Mayo see off Armagh in NHL opener
Adrian Phillips’s goal on 58 minutes ended Armagh’s resistance to see Mayo win their opening game in Division 3A on a very windy afternoon in Castlebar.
Joint-managers Ray Larkin and Brian Finn will be left wondering how Mayo led only by four at the break after leading by nine at one stage. Playing with the gale force wind, they registered the first seven points before Armagh got going with three of their own on 13 minutes.
The hosts responded with five points without reply, the pick a wonderful sideline cut by Sean Kenny on 26 minutes, to lead 0-12 to 0-3 before Armagh got back into the game with their first score in 12 minutes when O’Boyle’s free from the halfway line dropped in front of the square and Paul Gaffney swung home past Bobby Douglas.
Cormac Phillips fired over his fourth free of the half when Armagh were awarded a penalty on the stroke of half-time when Donnelly was brough down and O‘Boyle smashed it into the top corner to leave it 0-13 to 2-3 in Mayo’s favour at the break.
Four O’Boyle frees countered efforts from Lavin and Sean Kenny to see Armagh bring it back to two when Adrian Phillps fired in a piledriver past Fintan Woods, before Armagh were hit with a double whammy when captain Tiarnán Nevin was dismissed after picking up a second yellow card.
Another trio of efforts through Adrian Phillips, Liam Lavin and a fifth free by Cormac Phillips finished Armagh off, whose frustrations got the better of them late on when Shea Harvey was shown a straight red card for striking out at Lavin.
Mayo will look to make it two wins from two as they travel to Castleblaney next Sunday to face Monaghan.
