SUBS SINK ORCHARD
Brosnan & O’sullivan seal big win for Kerry
TWO late points from subs Tony Brosnan and Donal O’sullivan propelled Kerry to a vital victory over Armagh at Austin Stack Park last night.
Struggling to penetrate a superbly organised Orchard County defence throughout the 70-plus minutes, the defending champions looked in severe danger of suffering a second consecutive defeat after Jarly Og Burns fired Armagh ahead in the 65th minute, 0-10 to 0-9.
Following a distinctly abject display in Castlebar the previous weekend, it was the last thing the home supporters in a crowd of 11,603 were demanding.
But, showing much more stomach for the battle, Kerry refused to wilt in the closing stages.
David Clifford, well marshalled in the main by Barry Mccambridge, with Aaron Mckay operating as a sweeper in front, lofted over his fourth pointed free to level the scoring.
And it was now just a question of who could finish the stronger.
Hard-working midfielder Barry O’sullivan plied Brosnan for an outstanding 30-metre left leg beauty heading into the five minutes of injury-time.
Then an Armagh defensive mistake allowed fellow sub Donal O’sullivan to fist over what turned out to be the winner.
In a frantic finale, Rian O’neill rocketed a 14-minute free high over the bar (below) with the last kick of the game as the visitors strived for a match-winning goal at the death.
But, despite the general feeling that their overall performance deserved some reward, the Ulstermen left with the bitter pill of a narrow loss.
The first half was a relatively lowscoring affair, though no less intriguing as a result.
Even with the elements in their favour, Armagh often operated with a lone frontman, keen to get bodies behind the ball in an effort to restrict the supply to Clifford and Co. The home team therefore had to be extremely patient in their attacking forays into enemy territory, leading to lengthy periods of cat-and-mouse tactics.
However, the physicality and intensity of the exchanges were full-blooded in the extreme.
Kerry held a narrow lead, 0-3 to 0-2, at the end of the opening quarter, with
Clifford (free), Darragh Roche and Paudie Clifford on the mark, Armagh replying through Burns and free-taker supreme O’neill as Jason Foley marshalled a very solid home rearguard.
Paul Murphy put the defending league champions two clear but the visitors soon drew level, with Aiden Forker and O’neill kicking monster, long range scores.
It was tit-for-tat from there to the interval, Barry O’sullivan and Stefan Campbell kicking particularly impressive points to tie the contest at the interval, 0-6 apiece.
Armagh came out of the blocks quicker in the second half, Greg Mccabe and sub Conor Turbitt notching two early points.
Kerry had brought things to parity again at the three-quarter mark at 0-8 each and it remained a closely fought affair all the way.