Armagh 1-12; Sligo 0-10: Armagh continued to steer a somewhat erratic course through their league season when defeating Sligo at Crossmaglen.

Having succumbed to Galway between victories over Westmeath and Laois, Armagh were then beaten by Cavan in their last outing before resuming normal business yesterday.

Yet had Sligo capitalised rather more fully on their strong wind advantage in the first half they might have asked more serious questions of Armagh's character and strategy.

As it was, despite conceding a second-minute goal via a Paddy McKeever thunderbolt, Sligo still managed to build up a 0-9 to 1-4 half-time advantage, Aidan Marron and Dessie Sloyane contributing most of their return.

It was a different story after the break. With Philip Loughran and Paul McGrane much more assertive at midfield and Tony McEntee marshalling the defence from centre half back, Armagh carried a much bigger threat.

This was quickly transferred on to the scoreboard as Oisín McConville whisked over a series of frees, Loughran kicked over a long-range effort and both Diarmuid Marsden and Cathal O'Rourke added to Sligo's woes by getting in for scores.

Sligo were restricted to just one point in the second half and even then it surfaced from a late Sloyane free - a statistic that in itself speaks volumes about their second-half performance.

Armagh may not quite have scaled the heights but they showed a much greater degree of composure and fluency. Qualities they will need when they confront Meath and Limerick over the next fortnight.

ARMAGH: C McKinney; A Mallon, F Bellew, E McNulty; A Kernan, T McEntee, K McElvanna (0-1); P Loughran (0-1), P McGrane; P McKeever (1-2, two frees), J Toal, O McConville (0-5, four frees); D Marsden (0-1), R Clarke, M O'Rourke (0-1). Subs: P Hearty for McKinney (7 mins); S McDonnell (0-1) for O'Rourke (60).

SLIGO: P Green; P Gallagher, P Naughton, B Phillips; N Maguire, M Lanigan, P Doohan; P Durcan, S Davey (0-1); C Quinn, M Brehony (0-2), B Curran; D Sloyane (0-4, all frees), E O'Hara, A Marron (0-3). Subs: D Durkan for Gallagher (15 mins); K O'Neill for P Durcan (22); J Martin for Naughton (half-time).

Referee: J Bannon (Longford).