Armagh restate their case

All-Ireland SFC Qualifiers Round One: Armagh 3-21  Waterford 0-8 It was easy in the end for Armagh but Waterford showed up well for a long time at Walsh Park yesterday. After 20 minutes the All-Ireland champions led by just four points to three and although they added five unanswered points in the next eight minutes, three of them by Oisín McConville and two from man-of-the-match Steven McDonnell, the home side remained competitive.

Between that and the interval Waterford scored three points to Armagh's two, leaving it 0-11 to 0-6 at the break.

There was some lovely football from both sides in the opening 35 minutes and if Armagh, with Kieran McGeeney, McConville and Ronan Clarke back in the side, always looked superior, Waterford showed themselves to have improved under the managership of Denis Walsh. Wing forward Gary Hurney in particular gave a superb performance.

Carl O'Keeffe, with a Waterford point, closed the gap to four points a minute after the restart and it was all of nine more minutes before Armagh found the range again, substitute Paddy McKeever pointing a free.

Midfielder Andy Hubbard got a second yellow card and his marching orders after fouling McDonnell. McConville blasted the penalty to the net and the game as a contest was over.

McDonnell added another goal and eight more points and Armagh could afford the luxury of a succession of wides - 12 altogether to Waterford's two. There was only a single reply, by Hurney, for the losers who still await their first championship victory since 1988.

Apart from McDonnell and McConville, Diarmuid Marsden, McGeeney and midfielders Philip Loughran and Paul McGrane were most prominent for the champions. For Waterford goalkeeper Paul Houlihan, defenders Tomás Dunphy and Shane Briggs and John Coffey in attack gave Hurney most support.

ARMAGH: P Hearty; A Mallon, J McNulty, F Bellew; A O'Rourke (0-1), K McGeeney, A McCann; P Loughran (0-1), P McGrane; D Marsden (0-3), B O'Hagan (0-1), O McConville (1-7, penalty, four frees, one 45); S McDonnell (1-4), R Clarke, T McEntee. Subs: P McKeever (0-3, two frees) for McEntee, J McEntee (0-1) for Clarke, K McElvanna for Bellew, J Toal for McGrane, M Mackin for Loughran

WATERFORD: P Houlihan; M Crotty, G Hayes, J O'Reilly; E Rockett, T Dunphy, S Briggs; C O'Keeffe (0-1), A Hubbard; G Hurney (0-4), C Power (0-2, frees), J Coffey; J Hearne, J Hennessy, M Power (0-1). Subs: W Hennessy for Briggs, L Hayes for Hennessy, K Coffey for Crotty, E Walsh for C Power, J Hurney for Hayes

Referee: S Doyle (Wexford).