Derrygonnelly Harps 2-08 Armagh Harps 1-08

Derrygonnelly Harps booked their place in the Ulster Club semi-final and in doing so clinched their first ever win on the provincial stage as they saw off Armagh Harps at Brewster Park on Saturday night.

Two goals in as many minutes early in the contest ultimately proved decisive for the Fermanagh side as they raced into a 2-01 to 0-00 advantage after only ten minutes.

And although they came under pressure at times in the second half they were able to keep the Orchard side at arms length to set up a meeting with the victor of the Lamh Dhearg and Cavan Gaels quarter-final.

Derrygonnelly suffered an early blow when full back Tiarnan Daly was stretchered off but the subsequent reshuffle didn't affect them as they grabbed their first goal from the penalty spot.

Gary McKenna was hauled down by Armagh's Joe McElroy and Paul Ward stepped up to convert from the spot.

The excellent Conall Jones, who hit 1-05 on the night, opened his account with a fine point from play and from the resultant kick out he latched on to a poor kickout by goalkeeper Paddy Morrison to fire the ball to the corner to make it 2-01 to 0-00.

It took the Armagh champions 18 minutes to register their first score of the game as McElroy pointed but Derrygonnelly answered immediately as Jones landed another good effort.

Armagh were wasteful in front of the posts but full forward Ultan Lennon converted a free and a '45 however Derrygonnelly replied with a Stephen McGullion point from play and a Conall Jones long range free to make it 2-04 to 0-03.

Gareth Swift accounted for the final point of the half for Armagh Harps from a free but at half time it was Derrygonnelly who were in the driving seat as they led 2-04 to 0-04.

The away side though made a bright start to the second half and were unfortunate not to find the net as an incisive move saw Simon McCoy feed Lennon but his shot came back off the post.

Swift though did point after more good work from McCoy and they were enjoying the greater possession but Derrygonnelly were more economical with the ball they had while they tackled ferociously at the back as they limited the impact of the visitors attack.

Conall Jones stroked over a further point to push his side six clear once again before tempers started to spill over with Derrygonnelly's Dennis Greene and Conor Coulter of Armagh red carded in the 42nd minute.

And it went from bad to worse for Armagh as Swift received his marching orders a minute later while both sides would finish the game with 13 men as Derrygonnelly's Gary McKenna was sent off after picking up a second yellow card late on.

Derrygonnelly captain Ryan Jones dropped deep to protect his defence and he came away with the ball time and again while at the other end points from Garvan Jones and Conall Jones, sandwiching a Ryan McShane effort for Armagh Harps, made it 2-07 to 0-06 with ten minutes to go.

The away side though refused to throw in the towel as they contnued to press forward and Mark McConville and Conor Murphy clipped over points.

However, Derrygonnelly made sure that there was no route through for the goal that Armagh required to get back in the game and a second point from Garvan Jones restored the two goal cushion in added on time.

Lennon eventually did find the back of the Derrygonnelly net with a low strike but this came with the last kick of the game as Derrygonnelly secured a three point victory and a place in the last four.