Breen shines as Orchard prevail

Ulster SHC Second Round:
Donegal 2-12 Armagh 3-24

Armagh moved into the quarter-finals of the Ulster SHC after a 15-point win over Donegal in O’Donnell Park, Letterkenny.

Paul Breen scored 1-9 as the Orchard men overcame a five-point first-half deficit before overwhelming the home side in the second period.

Donegal’s hopes were dealt an early blow when centre-back Danny Cullen was ruled out though injury.

Armagh, who enjoyed an easy win over Monaghan last week, raced into an early lead when Paul McCormack scored the first two points of the game.

However, McCormack suffered an injury and was forced off before Ciaran McCreevy added the Orchard’s third.

A Kevin Campbell free got Donegal off the mark, but full-forward  Breen, who struck 0-10 in the win over the Farney County, hit back with two unanswered points to give Armagh a 0-5 to 0-1 advantage.

However, Donegal turned the game on its head in a four-minute spell. Minor star Ciaran Matheson grabbed the first goal of the game after 14 minutes when he took a clever Kevin Campbell pass and drive home.

Lee Henderson was then on hand to add a second goal soon after to give Donegal a 2-3 to 0-6 lead. Kevin and Niall Campbell added further scores to leave Donegal well in command.

However, Armagh edged back into the game and were on level terms just before the break when Cathal Campbell found the net, leaving the score at 2-6 to 1-9 at half-time.

The second half lacked the intensity of the first 35 minutes, and Donegal were guilty of giving away far too many frees which Breen slotted over with ease to leave Armagh 1-17 to 2-11 ahead with 14 minutes left on the clock.

Breen scored the Orchard men’s second goal with three minutes left after Cathal Campbell had set him up.

It got worse for Donegal as Joe Boyle was sent off for a second yellow card offence and Andy Carvill added a third goal in added time to leave 15 points between the sides.  Armagh will meet Down in the quarter-final.