Dr McKenna Cup final: Derry 0-11 Armagh 1-7
JARLATH Burns gave Armagh a scare last night when he sustained a shoulder injury in the McKenna Cup final, but he is hoping to be fit for the Ulster championship opener against Donegal in three weeks time.
The midfielder came off after only 20 minutes of this low key contest but did not think the injury would rule him out of championship action.
“It’s not that serious, I’ve had some treatment and hopefully I’ll be okay for the Donegal match” he said.
Both camps fielded shadow sides for the evening throw-in with neither wanting to give too much away ahead of a possible Ulster championship semi-final.
David Kelly was one of the fringe players who came in and did very well for Armagh while Johnny McBride and Ronan Rocks went a long way towards nailing down starting positions on the Derry team, both scoring three points from midfield.
Afterwards joint manager Eamon Coleman said he was pleased with how the young players had performed. “The last time we won the McKenna Cup we went on to win the All-Ireland but I’m not looking any further than Cavan at the moment” he said.
Coleman refused to talk about the Downey brothers who are currently not training with the squad, but it’s understood both Henry and Seamus will be back this week after settling their differences with the management.
Coleman did say however that he is confident injured players Anthony Tohill and Enda Muldoon will be fit in time to play against Cavan on June 13.
Last night’s fare was dismal stuff although the game brightened considerably in the last 20 minutes.
Midway through the second half Derry made a double substitution with Joe Brolly coming on for Adrian Lagan and Fergal McCusker, making his first appearance in over a year, coming on for Gavan Diamond.
Another man making his comeback was John Donaldson, recently returned from Louth, who played very well at centre half-back for Armagh. Brolly scored a free with his first touch of the game before David Wilson scored one of the best points of the match with a lovely left footed shot from a difficult angle which put Armagh ahead 1-7 to 0-9.
However two points in the closing minutes from Johnny McBride clinched victory for Derry allowing Gary Coleman to collect the silverware.
Derry: S O’Kane, R Lynch, S Donnelly, D O’Neill, F Crossan (0-1), N McCusker, G Coleman, R Rocks (0-3, 2 frees), J McBride (0- 3), G Diamond (0-1), D Dougan, E Burns (0-1), D Bateson (0-1, free), D Heaney, A Lagan
Subs: F McCusker (for Diamond) (42mins), J Brolly (0-1, free) (for Lagan) (45 mins).
Armagh: M Campbell, T McEntee, J McNulty, A O’Rouke, K Hughes, J Donaldson, D Kelly, J Burns, A O’Neill, J Rafferty, J McEntee (0-1), P McKeever, D Wilson (0-1), P McGrane (1-0), O McConville (0-5, all frees)
Subs: P Loughran for J Burns (20mins), S McDonnell for P McKeever) (55mins).
Referee: Martin Brady (Cavan).
