McVerry finds his range to see off Lilywhites
Armagh 2 - 14
Kildare 2 - 8
Monday August 03 2009
On first reflection, a six-point winning margin may suggest a comfortable enough passage for Armagh but nothing could be further from the truth as Kildare pushed them right to the wire in a superb contest at Kingspan Breffni Park on Saturday.
It was the Lilywhites who were on top in the final quarter and with the game in injury-time they were only two points in arrears. But then disaster struck when Tomas Moolick scored an own goal and after that there was no way back.
Armagh were out of the blocks quickly with the superb Eugene McVerry notching two early points but Kildare responded with points from Cian Reynolds and Paul Cribbin as well as a Kevin Fitzpatrick goal to take the lead.
That was the signal for an Armagh onslaught. McVerry added another four points with Andrew Murnin, Conor King and James Morgan all on target before a Gavin McParland goal sent them in ahead 1-10 to 1-3 at the interval.
The second half began with Reynolds blazing over with the goal at his mercy and Aaron Grugan and Padraig Fogarty trading scores.
Kildare were thrown a lifeline when Darrock Mulhall finished in fine style past Armagh 'keeper Stephen O'Reilly.
Crucially Kildare shot three wides in a row when they could have got back on level terms.
They were made to pay for those misses as Niall Rowland ventured forward to split the posts to send Armagh through to face either Roscommon or Kerry on August 23.
Scorers -- Armagh: E McVerry 0-7, R Grugan 0-3, G McParland, T Moolick (og) 1-0 each, N Rowland, J Morgan, A Murnin, C King 0-1 each. Kildare: D Mulhall 1-2, K Fitzpatrick 1-0, P Cribbin, C Reynolds 0-2 each, S Hurley, P Fogarty 0-1 each.
Armagh -- S O'Reilly; K Downey, R Finnegan, K Nugent; D McKenna, N Rowland, J Morgan; P Carragher, J Donnelly; R Grugan, A Murnin, C King; R Tasker, E McVerry, G McParland. Subs: R Rafferty for King, T McAlinden for Donnelly.
Kildare -- M Donnellan; D Holton, T Barron, D McDonnell; C O'Shea, K Corrigan, E Doyle; T Moolick, J Comerford; K Fitzpatrick, P Cribbin, S Hurley; D Mulhall, P Fogarty, C Reynolds. Subs: J Byrne for McDonnell, W Burke for Holton, P Cocoman for Fitzpatrick.
Ref -- G Walsh (Antrim).
