Armagh pushed to their limits

Armagh 0-15 Wexford 1-11: An energetic and upbeat Wexford deserved greater reward in a game where the final whistle triggered a huge sigh of relief from Armagh manager Joe Kernan, his team and his supporters.

Relegation had been avoided by a whisker but only a brace of points in injury-time - by wing back Aaron Kernan and the prolific Steven McDonnell - saved Armagh from the drop.

In a rousing game, Armagh at times looked like winning easily, especially when they led by five points shortly after the break.

But the inspiring Matty Forde then built on incisive work by Redmond Barry and Liam Murphy by palming to the net for a goal that Wexford's resolve had threatened all along.

That Forde special punctured Armagh's composure and they never entirely regained it thereafter. Kernan admitted later: "It was difficult to watch."

The shame of it all from a Wexford viewpoint was their squandering of gilt-edged chances while Armagh were rattled.

Substitutes Brendan Doyle and Adrian Flynn in particular wasted great chances for points. And midfielder Rory Stafford tarnished an otherwise great game with a woeful wide midway through the second half.

McDonnell kicked eight points for Armagh and was always a danger to a Wexford defence that had heroes in Phil Wallace, David Murphy and Colm Morris.

Wexford levelled the scores 28 minutes into the second period when Liam Murphy pointed. Then to the delight of their followers they took the lead in the final minute of ordinary time.

Forde's point looked a match winner, but in the dramatic finale, we witnessed the winning potential of McDonnell and Kernan.

ARMAGH: C McKinney; A Mallon, A O'Rourke, E McNulty; A Kernan (0-2, one free), C McKeever, P McCormack; C McGeeney (0-1), P McGrane; P McKeever (0-1), T McEntee (0-1), P Loughran; S McDonnell (0-8, five frees), M Macken (0-2), B Mallon. Subs: M O'Rourke for Loughran, P Duffy for O'Rourke, S Kernan for P McKeever.

WEXFORD: J Cooper; C Morris, P Wallace, N Murphy; P Curtis, D Murphy, C Kennedy; D Kinsella (0-1), R Stafford (0-1); C Deely (0-1), P Colfer, R Barry; L Murphy (0-1), PJ Banville, M Forde (1-7, 0-5 frees). Subs: J Hudson for Kennedy, B Doyle for Deely, A Flynn for Curtis, L O'Brien for Wallace.

Referee: A Mangan (Kerry).