WEE MARGIN AS ORCHARD HIT BACK FOR BOTH POINTS
ARMAGH came from four points down and hung on to claim an opening round Division Two win in the Athletic Grounds.
Anyone who thought Louth would struggle in this tier having lost their manager Mickey Harte to Derry saw plenty of character and fight in the Wee county who could easily have earned a share of the points.
They had their chances. Louth skipper Sam Mulroy missed a few frees and also hit a ‘45’ off the deck well wide in the eighth minute of stoppage time leaving Armagh to celebrate their impressive second half comeback.
Armagh, without talisman Rian O’neill, didn’t score until the 21st minute by which stage Louth were 0-4 up with Ryan, Burns, Dermot Matthews, Dermot Campbell and Ciaran Downey on target.
Pacey wing-back Craig Lennon was outstanding and set up several scores in the game with Louth’s tackling aggressive and disciplined.
Armagh got it back to 0-5 to 0-4 at the break, Oisin Conaty scoring on his league debut.
But Kieran Mcgeeney’s side trailed by 0-8 to 0-4 early in the second half before turning on the style in a crucial third-quarter press.
In front of a crowd of 10,453, Armagh hit 0-6 in a row in a 13-minute spell to turn the game on its head.
Experienced players Aidan Forker, Rory Grugan and especially Stefan Campbell with a quickfire 0-3, saw them take control and on the way to victory.
Campbell put Armagh in front for the first time in the 56th minute at 0-9 to 0-8.
Louth got level again at 0-10 as the tempo raised and a further brace from Conor Turbitt (above) helped Armagh over the line. SCORERS: Armagh – C Turbitt 0-5 (4f), S Campbell 0-3, R Grugan (0-2, 1f), O Conaty 0-1, A Forker 0-1 Louth – S Mulroy 0-3 (3f), C Downey 0-2, P Matthews 0-1, R Burns, C Keenan, D Campbell, T Durnin, C Grimes 0-1 each