Armagh wasted no time in establishing their supremacy at Bord na Móna O’Connor Park this afternoon as they quickly burst out of the blocks and built an early lead that Offaly never looked like reeling in.
Andrew Murnin and Ethan Rafferty each kicked three points from play in the first half as they tore Offaly’s defence asunder, converting all of their scores from relatively close range with little or no pressure on the kicker.
Offaly’s intent to push forward against the wind left them badly exposed at the back and while they enjoyed some success against the Armagh back line at the other end of the field, that was only after the Orchard men moved well clear thanks to a flurry of early scores.
These sides met in 2017 and Armagh recorded a 6-22 to 0-10 victory at the Athletic Grounds and it began to look like Offaly supporters might be in for a similarly chastising afternoon when Gregory McCabe punched the ball to the net after 11 minutes, taking advantage of the rebound from Rafferty’s shot that crashed back into play off the crossbar.
That left Armagh 1-5 to 0-2 in front at that early stage, but instead it looked as if that score was the signal for Armagh to relax and step off the intensity, and within a minute Offaly had replied in kind through late replacement Seán Doyle.
Doyle picked out the bottom corner of the net from close range after his club colleague Jordan Hayes played him in with a nice flat handpass.
Armagh’s Ryan McShane kicked two nice points before being withdrawn due to injury while Bernard Allen and Peter Cunningham also impressed the crowd with some well taken scores at the other end of the field.
Scores flowed freely as both sides enjoyed plenty of space, though Armagh edged the battle for primary possession and consequently took a 1-11 to 1-5 lead into the half time break.
If Offaly were to mount any sort of a comeback they needed to step up the pace after half time and take advantage of the strong breeze that blew at their backs.
Instead they were held scoreless for sixteen minutes by an Armagh back line that contained three under-20 players.
The trio stepped into the breach during the week when the Orchard County lost a number of regular starters and afterwards McGeeney expressed his satisfaction with his young debutants, while still suggesting that more work needs to be done by his team.
They didn’t need any improvement here as they continued to keep Offaly well under control. Charlie Vernon grew into the game and he came forward to kick a fine score, while Niall Rowland and Rafferty also pointed to move the lead out to eight points.
Offaly rallied slightly in the final quarter and briefly got within five points of their visitors, but Armagh always looked capable of stepping up the pace if needed.
They eased over the line to make it four wins out of four and take one more step towards promotion, while simultaneously moving their hosts one step closer to the drop, with key battles against Wexford and Sligo to come for Stephen Wallace’s side in the next couple of weeks.
Armagh regain top spot from Fermanagh, who beat Derry on Saturday night.
Offaly: Patrick Dunican; Declan Hogan, Paul McConway, Seán Pender; David Dempsey, Niall Darby, Cian Donohue; Peter Cunningham (0-01), Michael Brazil (0-01); Sean Doyle (1-01), Anton Sullivan, Jordan Hayes; Bernard Allen (0-02), Conor Carroll, Nigel Dunne (0-03 frees)
Subs: Cian Johnson for Doyle (46), Eoin Carroll for Sullivan (53), James Lalor for McConway (66), Shane Tierney for Donohue (67)
Armagh: Blaine Hughes; Paul Hughes, Oisín Lappin, Patrick Burns; Niall Rowland, Gregory McCabe (1-00), Joe McElroy; Stephen Sheridan, Charlie Vernon; Ryan McShane (0-02), Aidan Forker (0-01), Niall Grimley; Rory Grugan (0-01, free), Andrew Murnin (0-03), Ethan Rafferty (0-03).
Subs: Ross McQuillan for McShane (29), Ben Crealey for Murnin (HT), Eoghan McDonnell for Rowland (47), Jamie Cosgrove for Burns (70+1)
Referee: Sean Lonergan (Tipperary)
Westmeath kept their promotion hopes alive with a 0-20 to 0-14 victory over Sligo in Mullingar.
The hosts were three up at half-time, 0-10 to 0-07, and pulled further clear after the break thanks to big scoring contributions from John Heslin (0-08, 7f) and Ger Egan (0-05 from play).
Adrian Marren scored four points from play before departing injured at half-time but the The Yeats County did reduce the margin to a single point by the 50th minute before scores from James Dolan, Heslin, Egan and Kieran Martin sealed victory.
Sligo are in relegation trouble, just one place above Wexford, who suffered a fourth league defeat on the bounce against Longford.
Dennis Connerton's side shaded the first half at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park 0-07 to 0-05 before Robbie Smyth's goal in the 40th minute gave them a lead they never relinquished.
Daithi Waters was sent off for striking in the 51s minute as Longford ran out 1-12 to 0-09 winners.
