Armagh 5-6 Cork 1-6
The Armagh u15s retained the Dermot Earley Michael Galveys Cup for the second year in succession at Hawkfield, Kildare on Saturday morning.
The squad had an unbeaten run all the way to the final, overcoming Antrim, Sligo, Roscommon, Louth and Wexford along the way.
Opponents, Cork, who were a big physical team, settled into the game with the first four points. But the Rebels failed to score again in the opening half.
In this period, Armagh had some excellent phases of play, but execution of the final pass was a little wayward.
When Daithí O Callaghan landed a superb point around the ten-minute mark, the team as a whole clicked into gear, adding that ruthless streak up front.
Midfielder O Callaghan added his second of the day. Shortly after, Ethan Hughes was on the end of a fine attacking move, to punch the ball to the net.
Momentum swung in Armagh’s favour as Peter Keegan added a beautiful point before the rampaging O Callaghan nailed Armagh’s second goal. Armagh led 2-3 to 0-4 at the interval.
Second half
The Orchard County began the second half strongly and almost immediately they had their third goal of the day.
O Callaghan rifled an unstoppable shot to the roof of the net after some fine exchanges of play in the Armagh forward line.
Armagh’s work rate at this point was unmatchable, as they regularly turned Cork over with disciplined tackling and fast decisive kick passing.
This was rewarded with a fine team goal, with Keegan applying a clinical finish while Oisín Cullen clipped over a well worked point.
They followed it up by an excellent long-range point from Harry Fearon. By the midpoint of the second half, Armagh had already made nine changes to their starting line-up, ensuring all players had a positive impact on the game.
Cork, to their credit, battled hard and hit a short-lived purple patch adding 1:2 to their tally.
This spurred on this determined Armagh side who had the final say with an excellent goal from Keegan.
Kildare legend John Doyle presented the Dermot Earley Michael Galveys Cup to Armagh captain Daithí O Callaghan.
