Donegal in a theme of the day were dominant over Armagh with NY player Conor Lynam impressive with a total of 2-03. He was sharp each time on the ball and with Enda Gaffney was a perfect one two punch.
The running style of the Donegal side, they pushed the ball quickly at each opportunity also created numerous problems for Armagh who could not come to grips with it. Donegal had their first goal after 20 minutes but were already in a 0-03 to 0-01 lead at this juncture.
Lynam was the finisher but it was created by intelligent play by Lynch, Gaffney and Manley in the buildup.
The Westmeath native had his second major before the break when he jinxed his way forward immediately after a Brian Cullinan save at the defensive end and quick and smart movement of the ball forward to the offense. Five of the first six points in the second half rubber stamped the victory with Mickey Annett grabbing the third goal for Donegal as they ran out easy winners.
Donegal 1 Brian Cuilinan 2 Steven Lynch 4 Donnacha Dwyer 5 Raymie Keane 6 Shane Boyle (0-01)7 Mike Molloy (0-02) 8 Sean Manley 9 Ciaran Slattery 10 Paul McGinley 11 PJ Flanagan (0-01) 12 Mickey Annett (1-00) 13 Conor Lynam (2-03) 15 Enda Gaffney (0-03) Subs Liam Deane Paraic McDaid
Armagh 1 Kevin McArdle 2 Stuart Stokes 4 David Reel 5 Seamus McDaid 6 Aiden Morton 7 Ryan Stokes 8 Seamus Toner 9 Collie Fearan 10 Joe McCaffrey 11 Paul Raferty 12 Liam Collins (0-01) 13 James Moynagh (0-01) 15 Paddy Smith (0-01)
Referee John Fitzpatrick
Man of the Match Conor Lynam (Donegal)
Comments