Armagh completed a fine comeback to win 2-1 over Alset Colombia in a thrilling match in Tuesday’s Premier Section fixture.
Armagh started the match brightly and had an early opportunity hit the woodwork, when Ryan Lewsley’s cross was headed agonisingly close by Caolan Marron. Alset matched the home county’s early tempo and following some neat passing between Parra and Mahecha, Fevez pushed a shot just wide of the post. It was straight back to the other end of the field then where Armagh’s Marron showed great pace down the left wing and floated a cross in for Nedas Macuilaitis, whose looping header almost found the net but was cleared at the last moment by the Colombian defence. Shortly after Lewsley again found himself with plenty of space in the Alset half, and his fine cross was met by the head of Marron but goalkeeper Castillo got a strong hand to it and tipped the shot onto the crossbar.
Alset’s Losada was at the heart of their positive attacking play, and midway through the first half he found Fevez on the flank whose low and hard cross just needed a final touch. In an even and open match, Alset took the lead when Mahecha received the ball well outside the penalty area and struck a superb shot into the top corner.
The second half was all about Armagh trying to find a way back into the game, and the Colombian side managed to hold on to their slender lead for the majority of the match with some valiant defending. With around five minutes to go however, their luck changed dramatically. Another fine Armagh cross into the box wasn’t dealt with sufficiently and fell to centre-back Connor Murtagh, who rather unexpectedly delivered an overhead kick that beat Castillo and levelled the match. Moments later, things went from bad to worse for Alset when a penalty was awarded for handball. Substitute Adam Metcalfe stepped up for Armagh and cooly slotted the ball home for a 2-1 lead that the County side would retain for a final few minutes that saw Alset’s Rincon dismissed for a second bookable offence.
Disappointment for Alset no doubt, who will face Real Sociedad in their final group match. Armagh on the other hand, will look to add to their three points picked up here when they face Otago Academy on Wednesday.