Football

Niall Grimley produces a midfield masterclass as Armagh get past Fermanagh

Niall Grimley produced a Star Man performance from midfield for Armagh Picture by Philip Walsh
Niall Grimley produced a Star Man performance from midfield for Armagh Picture by Philip Walsh Niall Grimley produced a Star Man performance from midfield for Armagh Picture by Philip Walsh

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Qualifying round 1B: Armagh 0-20 Fermanagh 0-11

PLAYER RATINGS

Armagh

Blaine Hughes: The Carrickcruppen goalkeeper has made the role his own since being introduced. One poor kick-out was more than redeemed with two top-class saves to deny Fermanagh a goal. 8

Mark Shields: Did an excellent job on preventing Tomas Corrigan scoring from play and was largely disciplined in the tackle but did give away two free. 8

Charlie Vernon: Probably trained all week preparing for another tasty battle with Fermanagh’s Sean Quigley but looked comfortable on Barry Mulrone and offered plenty around the middle and in attack. 8

Aaron McKay: The Dromintee defender is growing into his role and will continue to get better. A rash tackle early gave away a needless free but several interceptions and some neat tidying up shows he is maturing into a fine defender. 7

Aidan Forker: A largely disciplined performance by Forker who was given the tough job of marking Ryan Lyons. 7

Brendan Donaghy: Has being allowed to play the sweeper role, simply due to the lack of Fermanagh forwards to mark. Cleaned up a lot of loose ball and was comfortable clearing the goal line when under pressure. 8

Paul Hughes: The flying Crossmaglen wing-back was busy bombing forward and getting hands in defence. Some of his passing was a little off, which us unusual for Hughes but still offered cover in defence and options going forward. 7

Stephen Sheridan: The Forkhill man was injured when Armagh exited (twice) to Laois last season. This year he has made midfield his own and he put in another tremendous shift last night. 7

Niall Grimley: See Star Man

Ciaron O’Hanlon: A late replacement for the injured James Morgan, O’Hanlon spent much of his evening protecting the back-line with tenacious tackling and excellent tracking back. 7

Anthony Duffy: Took a while to adopt to the pace of the game but made an impact with several fine catches and he generally worked his proverbial socks off. 7

Rory Grugan: The Armagh captain converted five frees out of seven and kept the forwards in plentiful supply. A good evening’s work. 7

Jamie Clarke: His first of three points was simply mesmerising and worth the entrance fee alone. Still more to come from Clarke though. 8

Andrew Murnin: Had a brilliant tussle with Che Cullen up until being replaced and can be pleased with his performance. 7

Gavin McParland: Delivered quality assists but will be disappointed not to have registered a score. 7

Subs

Stefan Campbell: He replaced Murnin and his two points will do wonders for his confidence and Armagh’s ambition. 8

Ciaran McKeever: Replaced O’Hanlon on 56 minutes and was strong and stable. 7

Ethan Rafferty: Scored with his first touch and his return from injury is a massive boost for Armagh. 7

Oisin O’Neill: Not on long enough to be rated.

STAR MAN

Niall Grimley: Gave an exhibition in kicking with an impressive tally of six points, with his first from play. He offered a towering presence in midfield, which is no mean feat against Fermanagh and gave Armagh the platform and energy to succeed.

Fermanagh

Chris Snow: Mixed day with kick-outs, struggling for accuracy with his short ones, including one sent straight to Gavin McParland. Longer ones were risky because of Armagh’s midfield strength. 6

Michael Jones: Stuck tightly to McParland, holding him scoreless, and also covered across his defence well. 7

Che Cullen: Second best to Andy Murnin early on but settled to his task, battling well in the air and for loose possession. Found it harder going against Stefan Campbell, although the game was getting stretched then. 6.5

Cian McManus: Up against Jamie Clarke and understandably found him a handful, but only conceded one first half point. Kept going but his man profited in the extra space later in the game. 6

Aidan Breen: Full of running, both in defence and attack, although he sent a shot short when he did get into a good position. Gathered up some loose ball. 6

Ryan McCluskey: Sweeper as usual, albeit pushing far up – including near the opposition ‘D’ – at times. However, he was caught in possession on a couple of occasions. 6

Conor P Murphy: Got forward well, passing the ball precisely, but his man Ciaron O’Hanlon’s posed problems too before the latter’s surprise substitution. 6

Eoin Donnelly: The skipper put himself about and scored a great point but appeared to be rather harshly dismissed for a second yellow card before the hour mark, although his first was merited. 6.5

Lee Cullen: Often operated as a man-marker against Armagh centre-forward Duffy and won that battle. Yellow-carded for a frustrated push on Vernon. 6.5

Ryan Hyde: The tall Maguiresbridge midfielder operated as a third midfielder on his Championship debut but was taken off with a third of the game played. 5

Ryan Lyons: A lively presence initially but found it harder against Vernon, dropping increasingly deeper. Took a second score but it was too late. 6.5

Paul McCusker: Clattered twice early on but worked hard as ever; one weaving run came to naught. Made one great defensive interception. 6.5

Declan McCusker: Dropped back deep into defence and got his hands on a fair amount of ball, but created little and sent a shot short. 6

Barry Mulrone: Surprisingly deployed at full-forward in Seamus Quigley’s absence but saw little ball before the break. More involvement as he moved to half-forward line. 6

Tomas Corrigan: Accurate from placed balls at first, including a superb sideline score, but off-target from play, and then missed some frees, finishing with six scores and six wides. 6.5

Subs

Ruairi Corrigan: Came on for Hyde but never really got into the game and was taken off himself. 5

Sean Quigley: Replaced Ruairi Corrigan and although he quickly missed a free he did well, kicking two points, including a superb effort on the run, despite strapping on his left knee. 7

Daniel Teague: Got himself involved quickly around full-forward, seeing a goal-bound shot blocked and winning a free with smart movement. 6.5

Kane Connor: Not on long enough to be rated.