Football

Armagh Harps sweep past Ballymacnab to pick up second win

Oisin Hughes, Joe McCoy and James McEvoy grabbed three points each for the town side

Maghery's David Lavery tangles with Armagh Harps' Ryan McShane and Joe McElroy. Picture Seamus Loughran.
Ryan McShane (left) and Joe McElroy (right) were among the scorers for Armagh Harps in their win against Ballymacnab. Picture: Seamus Loughran

Cormac Leonard Commercials Armagh SFC Group D, round two

Ballymacnab 0-7 Armagh Harps 0-15

ARMAGH Harps picked up a second successive victory in Group D of the Armagh Senior Football Championship as they secured an eight-point victory from the short trip to Ballymacnab.

Having collected an impressive 13-point win in round one over Mullaghbawn, the Harps backed it up with another fine performance.

It was a top-of-the-table clash as Ballymacnab had also been successful on the opening day, defeating Dromintee by the minimum.

Just one point separated the sides at half-time, but a second-half surge saw the Harps pull away. The visiting side held their hosts to just two points in the second half while they recorded 0-9 of their own.

Kieran Hughes got Ballymacnab up and running with an early score, which was matched at the other end by Oisin Hughes.

That kick-started a scoring spree for the Harps, with Tadgh Grimley (2) and James McCoy raising white flags.

Ryan Watters traded scores with Oisin McGurgan, while Kieran Hughes grabbed his second with a converted free.

Midfielders Finnen Maguire and Joe McElroy exchanged pointed efforts, while Ciaran Connelly’s score left it 0-6 to 0-5 at half-time in favour of the Harps.

McGurgan and McElroy (free) widened the gap at the start of the second period, while Aodhan Toner cut the deficit for the ‘Nab.

Ryan McShane and McCoy added scores as Oisin Hughes stroked over another.

McCoy and McElroy both split the posts to make it a seven-point game, while Kieran Hughes kept the ‘Nab in touch with another score.

The Harps grabbed the final two points of the night through Conor Murphy (free) and Hughes to make it an eight-point winning margin.