Ulster club SFC: Derrygonnelly win battle of the Harps as four see red

October 28, 2017

Derrygonnelly's Ryan Jones.
©INPHO/Presseye/Lorcan Doherty.

Derrygonnelly Harps (Fermanagh) 2-8

Armagh Harps (Armagh) 1-8

Derrygonnelly claimed their maiden Ulster club SFC victory at the expense of Armagh Harps at Brewster Park as both finished with just 13 men.

A brace of early goals laid the foundations for the home side's victory on a night when referee Dan Mullan dished out red cards to Armagh Harps pair Gareth Swift and Conor Coulter and to Derrygonnelly's Denis Greene following a 40th minute flashpoint. And the Derry match official evened things up when issuing Gary McKenna with his second yellow card two minutes from the end of normal time.

The three-in-a-row Fermanagh champions came flying out of the blocks to lead by 2-1 to 0-0 after 10 minutes. Paul Ward tucked away an early penalty which had been awarded for a foul on Gary McKenna before man of the match Conal Jones capitalised on a poor kick-out to fire home the second goal.

The visitors, who recently ended a 26-year wait for Armagh SFC honours, had to wait until the 17th minute for their opening score from Joe McElroy. Ultan Lennon narrowed the gap before points from Stephen McGullion and Jones gave Derrygonnely a 2-4 to 0-4 cushion at the break.

In a low-scoring second half, further scores from Conal and Garvan Jones had extended the winners' advantage to 2-7 to 0-6 by the 53rd minute. John Toner's charges tried desperately to find a way back, but a late Lennon goal wasn't enough to prevent an early exit.

Derrygonnelly Harps - D Feely; S McGullion, T Daly, M Jones; D Greene, E McHugh, G McGinley; R Jones, G Jones (0-2); K Cassidy, P Ward (1-0pen), D Cassidy; G McKenna, L Jones, C Jones (1-5). Subs: S McGullion (0-1) for T Daly, A Gallagher for L Jones, N Gallagher for S McGullion, A McKenna for K Cassidy, S Jones for P Ward.

Armagh Harps - P Morrison; S Farry, K Loughran, C Stevenson; R McGrath, D McKenna, M McConville (0-1); L Oliver, C White; R McShane (0-1), J McElroy (0-1), T O'Kane; C Vernon, U Lennon (1-2), S McCoy. Subs: J Loughran for K Loughran, G Swift (0-2) for R McGrath, C Coulter for L Oliver, C Murphy (0-1) for T O'Kane.

Referee - D Mullan.


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