May 22: Senior Football Championship - Wolfe Tones v Armagh-Notre Dame

Armagh-Notre Dame 0-5 Wolfe Tones 1-18



Wolfe Tones and Armagh-Notre Dame met in the second senior football championship match of the day on Sunday. It turned out to be a one sided affair. Once the game was fifteen minutes old the Tones took control and never looked in danger. Armagh-Notre Dame kept pace with the Tones in the early going. James Doyle was excellent at corner forward for the Tones, his goal 20 minutes into the first half was the score that put enough daylight between the teams to allow the Tones to settle and pull away from their opponents.

 

Loughlinisland native Seamus O'Hare battled hard for Armagh-Notre Dame.

 The opening quarter was evenly contested. Seamie O’Hare opened the scoring with a pointed free, and Kenny Regan answered for the Tones. Corner forward James Doyle, who caused havoc in the Armagh-ND rearguard for the 60 minutes, then put the Tones ahead. Before the half was over Doyle would have another goal and another two points to his credit. The Brighton side worked hard throughout the half even though the game was slipping slowly but surely from them, and before Doyle’s 20th minute goal, were very much in the game. As time wore on one felt the Tones were getting a firmer hold on the game. Kenny Regan at center back, Eoin Naughton in midfield, and Alan Higgins at wing forward began to put their stamp on the game. With the half winding down, Marty Farrell could have had a goal. The Down man rode some tackles beautifully and with the goal at his mercy blazed over. James Doyle put the last two points of the half over the bar. At the break the Tones led by a score of 1-8 to 0-4.

Kenny Regan was in control for the Wolfe Tones.

The Tones extended their lead right after the restart with two points in the first few minutes, not an ideal start from the Armagh-ND viewpoint. Farrell added a third and with the Tones leading by ten points, an Armagh-Notre Dame comeback appeared an unlikely prospect. The Tones tagged on some more scores but with the game beyond them, Armagh-ND continued to battle on gamely. John Comiskey, Seamie O’Hare and Shane McKenna did well for the northerners, while for the Tones there were good performances from Kenny Regan, Mike O’Brien, and Alan Higgins, and a man of the match performance from James Doyle.

Armagh-ND: D. Fields, M. McAuley, G. Kearns, S. McKenna, F. Meehan, T. Cassidy, D. Magill, J. Comiskey, G. Hall, N. Finnegan, M. Tiffany, P. McEvoy, S. O’Hare. Tones: C. Hynes, D. Maguire, A. Rooney, M. O’Brien, K. Regan, C. Malone, C. Power, E. Naughton, A. Higgins, M. Farrell, B. Blanchfield, J. Doyle, S. O’Brien.


By Rory O'Donnell