Down and Armagh suffer National League defeats
Down and Armagh suffered similar fates this weekend as both lost at home by 6 point margins. The defeats mean that Down have only 2 points from 3 National League games, while Armagh’s unbeaten run comes to an end.
Down welcomed Kerry to Newry for the first time in 19 years and both sides made sloppy starts hitting plenty of wides and few scores. Conditions were bad following a rain shower early into the first half. Down, playing with the wind in their backs, hit the majority of the wides and found themselves trailing by 2 points at the break. Mark Poland, Danny Hughes and Dan Gordon shared the points for the Mourne County at the interval with the score Down 0-03 Kerry 0-05.
With a second league defeat in a row looming, Down came out in the second half and had a go at Kerry with Gordon and Poland registering points for the reds once again. However any chance of a comeback was put to bed when Kerry hit four points in as many minutes to effectively win the game. Down continued to fight but the Kingdom were too strong and saw out the game comfortably. Final score in Newry – Down 0-08 Kerry 0-14.
18 miles up the A28 seen Armagh host Mayo at the Athletic Grounds. Alan Freeman ran riot for the Yew County firing over three times to pile the pressure on Armagh. An Andy Moran goal made matters worse for the home side who at one point found themselves down by 7 points. An Armagh resurgence seemed on the cards as they hit four unanswered points, but Mayo got themselves back in it and the half time score read Armagh 0-6 Mayo 1-7.
Both sides went out in the second half and had spells were they dominated. Mayo hit four unanswered points and the game seemed all but over, however Armagh themselves went on a run of five straight points. The game finished in similar fashion as Mayo went on a run of three straight points to seal an important away win. Final score in Armagh – Armagh 0-11 Mayo 1-14.
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