T-Met Armagh SHC final: Middletown 2-10 Keady 1-8
THE Cardinal MacRory Cup is back in Middletown after a two-year lapse, as Na Fianna out-hurled holders Keady in difficult conditions at the Athletic Grounds.
The newly-crowned champions got off to an explosive start with Ryan Gaffney finding the net in the first minute and quickly followed up with points from Cathal Carvill (two) and Martin Maguire.
Conor McKee settled the Lámh Dhearg jitters with a pointed free in the fifth minute and at the end of the opening quarter his goal had reduced the gap to a point. Middletown replied with their second major, the sheer determination of Marty Mone scrambling the ball over the line.
Before the break, Gaffney and Carvill added Middletown points while the best Keady could manage was a single score from Barry Breen.
Middletown stretched their 2-6 to 1-4 interval advantage further with scores from Gaffney and Moan, and with the terrible conditions increasingly dictating play, little went right for Keady after the break.
They had to wait for 20 minutes before a Paul Breen free gave them their first score of the half. By the 53rd minute, Gaffney had put Na Fianna ahead by double scores, 2-10 to 1-5, although they failed to score again despite the game going eight minutes into injury-time.
Keady, to their credit, battled gamely against the odds, but scores from Paul Breen were nothing more than consolations.
In the junior final, which was also played in torrential rain, it was a case of third-time lucky for Lurgan club Seán Treacy’s, who had lost the last two finals by a point.
They defeated Derrynoose 1-20 to 1-17, with a strong spell before the break proving the difference.
