Hurling & Camogie

Cahal Carvill helps Armagh tip the balance again as Down are ousted from Ulster Championship

Ulster Senior Hurling Championship semi-final: Armagh 1-17 Down 2-12

From Neil Loughran in Inniskeen

AS the Armagh players came together in a huddle minutes after a swashbuckling finale saw them past old foes Down, the team’s maor foirne removed his baseball cap and hung it on the end of a hurl.

Holding the stick flat, he tipped it up just enough that the hat rolled off and hit the dirt below.

“There’s the balance lads...”

Roars of approval filled the late afternoon air at a sun-drenched Inniskeen as Armagh celebrated not just a place in Sunday’s Ulster final against Antrim, but the further consolidation of their position as the Saffrons’ challengers-in-chief within the province.

Victory over neighbours Down is always sweet, and this was the third time in-a-row they had put the men in red and black to the sword. You could see what it meant to them.

And yet, when the Ardsmen reeled off four points in-a-row to take a three-point lead heading down the stretch, it looked as though Down might end that losing streak.

Despite only arriving at the county Monaghan venue 10 minutes before Saturday’s scheduled throw-in time, forcing a delayed start, two first half goals from Malachy Magee had edged them into the ascendancy.

But Armagh came roaring out of the blocks after the interval and Down just couldn’t get to grips with the dynamic running of Cahal Carvill.

The Middletown maestro was switched to the inside forward line as the Orchard chased the game having previously been detailed to curb the influence of Down playmaker Conor Woods.

And as the game headed into added time Carvill scored once from play and won three frees - two of which were converted by David Carvill - as the Orchardmen landed another famous win.

“Cahal is one in a million,” said Armagh boss Sylvester McConnell.

“We could ask Cahal to play goals next week and he will pull on the jersey. There is never a problem with that.

“Conor Woods had to be marked today and Cahal did that job at centre-half forward and still contributed to the team with scores.

“Yes, we would like to keep him inside - we would like to keep ball-winners inside - but we just have to balance the team out the best we can.”

Due to a combination of injury and unavailability, Down travelled with just 19 players - and were without manager Marty Mallon when the team bus finally pulled up in Inniskeen.

“Martin, the way he works, he looks after his butchers and he just couldn't get the day off work at all,” explained former Down stalwart Gary Savage, who took over team affairs.

Both management teams were forced to shuffle their packs before throw-in, with the Ardsmen drafting in Conor O’Prey and Scott Nicholson after corner-forwards Eoghan Sands and captain Danny Toner were ruled out.

Armagh, meanwhile, started without regular free-taker Ryan Gaffney, who picked up a broken thumb during the week and is unlikely to feature against the Saffrons on Sunday.

David Carvill assumed free-taking duties and after a nervy start, missing his first two, bagged his first of the day put the Orchard into a 0-4 to 0-2 lead.

The Ardsmen weren’t trailing for long though as four minutes later the ball broke kindly for Malachy Magee inside the square and he made no mistake, drilling low beyond Simon Doherty.

Having got their noses in front, though, Down were reduced to 14 men 10 minutes before half-time when forward Caolan Bailie appeared to strike Cahal Carvill as the pair exchanged pleasantries.

Referee Colm Cunning issued the straight red after consulting with one of his umpires, leaving Savage scratching his head.

“What was it for? So the umpire said something about that? That tells its own tale,” said the Ballycran man.

“There was nothing in that at all and all of a sudden we are a man down with three quarters of the match to play? That's a big ask.”

Armagh failed to make the extra man count, though, as Down moved on from Bailie’s dismissal to grab another goal before half-time when that man Magee again lashed beyond Doherty to put the Ardsmen 2-5 to 0-7 up at half-time.

But the Orchard must have had their ears warmed by O’Connell as they fired 1-4 to Down’s 0-2 in the 15 minutes after the break.

The goal came when Down ’keeper Stephen Keith’s routine clearance went straight to Dylan McKenna, leaving the Keady man to slot into an empty net.

Savage threw on 6”6 Gareth Johnson in a bid to wreak some havoc in the Armagh back line for the final 20 minutes, but ‘Magic’ was swarmed out of it time and again by a dogged Orchard defence.

Four consecutive scores from Chris Egan, Michael Ennis and two from Conor O’Prey gave Down a bit of breathing room heading into the final minutes as they led 2-12 to 1-12 with 62 minutes on the clock.

However, after moving Cahal Carvill up top, Armagh ran riot and Down didn’t score again as the Orchardmen picked off the final five scores to snatch the win.

“There’s great spirit in this team, they’re something special,” added McConnell.

“People talk about Armagh being physical – we played a very manly game there today, but there was no physicality from us. There’s a lot of hurling in Armagh, and that was a good game to watch.”

For Down, it’s back to the drawing board ahead of their Christy Ring Cup against Roscommon on April 22.

“It's hard to take,” said Savage.

“We thought we had done enough, but Armagh won a lot of breaking ball in the end which opened us up. Maybe the legs got the better of us in the end.”

Armagh: S Doherty; C Clifford, N Curry, D Bridges; J Corvan (0-1), A McGuinness, T Nevin; C Carvill (0-4), C Devlin (0-1); D Carvill (0-6, frees), F Bradley (0-1), C Corvan (0-1); D Magee, C Gorman, D McKenna (1-3). Subs: P Gaffney for A McGuinness (HT), O Curry for D Bridges (43), S Keenan for C Gorman (55), P McKearney for D Magee (59), D Gaffney for C Devlin (67)

Yellow cards: D Bridges (36), D McKenna (37), C Clifford (54)

Down: S Keith; J McManus, M Hughes, S Ennis; C Egan (0-1), C Woods, M Ennis (0-1); A Bell, D McManus; C Mageean (0-1), M Magee (2-1), C Bailie; C O’Prey (0-4, 0-3 frees), P Sheehan (0-3 frees), S Nicholson (0-1). Subs: G Johnson for P Sheehan (50)

Yellow cards: M Ennis (6), C Bailie (9), A Bell (71), S Ennis (73)

Red card: C Bailie (25)

Referee: C Cunning (Antrim)