Ulster SFC final: late McDonnell goal seals Armagh win

July 27, 2008

Fermanagh's Shane Goan reaches out to deny Steven McDonnell, but it was the Armagh man's goal that won the Ulster SFC final replay for the Orchard County
Steven McDonnell's record-breaking 69th-minute goal finally broke Fermanagh's brave resistance in an energy-sapping Ulster final replay at sweltering Clones. The three-pointer makes McDonnell the all-time top goalscorer in Ulster football, as the replay-specialist Orchard County claimed a seventh provincial crown inside a decade by virtue of a 1-11 to 0-8 victory. Five of the winning team collected a seventh Anglo Celt Cup souvenir, including jubilant captain Paul McGrane. But it could all have been different had not the underdogs shot themselves in the foot with an exhibition of poor shooting. While Armagh march on to the All-Ireland quarter-finals, Fermanagh's quest for a first-ever Ulster title goes on and they will struggle to pick themselves back up for the third round of the qualifiers next weekend. Their woes were compounded when Barry Owens was stretchered off only seven minutes after entering the fray as a second-half replacement. The first half produced some shocking shooting as the two teams managed only eight points between them - and 14 wides. Fermanagh dominated midfield and missed NINE presentable chances in the opening 35 minutes and they must have been seriously disheartened to be only level at the interval. There were late amendments to both line-ups as Peter McDonnell replaced Stephen Kernan with his brother Tony and Malachy O'Rourke started free specialist Matthew Keenan rather than James Sherry. Four points were swapped inside the opening ten minutes: following an early exchange between Ryan Keenan (4) and Ronan Clarke (7), Aaron Kernan sent the Orchard County ahead from a free after a blatant Shane McDermott foul on Clarke and Eamonn Maguire swivelled to level for the Erne County. Amazingly, there would be no more scores for a staggering 22 minutes as both sides engaged in a shocking widefest. Martin O'Rourke, Keenan and Charlie Vernon all had misses before Armagh had a goal disallowed. A high ball into the Fermanagh goalmouth was flicked by Clarke onto the crossbar and Steven McDonnell netted the rebound. But the officials correctly adjudged that Clarke had been inside the square when he made his contact. Matthew Keenan had a bad wide from a straightforward free close to goal off his left foot and McDonnell found a post with his next shot, after Clarke had spoiled a promising Armagh attack by picking the ball directly off the ground. Martin McGrath became the sixth successive player to miss the target when his shot on 18 minutes drifted well wide. The wides continued unabated as Mattie Keenan missed another relatively simple free on 20 minutes and Liam McBarron made it eight wides on the trot (five of them for Fermanagh) two minutes later. It was extremely frustrating for the underdogs, who also had bad early wides from McBarron and Ryan Keenan. The manager abandoned the Matthew Keenan experiment after 26 minutes when he replaced the errant attacker with another dead ball specialist Tom Brewster, while Armagh were forced into replacing injured corner back Andy Mallon. Paul Kernan replaced the injured party. Both sides had more wides as the half-hour mark approached, with the poor shooting bug spreading even to Armagh's deadly forward duo Clarke and McDonnell (who was being well marshalled by Shane Goan). Tony Kernan hit another unbelievable wide on 31 minutes, the fifth of Armagh's starting forward sextet to miss the target. The same player finally raised a white flag at the end of a patient Armagh move in the 32nd minute but Fermanagh levelled instantly from a Mark Little free. Tom Brewster repaid his manager when he floated over a booming point a minute before the short whistle to re-establish the Ernesiders' lead. In the third minute of first-half added time, Aaron Kernan slotted over his second free of the match and the sides went in locked on 0-4 each at the break. Fermanagh made a sloppy start to the second half when Brewster picked the ball off the ground and Peter Sherry committed a needless bodycheck on Martin O'Rourke. Tony Kernan stayed calm to slot over the resultant free. Goan beat McDonnell to two balls in as many minutes and Fermanagh introduced the talismanic defender-turned-attacker Barry Owens for McBarron three minutes after the restart. In the 40th minute, wing back Damien Kelly levelled after Owens won the first high ball into the edge of the Armagh square. Fermanagh were denied a clear 45 when Ciaran McKeever knocked the ball out over his own endline and centre half forward Brian Mallon capitalised on his side's good fortune when he slotted over a nice point to make it 0-7 to 0-6 on 42 minutes. On the stoke of 45 minutes, Fermanagh suffered a debilitating double blow when Owens went down with a nasty-looking knee injury and Clarke doubled Armagh's advantage with a stunning kick that arrowed high over the black spot from a difficult position under immense pressure. Having opened up his knee, the unfortunate Owens was stretchered from the field, with James Sherry finally getting a run-out, coming in at full forward with the No.11 on his shirt. With Fermanagh backs to the ball, captain McGrath was awarded a very soft free in the 51st minute and Brewster sliced the gap with a low free that barely cleared the crossbar. Brewster's shot from play went wide off a post after good play from Goan and substitute Shane McCabe. McGrath registered his county's 12th wide with 17 minutes left. Paul McGrane was putting in a massive shift of honest industry and his team went back two points clear, 0-8 to 0-6, when Aaron Kernan tapped over a free after McGrath's silly foul on his opposite number (McGrane). Fermanagh chalked up another disappointing wide, and McGrath was caught in possession, before McDonnell - who had lived on scraps all afternoon - twisted brilliantly inside his man to boot over an inspirational point off his so-called weaker left foot. The score of the match for sure. McDonnell had the bit between his teeth now and the Killeavy man chipped over a free from the deck to put clear daylight between the sides for the first time today, 0-10 to 0-6 with an hour played. Stephen Kernan replaced his brother Tony and Aaron was also slowed down momentarily by cramp before McCabe made amends for a mistake by sending over a good point with seven minutes remaining. With just over five minutes on the clock, Malachy O'Rourke played his last card when throwing in last week's hero Shaun Doherty. Ryan McCloskey, who had another excellent match, was unlucky when deemed to have fouled Martin O'Rourke and Aaron Kernan accurately slotted over his fourth successful free to make it 0-11 to 0-7 with two minutes to play. With 90 seconds left, McDonnell finished the game as a contest when he rolled the ball into the net after Clarke had smashed the crossbar with a first-time half-volley. It was a historic score as it made the outstanding Armagh attacker the all-time top goal-scorer in Ulster championship football with an amazing EIGHTEEN majors. Maguire got a late consolation point for Fermanagh but it was Armagh's day after a strong finish in the last quarter. The replay masters have done it again - their seventh successive replay victory in championship football. Armagh - P Hearty, A Mallon, F Bellew, F Moriarty, A Kernan (0-4, 4f), A O'Rourke, C McKeever, P McGrane, K Toner, C Vernon, B Mallon (0-1), M O'Rourke, S McDonnell (1-2, 1f), R Clarke (0-2), T Kernan (0-2, 1f). Subs - P Kernan for A Mallon, S Kernan for T Kernan, P Duffy for Vernon, B Donaghy for Bellew. Fermanagh - R Gallagher, S Goan, S McDermott, P Sherry, D Kelly (0-1), R McCluskey, T McElroy, M McGrath, M Murphy, C McElroy, M Keenan, R Keenan (0-1), E Maguire (0-2), L McBarron, M Little (0-1, 1f). Subs - T Brewster (0-2, 1f) for M Keenan, B Owens for McBarron, S McCabe (0-1) for McElroy, J Sherry for Owens, S Doherty for R Keenan. Ref - M Deegan (Laois)

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