ORCHARD EDGE IT
Cool head Duffy’s late point is the difference
AN EVENING that threatened to go disastrously wrong for a highly fancied Armagh was rescued by a fine injury-time point from substitute Jason Duffy.
The replacement showed a composure that seemed to be deserting many of his team-mates during a game in which the outsiders Down stuck to an unapologetically pragmatic game-plan that left Armagh frustrated and in danger of missing out on the Ulster decider.
Down’s approach was bolstered by opportunistic goals in either half, with Ceilum Doherty’s firsthalf strike upending the presumed narrative around a contest in which Armagh’s extensive spread of scoring talent was expected to be the difference.
But it was a second goal for Down, from Ryan Magill in the 47th minute, that tipped the game towards true drama.
It put Down two in front after Armagh had chased down their earlier lead, and in fact Down held that lead for the next 20 minutes.
Replacement Aidan Nugent tied the game in the 67th minute before, in the third minute of four added on, Duffy picked his point.
The large Armagh support in the 12,000-plus crowd reacted with as much relief as joy.
Those points from Nugent and Duffy were two of just three that they managed from play in the second half, from a total of eight in the period, as five Rory Grugan frees and a mark from another substitute, Oisín O’Neill, accounted for the rest.
That should concern Kieran McGeeney, while his opposite number Conor Laverty will surely rue the soft chances that his defence gave Grugan. Defeat condemns them to the Tailteann Cup for a second season.
Laverty’s second campaign has already brought promotion back to Division 2, and they provided a gut-check for Armagh here that the latter passed — but with much to think on for McGeeney.
Their difficulties were not so much with the massed defence deployed by Down, but the lapses in defence that allowed Down to score the goals that were so vital to their plans.
Doherty’s first-half goal, deflected in by the attempted save of Blaine Hughes, showed the underdogs displaying an economy that had looked beyond them for most of the half.
That put Down ahead by two points, 1-2 to 0-3, and Armagh must have been flummoxed.
However, their players showed a coolness on the pitch that deserted a number of them in a bout of pushing and shoving after the halftime whistle.
First, Grugan’s free and a slick point from play from Aidan Forker, his second of the half, pulled them level at the break. A failure to keep their cool has been a recurring Armagh failure under McGeeney’s otherwise substantial reign, but one suspected here it was a squad-wide expression of frustration with how Down had bottled them up.
The onus was on Armagh, an established top-eight team, and from the throw-in they showed a hardened resolve. Rian O’Neill caught the ball from the restart, charged into the Down half and arrowed a shot towards the posts.
Play was called back for an Armagh free, converted by Grugan, but this was a statement of intent they failed to maintain.
As Armagh tried to push on in attack, Laverty was vigilant to the changing tempo and introduced two forwards named in the starting team but who began the game on the bench, in Liam Kerr and Danny Magill.
After Daniel Guinness had pulled a point back, Magill kicked the equaliser in the 43rd minute.
Down remained sticky, and would do to the final minute, but Armagh did enough.
It won’t, though, be enough in a provincial final, as McGeeney chases elusive honours.