Jamie Clarke’s late goals lets Armagh slip Wicklow’s grip

Armagh 2-17 Wicklow 2-7

The scoreline suggests otherwise but Wicklow pushed Armagh hard in the Athletic Grounds on Saturday before two late Jamie Clarke goals put the gloss on their afternoon's work.

While the lack of a reliable free-taker hurt Wicklow, Armagh should have been out of sight long before James Stafford’s 56th-minute goal brought the unheralded visitors to within a point.

That teed up a tense finish before two Ethan Rafferty points, followed by two trademark left-foot goals by Clarke in the last five minutes sealed Armagh's place in the next round . To progress much further, Kieran McGeeney knows their shot efficiency must improve.

“That is our weakest point at the minute,” he said. “What annoyed me most was that we dominated the game for most periods but just didn’t score.

“We had some lovely moves and attacks but when you have three good goal chances from inside six yards, you need to be taking at least one or two.

“We’re just not clinical and we have to get better at that.”

Four different Wicklow players took free-kicks with little success yet John McGrath, who had converted three in the Leinster defeat to Meath, wasn’t one of them.

When asked why afterwards, manager Johnny McGee explained: “we judged it on training the last two weeks and felt Paul (Cronin) was going well”.

“Poor free-taking has been our Achilles heel all year and if you don’t have a recognised free-taker at this level, you get punished.

Armagh should have had the game wrapped up after scoring the first four points but they let Wicklow back into the game with Aidan Forker, Tony Kernan and Michael McKenna missing goal chances. McGrath’s scruffy 25th minute goal brought Wicklow level at 1-2 to 0-5.

Armagh responded well to the setback, scoring four unanswered points to lead 0-9 to 1-2 at the break. Wicklow scored three of the first four points after the break before Armagh, with Caolan Rafferty and Andrew Murnin impressive, hit four of the next five.

James Stafford’s goal left Wicklow sensing an upset but Armagh’s Clarke wriggled free to squeeze a shot home at the near post after 65 minutes. He scored a second goal one minute from time as Armagh sealed a third qualifier win over Wicklow in the last five years.

ARMAGH: M McNeice; M Murray, C Vernon, S Connell; A Mallon, B Donaghy, J Morgan; C Rafferty (0-2), E Rafferty (0-4, one free, one 45); A Forker (0-1), M McKenna (0-3), T Kernan; S Campbell (0-1), A Murnin (0-2), J Clarke (2-4).

Subs: M McConville for Connell, D McKenna for Forker (both 53 mins), C O'Hanlon for Kernan (60 mins), S Forker for Campbell (69 mins), G McParland for Murnin (70)

WICKLOW: R Lambert; C Hyland (0-1), R O'Brien, A Murphy; D Healy, P McLoughlin, M Kenny; A McLoughlin, D Woods; D Hayden (0-1), S Kelly, N Gaffney; P Cronin (0-4, one free), T Kelly, J McGrath (1-0).

Subs: C McGraynor (0-1) for Gaffney, P McWalter for Kenny (both half-time), J Stafford (1-0) for Woods (55 mins), D Odlum for McGrath (56mins), P Cunningham for T Kelly (58 mins), B McCrea for Cronin (66 mins).

Referee: Eddie Kinsella (Laois)