Clarke hit a magical 2-4 to kill off a brave Garden county side and send the Orchard men into Monday’s draw with fresh hope that they can make progress in this year’s All-Ireland series.

The despondency that followed their heavy home defeat to Donegal in the Ulster Championship was swept away, despite the pre-match withdrawal of skipper Ciaran McKeever.

But while their season has now ended, Wicklow can take many positives from this encounter. They were just two points behind with ten minutes to play, and had they had an accurate free-taker, could well have threatened a shock.

Armagh had a goal chance inside the opening two minutes when goalkeeper Robert Lambert failed to deal with a Stefan Campbell cross, but Aidan Forker gathered and blazed wide.

They continued to dominate, going ahead through Andrew Murnin, but lost the momentum as the Leinster men began to play their way into the game.

However, their finishing, particularly from frees, let them down, allowing the Orfchrd men off the hook on a number of occasions.

Jamie Clarke made a spectacular intervention with two delightful points in the space of a minute as Kieran McGeeney’s men eased into a three points lead by the twelfth minute.

And they created another goal chance when Tony Kernan collected Clarke’s return pass, but was denied by a flying save from Lambert.

The Garden county men finally got their opening score on 19 minutes when Mark Kenny sent Darren Hayden in for a point.

But with Charlie Vernon showing all his experience at the back, and Aidan Forker proving to be an effective conduit between defence and attack.

Clarke’s creativity was a joy to watch, his incisive cross from the right punched wide by the flying Micheal McKenna.

But Wicklow made an unlikely breakthrough in the 15th minute when Brendan Donaghy fumbled Hayden’s parried cross, and John McGrath seized on the loose ball to net from close range. Cronin added a free, and suddenly the sides were level.

But Armagh responded with a volley of scores, including Clarke’s fourth, to take a 0-9 to 1-2 lead into the interval.

Veteran defender Ciaran Hyland burst through to kick a Wicklow point straight after the restart, but that was cancelled out by Ethan Rafferty’s long range free.

Substitute Conor McGraynor gave Wicklow height, power and pace up front, and his fisted effort narrowed the gap to two points

But Wicklow were painfully susceptible to the turnover, and surrendered further scores to Stefan Campbell and McKenna.

Wicklow had to work hard to break through lines of orange shirts, but they were still just two points adrift as the game approached its final quarter, after Cronin swung over a couple of gems from play.

Had he been able to convert even half the free kicks he wasted, this would have been a different story, as McGraynor registered his side’s seventh wide from a placed ball, nine in all.

But James Stafford came off the bench to make an instant and sensational impact with a 56th minute goal to leave just a point between the sides.

Once again, however, the Ulster men were able to respond, with Rafferty thumping over a ’45 and a massive point from play.

Clarke had had a quiet second half, but another moment of magic from the Crossmaglen man settled it with two goals in the final five minutes. Gathering possession wide on the right, he danced past two defenders to plant the ball in the net.

And it was McKenna’s selflessness that set up a second for Clarke as the home side finally killed off their courageous opponents.

Scores and teams

Armagh: M McNeice, M Murray, C Vernon, S Connell, A Mallon, B Donaghy, J Morgan, C Rafferty (0-2), E Rafferty (0-4, 1f, 1 ’45), A Forker (0-1), M McKenna (0-3), T Kernan, S Campbell (0-1), A Murnin (0-2), J Clarke (2-4).

Subs: M McConville for Connell (52), D McKenna for Forker (52), C O’Hanlon for Kernan (59), S Forker for Campbell (68), G McParland for Murnin (69)

Wicklow: R Lambert, C Hyland (0-1), R O’Brien, A Murphy, D Healy, P McLoughlin, M Kenny, A McLoughlin, D Woods, D Hayden (0-1), S Kelly, N Gaffney, P Cronin (0-4, 2f), T Kelly, J McGrath (1-0).

Subs: C McGraynor (0-1) for Gaffeney (h-t), P McWalter for Kenny (h-t), J Stafford (1-0) for Woods (54), D Odlum for McGrath (56), P Cunningham for Kelly (57), B McCrea for Cronin (65)

Referee: E Kinsella (Laois)