunan's manager was speaking after a 1-4 to 0-7 draw against Ardara on Saturday night

That gave Donegal a huge cushion-but gritty Armagh hit back with two goals from Lorcan Oliver and sub Danny Magee to level the match on a score of Donegal 1-17 Armagh 2-14.

Armagh failed to score thereafter as Donegal found another gear to hit those final points with Danny Cullen once again immense at the back.

However, Armagh too had some outstanding figures and none more so than Ryan and Dean Gaffney who hit a total of 0-10 of Armagh’s total.

Donegal struggled at times with Ryan Gaffney’s ball winning skills and he was well supplied from out the field, but Donegal also struggled with the penetrative pace of corner forward Shea Harvey.

Apart from the epic scoring feats of Flynn, Danny Cullen, Stephen Gillespie and an improving Ritchie Ryan were key figures for Donegal with young Ruairi Campbell showing some lovely touches.

The game got off to a cracking start with Davin Flynn striking the first point for the home side.

It was quickly apparent that this was a very different Armagh side to that which slumped to defeat against Roscommon a week previously as Eoin McGuinness swiftly equalised for the wind-assisted Orchard County.

This was the pattern for a ding- dong opening half studded with some fine scores where the sides were level on nine occasions.

It was point-for-point as Armagh had slightly the better of the exchanges and their sheer physical power meant they won quite a bit of dirty ball.

Armagh’s use of the diagonal ball into Ryan Gaffney was paying dividends and he and Ryan Gaffney, Eoin McGuinness and Paddy McBride eased them into a 0-9 to 0-7 lead by the 28th minute.

Flynn inspired Donegal to a strong finish as they turned over ahead by the minimum margin on a score of 0-10 to 0-9 at the break. 

Dean Gaffney levelled matters on the resumption from a free, but Armagh did not score again for another 15 minutes as Ryan’s goal gave the home side a great cushion.

Armagh fought back to level matters but they were not able to counter the home side’s late surge.

Donegal scorers: Davin Flynn 0-12, 9f; Ritchie Ryan 1-2; Gerry Gilmore 0-2; Stephen Gillespie, Jack O’Loughlin, Ruairi Campbell, Liam McKinney, Daire O’Maoileidigh, Ronan McDermott 0-1 

Armagh scorers: Dean Gaffney 0-7, 4f; Lorcan Oliver, Danny Magee 1-0; Ryan Gaffney (0-3); Paddy McBride 0-2; Eoin McGuinness (0-1) Stephen McKearney (0-1).

Donegal: Luke White; Gavin Brown, Stephen Gillespie Brian McIntyre; Jack O’Loughlin, Michel Donaghue, Conor O’Grady; Danny Cullen, Ruairi Campbell; Conor Gartland, Ronan McDermott, Gerard Gilmore; Daire O’Maoileidigh, Ritchie Ryan, Davin Flynn. Subs; Liam McKinney for Gartland (42),, Stephen McBride for McIntyre ((63), Padraig Doherty for O’Loughlin (65) Oisin Marley for Gilmore (66).

Armagh: Fintan Woods; Caolan Rice, Artie McGuinness, Paddy Quinn; Lorcan Oliver, Kieran McKernan, David Bridges; Niall Lennon, Paddy McBride; Shaun Toal, Dean Gaffney, Stephen McKearney; Eoin McGuinness, Ryan Gaffney, Shea Harvey. Subs; Danny Magee for Toal (45), Tiarnan O’Hare for Bridges (55).

Referee: James Judge (Mayo)