FOOTBALL: Armagh's hard graft pays off

IT MAY yet be early days but Premier League new boys Armagh City have made their intentions to remain in the top flight very clear.

They took their tally to six points from the first three games with victory over Newry City carved out with what manager Colin Malone described as a Trojan effort.

"We worked our socks off for this," he said.

Goals from Davy Ward and Anto Reilly either side of the interval gave Armagh their first home win.

Mangerless Newry could muster only a Damien Curran penalty in reply.

A timely tackle by Paddy McGlaughlin denied Ward as he bore down on the visitors goal after 18 minutes.

But the former Larne winger was not to be denied two minutes later when he latched on to a superb through ball from teenager Johnny McSorely and chipped the ball over keeper Robert Robinson.

Curran struck the Armagh bar with a ferocious free-kick after 27 minutes.

And Newry were unlucky not to equalise early in the second half when Paul Rice saved brilliantly from Damien Whitehead.

But Armagh eased the pressure on the hour when Mark Turkington and Barry Meehan combined well on the left and the latter's cross found Reilly who slammed the ball home from close range.

Newry, however, forced a nailbiting finish when they pulled a goal back 14 minutes from time.

Armagh skipper Robert Casey's tackle on Newry subsitute Andy Crawford looked innocuous but referee Ken Ginnett pointed to the spot and Curran drilled the ball past Rice.

It was backs to the wall for Armagh but they held on and might have had a third goal had Ward's effort from the halfway line, when he spotted Robinson way off his line, been more accurate.

ARMAGH CITY: Rice 9, Carlisle 6, Turkington 6, Casey 7, Fairclough 7, McGeown 6, Ward 8, Hawthorne 8, Reilly 7, McSorley 7, Meehan 8.

NEWRY CITY: Robinson 6, Murphy 6, Flynn 6, McGlaughlin 7, Donegan ,6 Clarke 7, Ferguson 7, Curran 7, Whitehead 6, McAllister 6, Curran 7.

REFEREE: Ken Ginnett 7

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