GOALKEEPER Ethan Rafferty scored five points as rampant Armagh saw off Tyrone at the Athletic Grounds last night.
The Grange clubman helped the All-Ireland SFC champions claim a seven-point win over the Red Hands — showcasing what stoppers can do under the new rules.
He even scored a brace of two-pointers for Kieran McGeeney’s troops under the lights — despite not being picked to start until late on.
After losing their NFL Division 1 opener against Galway last weekend, Armagh were a transformed team.
And it was quite the time for them to do it as they played in front of 14,336 jubilant fans — likely still on a high from their Sam Maguire success last year.
With a strong wind in their favour during the opening half, the Orchard romped to a 1-14 to 0-3 lead against a stunned Tyrone side, with Andrew Murnin scoring their goal.
The Red Hands were comfortable winners over league champions Derry in their first game.
But they were outplayed and outclassed by an Armagh side who attacked relentlessly from the first whistle.
And the late inclusion of Rafferty proved a masterstroke — with the goalkeeper looking like he is tailor-made to play under the new rules.
With the wind at the Orchard’s backs in the opening spell, their intent to go for two-pointers was obvious.
Rafferty scored 0-4 of Armagh’s first-half total from two long-range scores.
And with Aidan Forker and Ross McQuillan also scoring from outside the arc, Armagh managed a whopping eight points from four two-pointers before the break.
It would have been more if it was not for Niall Morgan getting his hand to an effort from Murnin — which reduced the score to one point.
Tyrone were well off the pace in a first half dominated by the All-Ireland champions, back on home soil for the first time since lifting Sam last summer.
And Kieran McGeeney’s side delivered with a performance that was brimming with confidence, cohesion and a new-found understanding of the new rules which seemed to be lacking in Salthill last weekend.
Murnin’s goal came after 20 minutes. After Armagh claimed a Tyrone kickout, Oisín Conaty threaded a pass through to Rory Grugan who squared the ball across to Murnin — who flew in at the back post to palm it beyond Morgan.
Armagh led 1-5 to 0-1 at that point, with Tyrone taking 16 minutes to register their first point through Shea O’Hare.
Tyrone had plenty of the ball but were reluctant to shoot into the wind and looked dejected as they sloped off at half-time trailing by 14 points,
They were going to have to shoot the lights out to have any hope of making the second half competitive.
But Armagh quickly showed they were in no mood to allow them back into it.
Within nine second-half minutes, they had scored a further four points — more than Tyrone had managed in the entire opening period.
Darren McCurry at least got the scoreboard ticking over with a pair of two-point frees to get Tyrone into double figures.
Liam Gray, sub Eoin McElholm and a two-pointer from play from Michael McKernan soon reduced the deficit to a more respectable eight points with just under ten minutes to play.
But they could only cut the deficit to seven points by the end as Armagh managed the game well and stayed in control of it.
ARMAGH: E Rafferty 0-5, 2tp; T McCormack 0-1, B McCambridge, J Duffy; Connaire Mackin, A Forker 0-2, 1 tp, G McCabe; B Crealey, R McQuillan 0-3, 1 tp; O Conaty 0-1, R Grugan 0-1f, D McMullan 0-1; J Hall 0-1, A Murnin 1-4, C Turbitt 0-4, 1f. Subs: S Campbell for McQuillan 55 mins; C McConville for Grugan 65; J Og Burns for Mackin 68.
TYRONE: N Morgan; A Clarke, P Teague, N Devlin; F Burns, M McKernan 0-4, 2tp, S O’Hare 0-2; B Kennedy 0-1, L Gray 0-1; S O’Donnell 0-2, K McGeary 0-1, A Donaghy; D McCurry 0-6, 2f, 2tpf, M Donnelly, R Cassidy. Subs: C Kilpatrick for Donaghy h-t; E McElholm 0-1 for Cassidy h-t; R Brennan for Burns 46 mins; C Daly for Gray 47. C McShane for Donnelly 63.
REFEREE: J McQuillan (Cavan).
