Fermanagh bow out at Brewster

Editorial Department • Published 15 Jul 2010 16:00 0 Comments

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Ryan Carson gets the ball across goal as Fermanagh go close to finding the back of the net against Armagh at Brewster Park on Sunday.<<

Fermanagh 0-07; Armagh 0-11;

Fermanagh's dismal season came to an end at Brewster Park on Sunday as Malachy O'Rourke's side fell to a four point defeat to Armagh in Round Two of the All Ireland Qualifiers.

This was a disappointing encounter throughout which was littered with silly mistakes and basic errors and in the end it was Armagh who were able to make more of their possession as they set up a meeting with Dublin in the next round.

Fermanagh, who did show plenty of commitment and effort, did see plenty of the ball over the course of the contest, and dominated the breaking ball around the middle third of the pitch, but the usual failure of not being able to turn possession into scores came back to haunt the home side.

Only Seamus Quigley looked threatening in attack, the big Roslea man registering all but two of Fermanagh's points, while often the ball going into the forward line was poor.

At the other end, Fermanagh were a lot tighter than in the previous outing against Monaghan, and in general kept a tight rein on the Orchard forwards but when scores were needed Armagh were able to come up with the goods and they just about deserved to book their place in round three.

Having watched his side dismantled by Monaghan, O'Rourke rang the changes, replacing five of the side that started in the Ulster semi-final. Out went Shane Lyons, Marty McGrath, Mark Little, Rory Gallagher and Chris O'Brien with Martin O'Brien, Ryan Jones, Ciaran Flaherty, Brian Cox and Quigley coming into the starting line up.

Armagh though could have had a goal inside the opening seconds as Aaron Kernan sent Jamie Clarke scurrying in on goal, but having rounded goalkeeper Ronan Gallagher the Crossmaglen youngster could only find the sidenetting from a tight angle.

It was Fermanagh who were to open the scoring when Quigley knocked over his first of the day from a close in free but Armagh were soon on level terms as Clarke skipped away from O'Brien before lobbing over the bar.

The home side were to have a goal chance of their own in the 13th minute when Ryan Carson gathered possession but his shot was saved by Paul Hearty, and when Carson collected the rebound he played the ball across goal with Daryl Keenan narrowly failing to connect.

A number of errors in the Fermanagh defence allowed Steven McDonnell to edge Armagh in front and Charlie Vernon followed up with a terrific long range point.

With both sides making mistakes there was little to get excited about but it was Armagh who were to stretch their advantage as McDonnell chipped over a free to make it 0-04 to 0-01.

The last ten minutes of the half were of a better standard. Quigley rifled over a fine point from the left after being set up by Ryan McCluskey although Armagh replied with a point from McDonnell.

Two massive frees, however, from Quigley, both from over 45 metres out, cut the deficit back to a single point and Ryan Jones shot wide when he had the chance to tie things up.

Instead Armagh were to put two between them at the break when McDonnell tapped over a free after an extremely harsh decision against Barry Mulrone by referee Derek Fahy, leaving it 0-06 to 0-04 at the interval.

Armagh manager Paddy O'Rourke was obviously not satisfied with his side's first half display as he introduced Kieran Toner and Finnian Moriarty at half time. And the Orchardmen had a great chance to take control of the contest right at the start of the second half when they were awarded a penalty. Malachy Mackin was put in on goal by McDonnell but his effort was thwarted by an O'Brien foot block and Fahy was left with no option but to give a penalty.

Ronan Gallagher though was up to the challenge and he pulled off a great stop to deny McDonnell.

Fermanagh then went on to leave just the minimum between the sides as Tommy McElroy drilled over a point from the right hand side.

At this stage the game was right in the balance and Malachy O'Rourke would have hoped that his side would be able to kick on from here but they struggled to get any sort of supply into their inside forwards with the ball to often moved sideways when possession was gained around the middle third.

Clarke pushed Armagh two ahead as he danced his way around a couple of challenges while the away side also wasted a couple of further opportunities to add to their lead.

McDonnell and Brian Cox swapped points as the game remained close although when Vernon put Armagh three in front it looked as if it would be enough to take them to victory as Fermanagh just did not look as if they would get the scores required to get back.

Quigley did point a free after both he and Carson had missed chances but Steven McDonnell banged over a long range pressure free to restore the three point lead, and Gareth Swift then tagged on the insurance point as Fermanagh's year was brought to a finish.

Fermanagh

Ronan Gallagher; N. Bogue, M. O'Brien, B. Mulrone; D. Ward, R. McCluskey, T. McElroy (0-01); J. Sherry, R. Jones; B. Cox (0-01), D. Keenan, C. Flaherty; P. Ward, R. Carson, S. Quigley (0-05, 4f).

Subs - C. O'Brien for P. Ward, N. McGovern for Mulrone, Rory Gallagher for Flaherty, M. McGrath for Jones.

Armagh

P. Hearty; A. Mallon, B. Donaghy, V. Martin; P. Duffy, C. McKeever, K. Dyas; C. Vernon (0-02), M. Mackin; J. Feeney, A. Kernan, F. Hanratty; G. Swift (0-01), S. McDonnell (0-06, 3f), J. Clarke (0-02).

Subs - K. Toner for Hanratty, F. Moriarty for Dyas, B. Mallon for Feeney.

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 15 Jul 10

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