Mayo win first ever Nicky Rackard Cup

Mayo 2-16 Armagh 1-15

Kenny Feeney’s 1-9 haul and a strong finish generally added up to a winning combination for Mayo who claimed their first ever Nicky Rackard Cup title success at Croke Park.

But it was agony for Armagh who slipped to consecutive final losses and, just like last year against Roscommon, were suckered by late scores.

The sides were tied with 69 minutes on the clock but Mayo points from Feeney, Sean Regan and substitute Corey Scahill sealed the four-point win.

Mayo started with similar gusto and nailed a goal through Darren McTigue after just three minutes.

A burst of three points without reply from JP Coen’s outfit then left them sitting pretty at 1-4 to 0-3 up after 21 minutes.

Five Armagh points in a row, however, put the Orchard County ahead for the first time in the 34th minute, setting in train a tit-for-tat scoring encounter.

The sides were level at half-time, 1-6 to 0-9, and were tied four more times in an entertaining second-half that included an Eoin McGuinness Armagh goal. But Mayo finished impressively with those four points to claim victory after relegation from the Christy Ring Cup in 2015.

Mayo: D O'Brien; E Collins, G McManus, B Hunt; A Lyons, K Higgins, C Freeman; D Kenny, C Charlton; S Regan (0-2), K Feeney (1-9, 0-6f), J McManus (0-1); S Boland (0-1), P O'Flynn, D McTigue (1-0). Subs: P Connell for Lyons 38, F Boland (0-2) for McTigue 43, C Scahill (0-1) for O'Flynn 55, K McDermott for Hunt 62, G Nolan for S Boland 70.

Armagh: S Doherty; C Clifford, A McGuinness, C Devlin; J Corvan, N Curry, C Toner; K McKernan, S Renaghan; R Gaffney (0-4, 3f, 1 65), C Carvill (0-2), D Carvill (0-1); D Coulter (0-5), E McGuinness (1-1), C Corvan (0-2). Subs: J King for Renaghan 56, P McKearney for J Corvan 58, O Curry for Coulter 67.

Referee: J Murphy (Limerick).