Armagh 1-23; Tyrone 0-18
Armagh showed style and swagger as they filleted their near neighbor and biggest rivals Tyrone and really the scoreboard flattered the losers who were dead and buried in this contest at the Athletic Grounds by half-time.
An enthusiastic crowd of almost 15,000 made it a cauldron for both combatants as they went about their business but it soon emerged that only one - Armagh - would rule the roost on the night.
The Sam Maguire holders had built up a 14-point advantage by the break and while the Red Hand squad cut that margin in half, they were still miles away in terms of sharpness and appreciation of how to take advantage of the new rules.
The home side had three two-pointers to their credit in the first 35 mins and Tyrone netminder Niall Morgan prevented another by getting his hand to Andrew Murnin’s shot.
Unusually it was a game in which both goalkeepers showed up well, not outfield but in their primary duty of pulling off a series of stunning saves.
Leading by 1-14 to 0-3 at the break, Armagh continued to shoot well on sight and had gone 15 points to the good by the end of the next quarter.
Tyrone to their credit fought back with a Darren McCurry two-pointer from both play and a dead-ball helping, while four more scores reduced the gap to 10 points with 15 minutes left to play.
In the run in, Tyrone shone brightest with Michael McKernan finding the range for two two-pointers while Rory Brennan added another - back to seven points but the clock was in the red and Armagh were home and hosed long before then anyway.
Armagh: E Rafferty (0-5, 0-2tp,) T McCormack (0-1), B McCambridge, J Duffy, C Mackin, A Forker (0-2tp), G McCabe, B Crealey, R McQuillan (0-3,1tp), O Conaty (0-1), RGrugan (0-1f), D McMullan (0-1), J Hall (0-1), A Murnin (1-4), C Turbitt (0-4, 0-1f) Subs:S Campbell for McQuillan (54'), C McConville for Grugan (65’), J Óg Burns (66’) for Mackin.
Tyrone: N Morgan, A Clarke, P Teague, N Devlin, F Burns, M McKernan (0-5, 1 2tp), S O’Hare (0-2), B Kennedy (0-1), L Gray (0-1), S O’Donnell (0-1), C McGeary (0-1), A Donaghy, D McCurry (0-6, 2tpf), M Donnelly, R Cassidy Subs: C Fitzpatrick for Donaghy and E McElholm (0-1) for Cassidy (ht’), R Brennan (0-1) for F Burns (46’), C Daly for Gray (46’), C McShane for M Donnelly (66’).
Ref: J McQuillan (Cavan).
Kerry 5-15 Derry 1-24
Don’t mention goals or the fact that they can win matches in the most painful way to Derry after they suffered not one but two sucker punches in the last two minutes to leave Celtic Park empty handed when it appeared they had the two league points in the bag.
The 5,000 crowd could hardly believe their eyes as the Derry team, leading by three points 1-24 to 3-15, suffered two horrendous defensive mistakes which allowed Kingdom subs Donal O’Sullivan and veteran Paul Geaney to take full advantage by shooting home two goals.
O'Sullivan took advantage of the ball falling into his path and then goalkeeper Neil McNicholl, normally a midfielder, kicked the next kick out straight to Paudie Clifford, who switched the ball to Geaney for him to shoot his second goal of the encounter.
Derry could not believe their luck particularly as they played so much better than the previous week and deserved the win.
New manager Paddy Tally will have many good points to dwell on and the last two minutes excepted, he will think he has something to get Derry football back on a good footing in the coming months.
They were dominating aerial combat thanks to Conor Glass in particular but were pegged back by the opportunistic ability of Conor Geaney who got in for two goals as his side lead 2-5 to 0-8 midway through the second quarter.
Derry finished the half well as Ben McCarron hit a massive two-point shot ahead of Niall Toner's third which levelled matters once more.
Oak Leaf full-back Diarmuid Baker fisted a point before his clubmate Donncha Gilmore tapped over a mark to leave Derry 0-13 to 2-5 ahead at the half-time whistle.
The homesters came on strong again after the changeover with Glass putting over a delightful point after a run and, when Paul Cassidy added to it, it pushed their lead out to 0-16 to 2-5, a five-point advantage.
The Geaney brothers, Conor and Dylan, shot a one and two-pointer respectively to reduce the margin to two but then Ethan Doherty, an outfield player with the goalkeeper’s jersey, shot a fine point to restore Derry confidence.
Sean O'Brien and Doherty exchanged scores and then Derry imploded by only having two back in their own half - a free which Sean O’Shea maximized by shooting over a two-pointer.
Only two ahead now, Toner’s fourth score was welcomed by the big home following who thought his score had sealed a victory but three Kerry points had the sides all square at 0-21 to 2-15.
When Shane McGuigan ran through the defence to fire home a great goal and then added two points and Lachlan Murray got one, it looked out of sight for Kerry. It wasn’t - thanks to Kerry’s ability to pounce on defensive sloppiness - which they did with those two late goals.
Kerry: S Ryan; D Bourke, J Foley, T O'Sullivan; G O'Sullivan, T Morley, S O'Brien (0-1); D O'Connor (0-1), B D O'Sullivan (0-2); P Clifford, S O'Shea (0-5, 1 tpf, 0-2f), R Murphy; C Geaney (2-2), K Spillane, D Geaney (0-2, tp) Subs: D O'Sullivan (1-1) for RMurphy (46); K Evans for K Spillane (50); P Geaney (2-0) for C Geaney (55); C Ó Beagaioch for B O’Sullivan (58); E Healy for S O'Brien (67).
Derry: N McNicholl; D Baker (0-1), E McEvoy, M Doherty; C Doherty, B Rogers (0-3, 1tp), D Gilmore (0-2, 0-1m); C Glass (0-2, 0-1 45), A Tohill; C Murphy, P Cassidy (0-2), E Doherty (0-2); N Toner (0-4, 0-2f), S McGuigan (1-4, 0-1f), B McCarron (0-2, 1tp) Subs: L Murray (0-1) for C Murphy (47), P McQurk for McCarron (54); D Higgins for A Tohill (60); D Cassidy for D Gilmore (61); J McDermott for D Baker (65-69, blood sub).
Ref: M McNally (Monaghan).
GAA RESULTS
Football
Division 1
Galway 0-26 Mayo 0-16
Donegal 0-20 Dublin 0-16
Armagh 1-23 Tyrone 0-19
Kerry 5-15 Derry 1-24
Division 2
Roscommon 1-17 Louth 1-15
Meath 3-21 Cavan 0-20
Monaghan 2-29 Westmeath 2-21
Down 1-19 Cork 2-15
Division 3
Fermanagh 2-16 Antrim 3-12
Clare 2-17 Leitrim 0-10
Kildare 1-16 Sligo 0-13
Offaly 2-19 Laois 1-17
Division 4
Carlow 2-15 Waterford 0-12
Tipperary 3-13 Longford 1-18
Wexford 0-17 Limerick 0-13
London 1-20 Wicklow 0-21
Hurling
Division 1A
Tipperary 1-22 Wexford 0-19
Cork 1-16 Limerick 1-16
Galway 2-19 Kilkenny 1-19
Division 1B
Offaly 1-24 Laois 1-15
Antrim 2-25 Westmeath 1-19
Carlow 2-21 Waterford 1-19
Division 2
Donegal 1-20 Tyrone 0-13
Down 2-26 Derry 0-13
Kildare 2-28 Kerry 0-17
Division 3
Cavan 1-17 Sligo 1-12
London 1-18 Wicklow 1-17
Roscommon 1-22 Armagh 0-10
Division 4
Louth 2-23 Monaghan 0-11
Fermanagh 1-14 Longford 0-14
Warwickshire 1- 18 Lancashire 3-12
