Derry have won the O Fiaich Cup after defeating Armagh in an exciting final that went to extra time in Crossmaglen this afternoon.
Both teams shared the lead on several occasions with the result in doubt right up to the final whistle, Derry emerging winners with the narrowest of margins of 2-15 to 2.14.
Playing against strong breeze in the first half points from Mark Lynch (2), James Kielt, Enda Lynn (2), Fergal Doherty and Aaron Kerrigan kept Derry level at half-time on a scoreline of 0-7 to 0-7 thanks also to keeper Thomas Mallon who saved Jamie Clarke penalty during the first period.
The end-to-end action continued in the second half with a goal from Declan Mullan and points from James Kielt, Mark Craig and Benny Herron putting some daylight between the two teams for the first time on a scoreline at 1-9 to 0-8.
An Armagh goal brought the Orchard County back into contention before a successfully converted penalty put them three points ahead with 13 minutes remaining.
However, Derry hit back with an O’Boyle point and a Mark Lynch goal to go one point ahead with only minutes ahead but Armagh struck back to level the scores at 2-13 each and take the game into extra time.
With no floodlights at Crossmaglen and light fading rapidly, both sides agreed to play five minutes each way extra-time.
At the end of the first period, Armagh led by 2-15 to 2-14 with the Derry scoring coming from Peter Cassidy.
Benny Heron levelled the scores with a “45” before Peter Cassidy struck what proved to be the winning point.
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