Gaelic Games

Armagh coast to victory over Antrim in Ulster Under-21 football championship

Armagh seal semi-final place as senior county midfield pairing of Ethan Rafferty and Ciaran O’Hanlon impress

Armagh’s Ryan McShane is tackled by Antrim’s Conor McCann during the Under-21 Ulster Championship quarter-final at Athletic Grounds, Armagh. Photograph: Inpho

Sun Mar 22 2015 - 16:23

Armagh 2-13 Antrim 1-5

Armagh advanced to the semi-finals of the Ulster Under-21 Football Championship with a comfortable victory over Antrim in the Athletic Grounds yesterday.

The home side did all the damage in the first half with Ryan McShane’s goal after 27 minutes helping them into a 1-10 to 0-3 lead at half time.

Niall Grimley palmed home a second goal immediately after the restart while Antrim captain Dermot McAleese scored a fine goal in the 46th minute with the game long over as a contest.

Floodlight failure had caused this rearranged quarter-final tie to be postponed last Wednesday night and Antrim were quickly into their stride yesterday, leading briefly in the early stages by two points to one after six minutes.

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However Armagh's senior county midfield pairing of Ethan Rafferty and Ciaran O'Hanlon were impressive and took control, using a strong first-half wind to their advantage.

Armagh hit an unanswered seven points in a 12 minute spell to take a commanding lead, Ryan McShane with two points before bagging a goal before the interval.

Having built up such a big lead, Grimley’s goal after the restart putting them 13 points clear, Armagh took their foot off the pedal and faded in a poor second half.

They will play Tyrone in the Ulster semi-final on 1 April with Donegal taking on Monaghan in the other last four tie.

ARMAGH: B Hughes; G McCabe, S Heffron, J Cosgrove; F Burns, D O'Neill (0-1), D Nugent; C O'Hanlon (0-1), E Rafferty (0-2, frees); N Grimley (1-1), C Comiskey, C Mackin (0-1); A Nugent (0-3, one free), C McKenna (0-1), R McShane (1-2). Subs: P Campbell for Burns (38 mins), A McKay for Grimley (38 mins), G Mackin for O'Hanlon (40 mins), J Grugan (0-1) for McKenna (51 mins), M Murphy for Rafferty (51 mins).
ANTRIM: R Hanna; C O'Rawe, J Hannigan, G McCorley; R Wilson, P McAleer (0-1), C McCann; R McCafferty, C Burke; C Mallon, D McAleese (1-1), J Scullion; R Scott (0-1, f), M Fitzpatrick, R McCann (0-1). Subs: J O'Connell for Hannigan (bc, 25 mins), S McGarry for Scott, P McPartland for Wilson (both h-t), C McNeill (0-1) for R McCann (40 mins), D Trainor for McAleese (57 mins), P Fitzsimmons for Burke (57 mins).
Referee: Brendan Rice (Down)

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