NFL DIVISION ONE: Dublin 2-12 Armagh 1-11:THE LIGHTS were officially turned on at Armagh's redeveloped Athletic Grounds on Saturday night, but they ended up illuminating a win for the visitors.
For the second year running, Dublin footballers got their Allianz National League campaign off the mark with a deserved away victory.
It was an entertaining night’s football despite the dismal wet weather and if early-season handling errors led to a constant stream of turned-over possession that lent excitement to the match, which surged up and down the pitch and featured some good marksmanship from both teams.
Armagh’s persistence and two impressive rallies in either half meant that the match was still there for them until the final 10 minutes when a typically lethal intervention from the 2010 footballer of the year Bernard Brogan – accelerating on to Eoghan O’Gara’s pass over the defence to punch the ball past a fatally reticent Philip McEvoy in the Armagh goal – restored the initiative.
In successive minutes, replacement Paul Flynn and Brogan kicked points and, suddenly, the match that had almost tilted Armagh’s way when Steven McDonnell equalised at 1-10 each, was over.
Both teams were some way short of their strongest selections, as their respective county champions Crossmaglen and Kilmacud Crokes meet in the All-Ireland club semi-final at the end of the month and there were a few new faces given the opportunity to shine.
Dublin manager Pat Gilroy made a point of mentioning his debutant full back, covering for Kilmacud’s Rory O’Carroll.
“I was particularly happy with Seán Murray at full back. “I thought he really acquitted himself well and once the pressure was on out the field he did very well and got out in front of his man.”
Murray usually plays farther out the field, but had an interesting tussle with Gareth Swift.
It was one of those situations in which bare statistics can be misleading. Swift had a phenomenal scoring run, ending the evening with four points from play, but with a lot of ball heading in that direction Murray also won a number of the individual battles and showed good positional sense and his distribution was unflappable and intelligent.
Around him, the rest of the defence performed soundly, Alan Hubbard getting through a lot of work and James McCarthy having a more assertive second half.
Dublin had started quickly and caught Armagh cold. Michael Dara Macauley, who had a fine match at centrefield where his main challenger for man of match Charlie Vernon also lined out for the home team, opened the scoring with a point.
In the third minute Diarmuid Connolly rammed home a goal after Brendan Donaghy spoiled some good defensive work by giving away the ball.
Kevin McManamon was a force-field of energy, unlucky that his scything solo runs didn’t lead to bigger pay-offs – it took a save from Swift to prevent a goal in the eighth minute – and making necessary interventions in defence.
O’Gara was another to catch the eye. As well as the final ball for Brogan’s decisive goal, the big full forward in the first half scored one point and provided the assist for another three.
Armagh’s new recruit from Mayo Billy Joe Padden started well, getting the team’s first score and winning breaks around the middle, but wasn’t as prominent after the interval.
Their best period came at the end of the first quarter when a burst of 1-2 without reply turned a four-point deficit into a brief lead.
The goal came from Vernon, whose shot crashed off the underside of the crossbar into the net in the 18th minute and whose kicked-pass a minute previously had set up the first point for Swift, who sandwiched the goal with his second.
Dublin responded and by half-time had restored their lead through a sequence of points from McManamon, two from Tomás Quinn and Brogan.
The teams shared four points in the opening minutes of the second half before Armagh staged another rally.
“I thought we were going to win the game, yeah,” said Armagh manager Paddy O’Rourke afterwards. “The momentum was with us. We just needed to go one up and we didn’t do that; we conceded a poor goal at the other end and from then it was going to be very difficult for us.”
Gilroy, his campaign off to the best possible start, was pleased with “the fact we had Armagh come back at us twice and still pulled away, particularly in the second half.”
DUBLIN:S Cluxton; M Fitzsimons, S Murray, A Hubbard; D Lally (0-1), J McCarthy, P Casey; D Bastick, MD Macauley (0-1); B Cullen, K McManamon (0-2), D Connolly (1-1); T Quinn (0-2, one 45), E O'Gara (0-1), B Brogan (1-3). Subs: P Flynn (0-1) for Quinn (48 mins); B Cahill for Bastick (51), P Andrews for O'Gara (65).
ARMAGH:P McEvoy; V Martin, B Donaghy, A Mallon; K Dyas, C McKeever, P Duffy; C Vernon (1-1), K Toner; R Grugan, BJ Padden (0-1), M Mackin; B Mallon, G Swift (0-4), S McDonnell (0-4, two frees). Subs: F Moriarty for Martin (19 mins); A Duffy for Mackin (48); D McKenna for Dyas (49); M O'Rourke (0-1) for B Mallon (50); C Clarke for Padden (57); C Watters for Grugan (66).
Referee:J McQuillan (Cavan).
