Armagh 4-20 Roscommon 0-08

Steven McDonnell grabbed a hat trick of goals as Armagh demolished a poor Roscommon side in their Allianz NFL Division 2 tie at Crossmaglen this afternoon.

McDonnell's first half tally of 1-05 helped the home side turn around with a 1-09 to 0-05 advantage.

Senan Kilbride had opened the scoring for Roscommon but they struggled to get to grips with a fluid Armagh side that included Tony, Stephen and Aaron Kernan.

Ger Heneghan bolstered the visitors' total with some neat frees but second half goals from McDonnell (2) and substitute Brian Mallon saw Armagh power to victory.

The Orchard men, who are up to fourth in the table after this win, looked like they might have a fight on their hands in the early stages.

Kilbride pointed for the Rossies in the first-minute and Heneghan quickly added two frees.

Full-forward McDonnell then opened his account and Tony Kernan followed suit. Armagh moved ahead in the 12th-minute when Stephen Kernan played the ball through for McDonnell to blast home his first goal.

The former All-Star tagged on his second point to nudged an ever-improving Armagh side into a 1-03 to 0-03 lead, 20 minutes in.

Despite playing into the wind, Peter McDonnell's side kept their foot on the gas and they registered six points in the final 15 minutes of the half.

Heneghan initially replied with his second pointed free but efforts from McDonnell, Ronan Clarke and Stephen and Aaron Kernan handed Armagh a healthy lead to take into the second half.

The experienced duo of Francie Bellew and Oisin McConville were brought into the Armagh side, after the break, and McConville managed to point with his first touch of the football.

Although Gary Cox and Frankie Dolan got their names on the scoresheet for Roscommon, the visitors were being completely overwhelmed and their tactic of playing high balls into Jonathan Dunning failed to pay off.

To add to the visitors' misery, McDonnell clinically netted with two more goals.

His third strike came just a few minutes after Mallon's major, which was presented to him after McDonnell's initial shot had been blocked.

Although McDonnell's contribution of 3-06 was a major factor in the home win, Armagh had plenty of impressive performers around the field - not least substitute McConville who landed his side's final point.

However, with difficult games against Dublin, Meath and Cork to come, the 2005 league winners will not be getting carried away with this result.