Armagh defeat rivals Down in close NFL encounter

Armagh’s fears of getting relegated to Division Two of the National Football League were eased this weekend with a close victory over neighbours Down.

Armagh made a bright start to the game but were dealt a blow when Peter Carragher was stretchered off with a suspected broken leg. The hosts held the lead for most of the first half however Down surged forward in the closing minutes and put themselves into a 0-9 to 0-8 lead at the break.

Both teams hit early points in the second half and Armagh regained the lead once again when Brian Mallon put the ball into the back of the net from the penalty spot. Down responded by hitting three unanswered points, however some sloppy play towards the end cost them the game with Michael Stevenson scoring the winning point for Armagh.

The result means Armagh have a healthy advantage in the relegation battle heading into the final weekend with 5 points on the table. The Orchard County also has an outside change of qualifying for the semi-finals. The result also means Down need to beat Laois in Portlaoise on Easter Sunday if they have any hope of going to Croke Park for the semis later next month.

Final score:
Armagh 1-14 Down 0-16

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Posted by Declan McAteer on Mar 25 2012. Filed under Sport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry