​Dromintee come unstuck against the Clans in Cross

Dromintee exited the Armagh Senior Championship in a low-scoring game which won’t be regarded by many as a classic.

After shipping defeats against Killeavy and Ballymacnab by a combined 24 points in their opening two fixtures, Dromintee reverted to a defensive system in their third group game, which served them well, as they overcame Maghery 0-9 to 0-8 to stay in the competition.

Their reward was a clash against the unbeaten Clan na Gael in the first knockout round on a warm Saturday evening in Crossmaglen.

Dromintee continued to get the bodies back on defence, and held the Clans to just 1-7, but a lack of production up front saw them only muster 0-5.

Clan na Gael’s Shane McPartlan is the current top scorer in the Armagh Senior Football Championship, and he finished with 1-4 on his tally, which began with a long-range free to open the scoring.

Dromintee’s Gareth McCrink converted to make it level-pegging, but moments later their defence were overturned bringing the ball out, and Niall Henderson supplied the ball to Stefan Campbell, who was given too much room and was never going to miss, as he slotted over from 20 metres out.

The first half was low on quality, but the south Armagh men side equalised once again after a well worked move which saw Ryan Hughes Jnr play the ball wide for Niall Courtney, who turned and supplied the central Aaron Boyle, and Boyle raised a white flag.

However, the Clans held a slender 0-3 to 0-2 lead at the break after a Campbell free.

Dromintee’s Jack McArdle was the hero against Maghery with a stoppage-time winning point, and he introduced himself to the contest with an impressive score just after the start of the second half.

However, McPartlan converted two frees in quick succession to push out the Clans’ lead. In response, Dromintee ‘keeper Aidan Morgan attempted a long-range free which dropped short, but was gathered by Jack McArdle whose shot was blocked.

Then, on 45 minutes came the key moment of the game, as Clan na Gael’s Jack Lavery was brought down close to goal, and they were awarded a penalty. McPartlan was the man tasked with the spot kick, and he was never going to miss, coolly slotting home into the bottom corner to make it 1-5 to 0-3 heading into the final quarter of the game.

Dromintee were given a lifeline when Shea McArdle nailed a point despite close attention from the Clans’ defence, but crucial wides from Boyle and Oran Loughran discouraged Kieran Quinn’s side.

In the closing stages, McPartlan and Matthew Lennon sealed the win for the Clans, with points coming after a Loughran score.

Not enough quality up top​

Former Dromintee and Armagh goalkeeper Philip McEvoy was tasked with co-commentary for the game on Armagh TV, and following the loss for his club, he explained the defensive structure that Dromintee set up with.

“There’s not a lot more to report on,” he said at full-time.

“The way it panned out, the 3-2 score-line at half-time probably tells its own story.

“From Dromintee’s perspective, last week they changed up the way they approached the game. On the back of their very impressive Division 1B performances, they attacked the game in their first couple of Championship games but against the quality opposition of Killeavy and Ballymacnab they got found out a little bit, certainly defensively.

“Injuries mounted up which didn’t help as well, but going into the final group game against Maghery, they changed their approach and they went more defensive. Maghery weren’t expecting that and struggled somewhat to deal with that."

Whilst Dromintee needed to shore up the defence, McEvoy feels that it came at the expense of their attack, as they didn’t show enough quality in the forward line to win the game.

“Coming here today, we expected Dromintee to continue with that defensive approach, which stood to them so well last week. Coming into the game, the question for Dromintee was, ‘where are the scores going to come from?’ and there was no answer,” he explained.

“Part of that comes down to injuries, because Cathal McKenna was always a focal point for us up top, and he was a big miss. But we have shown a lack of quality up top, and that has been emphasised by the quality that we have faced, and the forwards we have faced. Averaging nine points a game in Championship football isn’t going to get you to where you want to be.

“Today they conceded 1-7, which they would have taken at the start of the game, because it’s manageble. Dromintee had their chances today, which is the frustrating part. Shots wide, shots dropped short, you can’t have that type of stuff in Championship football, and they paid the price for it today.”

SCORERS

Clan na Gael: Shane McPartlan (1-4, 1pen, 3f), Stefan Campbell (0-2, 1f), Matthew Lennon (0-1).

Dromintee: Aaron Boyle (0-1), Oran Loughran (0-1), Jack McArdle (0-1), Shea McArdle (0-1), Gareth McCrink (0-1).