Fourteen-man Armagh struck 1-2 in injury time to beat Westmeath by 1-12 to 1-7 in a scrappy match at Mullingar.

The Orchard County were far from their best, and gave away as many as 40 frees during the course of a fractious encounter, and the game seemed to have slipped away from them when substitute Greg McCabe was sent off in the last quarter, receiving a black card and then a red to go with his first-half yellow. The hosts - who had Mark McCallon and John Egan black-carded four minutes from the end of normal time - certainly had their chances but lacked quality when it mattered most.

Five minutes into added time, second-half substitute Ethan Rafferty got on the end of a breakaway to net and give Kieran McGeeney's side an exciting victory that sees them through to the third round of the Qualifiers, where they'll face either Monaghan, Tipperary or Carlow next weekend.

The first six points were shared and Armagh kicked on with points from Gavin McParland, Rory Grugan (2) and Stephen Sheridan before a 30^th-minute Paul Sharry goal brought the Lake County right back into contention. The hosts went in level at the break, 1-4 to 0-7, while the Orchard County had lost both James Morgan and Jamie Clarke to black cards before the short whistle, talisman Clarke removed from the action after just two minutes and his Crossmaglen clubmate sent to the line in the 19th.

A John Heslin brace had the hosts two clear after 43 minutes, 1-6 to 0-7, but captain Grugan kept the border county ticking over before wing back Aidan Forker equalised with a terrific effort.

The visitors were reduced to 14 men for the last 15 minutes when McCabe was shown a red card and substitute Noel Mulligan had a chance to win it for Westmeath with eight minutes remaining but sent his shot agonisingly wide.

Substitute Oisin O'Neill kicked the 14 men ahead in the 63^rd minute and sub Alan Gaughan replied with three minutes left to play in a low-quality but absorbing contest. Six minutes of injury time were announced…

Heslin - perhaps fortunate to be still on the pitch - missed a late Westmeath free before Armagh went up to the other end and moved ahead again in the 73^rd minute, courtesy of O'Neill. Sharry nnd Callum McCormack were also guilty of late misses for the 15 men when victory was there for the taking.

Instead, right at the death, as the Lake County strained to get level, the Orchard men caught them on the break to win it with a 75^th-minute Rafferty goal! There was trouble in the stand as tempers became frayed both on and off the pitch and Armagh ultimately did what they had to do, coming away with a hard-fought win.

Armagh - B Hughes; A McKay, C Vernon, P Hughes; A Forker (0-1), B Donaghy, J Morgan; S Sheridan (0-1), N Grimley (0-1f); C O'Hanlon, A Duffy, R Grugan (0-3, 2f); J Clarke, A Murnin, G McParland (0-3). Subs: S Campbell (0-1) for J Clarke (BC), G McCabe for J Morgan (BC), M Shields for A McKay, O O'Neill (0-2) for A Duffy, C McKeever for G McParland, E Rafferty (1-0) for C O'Hanlon.

Westmeath - D Quinn; M McCallon, K Maguire, J Gonoud; D Lynch, F Boyle, J Dolan; P Sharry (1-0), G Egan; J Egan, K Martin, S Duncan; K Reilly, J Heslin (0-6, 4f), K Daly. Subs: T McDaniel for G Egan, C McCormack for K Reilly, A Stone for S Duncan, N Mulligan for D Lynch, A Gardiner for M McCallon (BC), A Gaughan (0-1) for J Egan (BC).

Referee - P O'Sullivan.

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