Saturday 13 May – Brewster Park – 3pm
After two back-to-back defeats to Donegal and Wicklow, Armagh will hope to get back to winning ways on Saturday.
Karl McKeegan’s men travel to Brewster Park to take on Fermanagh in round four of the Nickey Rackard Cup.
Despite suffering two losses in a row, Armagh showed glimpses of what they are capable of in the last two games.
Armagh opened their champions account with an away day victory over Roscommon, the same side that beat them in the Division 3A league final.
But with Donegal and Wicklow, who both played in Division 2B, coming to town, Armagh knew they were in for a step up in class.
Both sides put three goals past the Orchard County, but Armagh also raised their fair share of green flags.
Back to back defeats
Donegal netted twice in the dying minutes to add some gloss to the final tally. They certainly weren’t ten-points better than their hosts.
Armagh got off to a flyer against Wicklow, with goals from Tomas Galvin and Fionntan Donnelly.
Donnelly hit the net again before the break, to trail by six at half time. But Wicklow pushed on in the second period and saw out a comfortable 20-point win.
While Fermanagh, who were relegated from Division 3A following a final day defeat to Armagh, were much closer to both Donegal and Wicklow.
In the first round, Donegal had six to spare over the Ernemen, while Wicklow earned a narrow two-point win.
Fermanagh finally picked up their first points of the campaign against Louth in round three, drawing 3-17 apiece.
A win for the Orchard County this weekend would fend off any fears of relegation, but it’s going to be a tough challenge.
It’s a game Armagh are expected to win but as Fermanagh have shown, they’re well up for the fight. But like the league clash, Armagh should have too much quality.
