FL1: Armagh down as Donegal survive
April 08, 2012
Donegal's 0-13 to 0-10 win over Armagh at Ballybofey condemned the visitors to the drop.
Armagh looked to have done enough when leading by 0-10 to 0-7 but Donegal finished strongly with a stirring run of six unanswered points to send the Orchard men down.
Aaron Kernan and Jamie Clarke started for the Orchard County, who led by 0-7 to 0-5 at the interval.
The hosts had to start without Patrick McBrearty and Neil McGee but Colm McFadden made the starting XV.
Martin McElhinney got the first point before Brian Mallon and the impressive Michael Stevenson (2) put Armagh in front.
Stevenson brought his tally of frees to five and Colm McFadden kept the hosts in touch with the last score of the first half - 0-7 to 0-5.
Stevenson added two more frees to double the gap after the action recommenced but Donegal then took over...
Frank McGlynn, McFadden, substitute Martin O'Reilly and Rory Kavanagh bagged four in a row for the home team, which made it 0-11 to 0-10 in their favour. Armagh were unlucky when Clarke's shot hit the butt of a post.
McFadden added another minor for the Ulster champions and Adrian Hanlon was n target in injury time, consigning the Orchard County to Division Two.
Donegal - P Durcan; F McGlynn (0-1), E McGee, Declan Walsh; A Thompson, K Lacey, L McLoone (0-1); R Kavanagh (0-2), N Gallagher; M McHugh, R Bradley, D McLaughlin; David Walsh, C McFadden (0-5, 2f), M McElhinney (0-1). Subs: D Molloy (0-1) for McLaughlin, P McBrearty for McElhinney, M O'Reilly (0-1) for E McGee, S Griffin for McBrearty, A Hanlon (0-1) for McLoone.
Armagh - P McEvoy; A Mallon, B Donaghy (0-1), D McKenna; P Duffy, C McKeever (0-1), F Moriarty; A Kernan, C Vernon; B Mallon (0-1), J Clarke, A Duffy; M Stevenson (0-7, 7f), C Rafferty, K Dyas. Subs: T Kernan for P Duffy, J Lavery for Moriarty, M O'Rourke for B Mallon, G McParland for Stevenson, J Kingham for T Kernan.
Referee - C Reilly (Meath).
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