Nicky Rackard Cup final: Sligo 2-14 Armagh 2-13
THE dismissal of Tiarnan Nevin for a second yellow card in the 62nd minute initially seemed to work to Armagh’s advantage in Saturday’s Nicky Rackard Cup final in Croke Park.
A minute later a huge punt in to Eoin McGuinness was pulled down by the Newry Shamrocks player and his reverse pass allowed Shane Renaghan to pick his spot.
When goalie Simon Doherty landed a long range free from inside his own half a minute later, Armagh were suddenly four points clear while Sligo’s wides total continued to climb.
However the Yeat’s county stuck to their task and pulled off a historic first title just 12 months after collecting the Lory Meagher Cup.
Armagh manager Pádraig O’Connor had argued prior to the game that Sligo were the form team and they certainly enjoyed a lot of the second half possession before an injury time flurry of 1-2 sparked wild celebrations among what remained of the 5,106 attendance.
O’Connor felt that Armagh did not do themselves justice.
“A few of us didn’t turn up, that sometimes happens. Then we conceded a goal right at the start, and picked up a booking pretty quickly as well,'' said O'Connor. “So a lot seemed to be going against us.
“Then a goal at the end, and a point to win it. Yeah it was a tough day for us.
“But we played reasonably well in patches. We came back from the early goal and led by two at half time and Sligo seemed to be hanging in on frees. But we couldn’t get far enough in front during that spell.
“We responded well to the sending off. It seemed to give us focus. We started to win our own poc outs, we started to use the ball better, but unfortunately we just fell short.”
However O’Connor felt that Armagh were still in a better place than a year earlier.
“Yes indeed. We wanted to put Armagh hurling back on a secure footing. We didn’t get any silverware, we have now lost two finals. But Armagh is back to a level where they can build success in the years to come.”
Sligo though were the team to leave Croke Park with all the credits on Saturday and, after shooting 12 second half wides, they would have been bitterly disappointed if they hadn’t nipped in for the late winner from sub Kieran Prior.
They opened with a goal from Gerard O’Kelly Lynch after two minutes and 15 minutes had gone before Eoin McGuinness scored for the second time to put Armagh a point ahead for the first time.
Armagh were playing the better hurling, but also conceding frees within range of their own posts and Keith Raymond kept Sligo in touch with six points from placed balls. He even edged his side ahead 1-6 to 0-8 after 29 minutes before Danny Magee batted home Armagh’s goal after McGuinness had hand-passed across to him.
Armagh led by 1-10 to 1-8 at the break with Dean Gaffney’s frees accounting for five of those points, but he was only to add one more in the second half, while Raymond tagged on two early frees to level at 1-10 each.
Indeed the second half was a series of wides, although Sligo did hit the post on two occasions and Simon Doherty pulled off another good stop.
When Nevin picked up the second yellow, the teams were stuck on 1-12 each with ten to go.
The Renaghan goal and Doherty free seemed to give Armagh renewed belief, but eventually Conor Griffin hit back with a 69th minute point.
More than two minutes into injury time, O’Kelly Lynch scrambled home his second goal and sub Prior notched the winner a minute later to clinch the second title of the day for Connacht, following Leitrim’s single point win over Lancashire after extra time in the Lory Meagher Cup final, the opening match of the afternoon.
Sligo: M Burke, J Weir, N Feehily, K O’Kennedy, K Banks, L Reidy, R McHugh, R Cox 0-1, J Starr 0-1, G O’Kelly Lynch 2-1, C Griffin 0-1, K Gilmartin, T O’Kelly Lynch, K Raymond 0-8 frees, G Cadden.
Subs: S Crowley 0-1 for T O’Kelly Lynch (HT), M Gordon for K O’Kennedy (46), K Prior 0-1 for G Cadden (57).
Armagh: S Doherty 0-1 free, C Rice, T Nevin, P Quinn 0-1, D Bridges, C Clifford, P McGrane, O Curry, O McCann, S Toal, E McGuinness 0-2, D Gaffney 0-6 frees, S Renaghan 1-0, D McKenna 0-1, D Magee 1-0.
Subs: N Curry 0-2 for O McCann (20), J O’Connor for S Toal (55)
Referee: J Connors (Donegal)
Star Player
Sligo: Keith Raymond
The Sligo free-taker missed nothing in the first half and single-handedly kept his side in the hunt while Armagh had their tails up at the other end. He only managed two more frees after the break to bring his total to eight. More importantly though he moved to midfield and gave Sligo more of a hold on general play, slowing Armagh’s progress and setting up the late smash and grab.
