Armagh reach first All-Ireland semi-final in 19 years – as it happened

Armagh 2-12 Roscommon 0-12 (FT)

Armagh reach a first All-Ireland semi-final in 19 years! They were the better side by far, particularly after the 50-minute mark where, perhaps, Roscommon started to flag after running with only 14 men since just before half-time.

Wides are the story of the day for the Rossies, while Barry McCambridge is for Armagh. Stay tuned both for a full match report and live coverage of the second game, Dublin vs Galway, on the Irish Times Sports Site!

73 mins: Cox kicks a free for nothing to pull a point back.

That’s the final play of the game!

Full-time: Armagh 2-12 Roscommon 0-12

71 mins: I’m not sure what that was. Roscommon earn a mark in scoring range. Instead of taking it, they kill a few seconds and then feed Cox short who then slices a shocking effort wide.

Down the other end, Conaty punishes them with a point on the break. Armagh are finishing in style.

Armagh 2-12 Roscommon 0-11

70 mins: Game, set, match. Conaty gets the ball in space and sends over a simple score. Roscommon all at sea now and that should be that.

Armagh 2-11 Roscommon 0-11

69 mins: Armagh go on the fast break and Roscommon are left with no choice but to foul. Turbitt takes the free and sticks it over.

Armagh 2-10 Roscommon 0-11

68 mins: Armagh are doing their best to keep Roscommon in this. Another loose ball on halfway sets the Rossies up for a break. McDermott, though, looks for the perfect shot which doesn’t come. After turning down two windows between defenders to strike, he eventually does but he pulls it wide. Took too long to think about it.

66 mins: Armagh are knocking it around the back now with ease. Managing the game well. That is until a loose ball forward gifts possession away, just as they were looking to kill the game off.

Roscommon try a fast break. Cox sets up Murtagh who finally gets the radar going, stroking over his first point of the game with the left boot.

Armagh 2-09 Roscommon 0-11

64 mins: Fair play to Brian Stack. He mazes his way through the Armagh defence, gets on the end of a one-two and powers it over with his left foot. Five points in it now.

Armagh 2-09 Roscommon 0-10

63 mins: Roscommon have a chance after a cheap turnover out on the right hand touchline. Cregg tries his hand from range but slices it wide. That’s eight wides now for the Rossies. Apart from a 10 minute strong patch after no doubt they had the fear of god put into them at half-time, they’ve been poor.

Down the other end, Campbell sets up Forker to stroke home another Armagh point.

Armagh 2-09 Roscommon 0-09

60 mins: Murtagh’s shot rebounds off the crossbar, presenting a few difficulties for Armagh as the bouncing ball could go anywhere. McGrane is the first to it, defusing what looked for a second to be a dangerous situation.

58 mins: Adam McDermott is in off the bench for Roscommon. His first action of note is to step off the right foot and stroke it over with his left. Lovely score, his first at Croke Park.

Armagh 2-08 Roscommon 0-09

Here’s that Turbitt goal which looks to have killed off Roscommon’s chances.

56 mins: Cregg drops it in on the Armagh goal dangerously. There are enough yellow jerseys in there to threaten but Hughes comes out of his net brilliantly to punch clear. After that burst to start the second half, Roscommon look low on energy now. Nearly 7 minutes and counting now since their last score.

51 mins: That’s a second gorgeous point of the half from Conaty. He points it home and ARMAGH SCORE OFF THE KICKOUT! Double strike! Disaster for Roscommon as Turbitt tackles the defender after a short kickout. He gets the ball back one-on-one with Carroll and powers it into the top corner.

Armagh 2-08 Roscommon 0-08

50 mins: Armagh make a change with Rian O’Neill, who has struggled to get into the game, being replaced by his brother, Oisín.

Once the game restarts, Cox strikes home a free for Roscommon.

Armagh 1-07 Roscommon 0-08

48 mins: That’s a beauty from Campbell. His second point of the day just as he crosses over the 45, striking it over with his right.

Armagh 1-07 Roscommon 0-07

46 mins: Donie Smith has kicked Roscommon’s sixth wide. Two on the bounce as well after their purple patch to start the half.

Seconds later, Ruane does cut the gap to two. Turnover in midfield, Rian O’Neill coughing up the ball, and Roscommon are away. They thought of a goal for a second but Ruane sticks it over the bar.

Armagh 1-06 Roscommon 0-07

44 mins: Better from Armagh. Conaty shoots on the run well, angling towards the corner but finding the target while running at full tilt.

Campbell follows it up with a fist over the bar after Armagh won the kickout and broke up the field.

Armagh 1-06 Roscommon 0-06

41 mins: Burke leaves a monster free just short for Roscommon. It was from some distance out, just inside the right touchline. Hughes gathers at a stretch just underneath the bar and he’s fouled on his way out.

39 mins: McCambridge puts Armagh back on top. He takes a mark far up the pitch and taps it over easily.

Armagh 1-04 Roscommon 0-06

38 mins: Roscommon are level! Ruane off the bench hits it over from the left. What a start to the half. There must have been something in the half-time oranges!

Armagh 1-03 Roscommon 0-06

37 mins: Campbell’s first touch is to strike one wide – Armagh’s sixth. Cox tracked back brilliantly to pressure the strike and force it wide.

36 mins: Right then, the second half is underway. Roscommon this time win the throw-in. Steffan Campbell is on at the break for Armagh, his 50th championship appearance. McGrane is taken off.

Roscommon strike first, Eoin McCormack striking one from distance over the bar. What wides?

Armagh 1-03 Roscommon 0-05

Barry McCambridge’s goal is the difference between the sides at the break.

A fairly low quality half all told. Both sides have had plenty of wides and underhit shots. Perhaps finding stable footing on the wet Croke Park surface is a problem.

Roscommon have been the bigger culprits but Armagh will be frustrated that they haven’t put them away to punish misses. As it stands, Roscommon have lost two players to injury and another, Fallon, to a red card which was contentious at best.

Still, despite the poor football, there are only two points in it at the break!

38 mins: Cox draws in a free beautifully that just about has the legs to get in over the bar. That’s the last kick of the half as the referee blows his whistle.

Half-time: Armagh 1-03 Roscommon 0-04

35 mins: RED CARD! Uh oh. Just as Roscommon got a settling score, Ruaidhrí Fallon is sent off. He puts a shoulder in on Rory Grugan. He’s very close to dislodging the ball but he hits him in his sternum. The referee is right in front of him and makes a big call, giving Fallon a second yellow. They’re down to 14!

Grugan gets off the turf to take the free but he’s put it wide.

34 mins: Armagh backed off and Niall Higgins punishes them. From range, he hits it flat and true over the bar. His first championship score for his county.

Armagh 1-03 Roscommon 0-03

Here’s that McCambridge goal which has done most of the Armagh damage so far.

31 mins: Chance! Turbitt hits the post for Armagh from distance. Conaty is first too it as he sends it across goal. Burns is on his own yards from goal, he probably had time to catch it and pick his spot but he instead tries to slap it home and is blocked on the line.

31 mins: A free brings to an end Roscommon’s run of wides. Conor Cox strokes the dead ball over the bar. That’s their first score in 13 minutes.

Armagh 1-03 Roscommon 0-02

29 mins: McCambridge is loving life roving forward. Smith gifts Armagh possession and a fast break with a loose turnover. Instead of taking a long range point, Armagh stay patient, working space for McCambridge who fists it over the bar from close range.

Armagh 1-03 Roscommon 0-01

26 mins: Rinse and repeat. Conor Cox finds space after some decent movement in the middle of the park. He curls a left-footer towards the Hill put pushes it wide. Four wides now for the Rossies.

23 mins: Roscommon could well have gotten away with one there. Ruaidhrí Fallon clatters into Ben Crearley late, his shoulder making contact with, let’s say the upper chest rather than neck of the Armagh man. It could well have been a black card, but the ref opts for yellow.

25 mins: Roscommon leave another shot short! Murtagh this time makes a decent connection with a firm strike. Hughes in goal has to do well to avoid having it burst through his hands but he keeps it from going over the bar.

20 mins: GOAL ARMAGH! The Ulstermen have raised the green flag. McCambridge turns a give and go with Grugan to beat his marker and, tearing in on goal, he sends it in off the crossbar. Roscommon’s misses are being punished!

Armagh 1-02 Roscommon 0-01

20 mins: Roscommon revert to type to miss a chance after their first point. Cregg finds himself in space within range but he leaves it short.

17 mins: Roscommon are finally on the board! It’s a lovely score. Ball movement and clever running aplenty. The chance looks to be gone after a heavy hit from McGrane but Cox stays composed to regather and strike quickly from a wide angle.

Armagh 0-02 Roscommon 0-01

15 mins: Another injury for Roscommon. Ultan Harney limps off and he does not look good. He tried to continue with some sort of leg issue but he crumples to the floor and has to be taken off. Ciarán Lennon is on for him.

15 minutes in and Roscommon have two injutries and five missed chances.

Meanwhile Niall Grimley points for Armagh down the other end. That channel down the middle of the park opened up far too easily for him.

Armagh 0-02 Roscommon 0-00

13 mins: Neither side wants to score at the moment. Armagh’s Turbitt this time pulls it wide after initially doing well to recover a loose ball on the floor. Three wides for both sides so far.

12 mins: Another wide. It’s Smith again. Five shots for Roscommon so far, three wides, one block and one which dropped short.

11 mins: Block! Armagh’s Conaty blocks Cregg’s attempted point brilliantly. He came from nowhere to get in his face, otherwise it was a sitter of a chance 25 yards out.

10 mins: Both sides can’t find the target. Rian O’Neill pulled his first one wide to the left, this time off a free he over corrects as it sails wide right.

9 mins: Another Roscommon wide and that’s the worst of the lot. Murtagh slips with the ball but does brilliantly to pass the ball over the swarming defence to Smith in space. It’s a tight angle but he should really score. Instead, he fists the ball wide.

7 mins: An early change for Roscommon. David Murray is forced off with some sort of injury. Dylan Ruane is on off the bench in the half-back line. Rian O’Neill restarts play with a 45 but he’s put it wide.

6 mins: More patient build-up play from Roscommon leads to a missed opportunity. They’re keeping the ball in and around the 45 without offering any real threat. Donie Smith eventually wriggles free of a marker to send in a left-footed effort from distance but it’s wide.

CHANCE! Down the other end, Armagh nearly get a goal. Brian Stack just blocks McCambridge as he dove in to try and bat a high ball into the net. Armagh haven’t had anywhere near as much of the ball but they look far more incisive.

3 mins: Murtagh gets the ball in space for Roscommon after plenty of patient build-up play. The conditions work against Roscommon again as he slips just as he drops the ball onto his left boot. He makes poor contact as the ball rolls along the floor and easily into the hands of Blaine Hughes in the Armagh goal.

1 min: We’re underway in Croke Park, Armagh get the ball early as Joe McErloy wins the throw-in. Armagh fly up the field, finding Conor Turbitt in a central position. His marker slips and that’s all the space he needs, curling one over the bar for the first score of the game.

Armagh 0-01 Roscommon 0-00

Both teams are as initially announced, no late changes!

On the face of it, this should be Armagh’s to lose. But Roscommon may confound the conventional wisdom about going into action a week after a big match, such was the bounce they must have taken from beating Tyrone in Omagh.

—  Seán Moran – GAA correspondent

Seán Moran previews all the weekend GAA action here, including this clash. He reckons it’s Armagh’s to lose (shock), but the bounce of beating Tyrone last week has to be a factor somehow.

[ All-Ireland quarter-finals: throw-in times, TV details and team news ]

For anyone wondering about the weather at Jones’ Road…

How did both teams get to this stage?

Ulster runners-up after losing to Donegal in the final, Armagh saw off Westmeath and Derry – famously exposing their roving ‘keeper strategy once again – before a draw with Galway last time out gave them their place in the quarters. It’s also worth remembering that Armagh have lost their last two All-Ireland quarter-finals, both memorably on penalties.

Roscommon, for their part, were knocked out of this year’s Connacht championship at the semi-final stage by Mayo. In the All-Ireland round robin, they were blitzed by Dublin before losing to Mayo again. Victory against Cavan kept their quarter-final hopes alive before a shock victory over Tyrone sent them into this weekend on a high.

They may well need the shot in the arm of some extra confidence. Roscommon haven’t won at Croke Park since 1980, and plenty won’t fancy them to snap that streak today.

Hello all and welcome to live coverage of the first of two All-Ireland football quarter-finals set to take place today.

It’s Armagh, it’s Roscommon, it’s Croke Park. Nathan Johns here to tell you all what’s what from HQ. Throw-in is at 4pm and we’ll be building up to all the action until then.