Allianz Football League Division 1 – Armagh 0-10 Cork 1-7

Armagh salvage a draw against 14-man Cork

Allianz Football League Division 1: Armagh 0-10 Cork 1-7

Report from the GAA.ie web site

Cork and Armagh shared the spoils in the only Division I game played on Sunday following a dour game at the Morgan Athletic Grounds. Cork, the reigning champions, will perhaps be the slightly happier side as they played all of the second half with 14 men, having lost Paul Kerrigan to a straight red card before the break. Graham Canty and Alan O’Connor as well as Armagh’s Brendan Donaghy and John Kingham were all yellow carded by referee Syl Doyle as the game threatened to spill over. Earlier, Kingham, a recent recruit from Monaghan, had allowed the ball to slip through his hands and into the Armagh net from Kerrigan’s free after just 21 minutes.

It was a slow start to the game and Cork led by just 1-1 to 0-0 at that point, before the Rebels added two more points to lead by five at the break. The loss of Kerrigan, though, was clearly a major blow and although Cork extended their advantage to six after the resumption of play, the inevitable Armagh comeback followed. Aidan Forker started the charge by converting a free, before Eugene McVerry landed three points in a row to leave just two in it. The Orchard men finally drew level on 52 minutes when Malachy Mackin hit the target, making it six points without reply for the home side.

Cork eventually got off the mark in the second half when Seán Kiely opened their account before Mark Collins and Donncha O’Connor followed suit to nudge the Rebels clear with seven minutes left on the clock. However, for the comeback alone, Armagh fully deserved a point and when Brian Mallon levelled the scores two minutes from the end, it proved to be the last score of the game. Armagh had the chance to take both points, but Anto Duffy struck a free wide in injury time.