Armagh 2-8 Fermanagh 1-11: A packed Clones was a sea of orange, green and white as Armagh and Fermanagh served up a thrill a minute spectacular that built to an unbelievable climax in ideal conditions yesterday.
Five minutes into the second half Armagh looked to be on their way when they led by eight points with a goal by Ronan Clarke in the opening minute looking to have killed Fermanagh's dream. However the Enre tide began to rise and the proceeded to outplay Armagh in most sectors and had they capitalised on a few more chances they could well have pulled it off.
Fermanagh had the privilege of opening the scoring with Tommy McElroy having the ball over the bar within thirty seconds of the start but Armagh were soon back on level terms with a trademark score from big Ronan Clarke. Fermanagh were winning plenty of possession but too often going forward they ran into heavy traffic as Armagh defended in numbers and then broke quickly on counter attacks. Points by Stephen McDonnell (2) and Kieran Toner saw Armagh hit the front and they went on to lead at half time by 1-5 to 0-4, corner back Finnian Moriarty stealing forward to poach the goal in the 29th minute at the end of a typical counter attack.
When Steven McDonnell added a point to Clarke's opening goal things looked bleak for Fermanagh but it was when things were at their worst they dug deep to fashion a dramatic comeback that had Armagh on the ropes. A goal by Eamon Maguire in the9th minute threw the issue wide open and Fermanagh then upped the tempo again to win the bulk of possession in the middle. Entering the final fifteen minutes Fermanagh had the margin down to four and as nerve ends became raw they chipped away with points by Mark Little and Mark Murphy bringing the deficit down the minimum as time ticked away. Fermanagh to their credit held their nerve and came at Armagh in waves with substitute Shaun Doherty hitting the equaliser three minutes into stoppage time. The replay takes place in Clones on Sunday next at 3.00pm.
Teams and Scorers:
Armagh: P Hearty, A Mallon, F Bellew, F Moriarty 1-0, A Kernan, A O'Rourke, C McKeever, P McGrane, K Toner 0-1, C Vernon, B Mallon, M O'Rourke, S McDonnell 0-6 (1f), R Clarke 1-1, S Kernan. Subs: P McKeever for M O'Rourke, O McConville for S Kernan, M O'Rourke for C Vernon, D McKenna for B Mallon.
Fermanagh: R Gallagher, S Goan, S McDermott, P Sherry, D Kelly, R McCluskey, T McElroy 0-1, M McGrath, M Murphy 0-1, C McElroy 0-2, J Sherry, R Keenan 0-1 (f), E Maguire 1-0, S Mc Cabe, M Little 0-2 (2f). Subs: B Owens for S McCabe, t Brewster for J Sherry, D O'Reilly for S Goan, S Doherty 0-1 for C McElroy. Referee: J White (Donegal).