Minors win despite late scares

ARMAGH Minors successfully overcame the first hurdle on the way to retaining their Ulster title with a nail biting one point win over Derry at Celtic Park last Sunday.

The Orchard side dominated for long periods and looked home and dry before Derry’s Aaron Devlin crashed in two late goals to leave the crowd on the edge of their seats.

But had the young Oakleafers snatched a late equaliser it would have been a case of rough justice for the eventual winners who deserved the victory which was assisted, in no small measure, by Annaghmore’s Matthew McNeice who made a couple of goal stops over the 60 minutes.

Locally a new buzz has been created by the young North Armagh lads who did their clubs proud in the Orange jersey. All were there on merit and the unusually large crowd which attended the curtain raiser bore witness to the spreading of interest which now encompasses the entire county.

It took the hosts a while to rid the scoreboard of technical gremlins which saw many variations over the first ten minutes, but the crowd were assured, over the PA system that Sarsfields ace Paul McGeown had taken a goal when he blasted home a close-in free kick. The Derry defence had gone AWOL, almost as if they were preparing for a penalty kick, leaving their goalkeeper unprotected, an opportunity young McGeown was not going to give up.

Barry Seeley, whose place kicking was perfect on the day, stroked over a number of scores in the opening period, one of which was a great effort from out on the left touchline from open play.

Whilst last season’s heroes are now household names, new stars are emerging. Defenders Ruari McCaughley from the Wolfe Tones club, Keady’s James King, Niall McConville from St. Peter’s, Maghery’s effective Aidan Forker, the talented Barry Seeley, livewire Colin Stevenson and of course two-goal hero Paul McGeown all played a huge part in the win, as did the towering Aaron Finden who came on in the second half.

The starting midfielders Conor Gough and, in particular, Peter Carragher both excelled in Celtic Park. Leading by a point at the break thanks to first half scores from Seeley, McGeown, Stevenson and Forker, the telling period came in the third quarter in which Armagh kicked 1-5 to Derry’s 0-2, a purple patch which included Paul McGeown’s coolly taken three-pointer on 38 minutes.

Armagh, it appeared, had pushed on to victory, but a luckless home side, who had struck all sorts of woodwork both horizontal and vertical, finally came good with two dramatic late goals to bring the Armagh campaign within touching distance of a hugely unexpected upset.

The disaster was averted, however, and the winners saw their way through to face Monaghan in the quarter-final. The Orchard were the better side on the day and will take a lot of beating. Any notion of complacency, however, should now be long gone.