A brace of points from Rory Grugan in the final minute of normal time handed Armagh victory over neighbours Down in a disappointing ESB Ulster MFC final at Clones. Armagh..1-8 Down..1-5 The wet underfoot conditions made for a scrappy and stop-start encounter between these two fierce rivals, but this won't bother Armagh who achieved their objective of securing a first provincial title in the grade since 2005. The Orchard County opened the scoring through Peter Carragher in the fifth minute before Conor King set up Grugan for the opening goal a minute later to leave them four points clear. But with Robbie White winning a lot of possession around midfield, Down were level by the 13th minute thanks to a David McKibbin point and a goal from Caolan Mooney. Despite being dominated in the territorial stakes, Armagh regained the lead in the 22nd minute through Robbie Tasker, and an exchange of points between Mark Haughey and Tasker ensured the Orchard County of a 1-3 to 1-2 interval lead. Points from Eugene McVerry and Kealon Downey on the restart pushed Armagh three clear before efforts from Kevin McClorey and Robbie White left the minimum in it once again. It remained a one-point game until Grugan finally settled the issue with two points on the stroke of full-time. Armagh - S O'Reilly; K Downey (0-1), R Finnegan, K Nugent; D McKenna, N Rowland, J Morgan; P Carragher (0-1), J Donnelly; R Grugan (1-2), A Murnin, C King; R Tasker (0-2), E McVerry (0-1), G McParland (0-1, 1f). Subs: R Rafferty for A Murnin, D Nugent for C King. Down - J Deeny; R Doran, S McNamee, D O'Hanlon (0-1); K McClorey (0-1), C McClean, F McEvoy; C Mooney (1-0), N McParland; M Haughey (0-1), R White (0-1, 1f), K Quinn; M Bagnall, R McGarry, D McKibben (0-1, 1f). Subs: D O'Hare for D McKibben, N Cunningham for K McClorey, P Quinn for R White. Ref - S McNamee (Tyrone) Tweet

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