Pay-back time for Armagh

Armagh 0-13 Tyrone 0-11

Meanwhile Mickey Harte was left to mull over what were for him frustrating aspects of Tyrone’s defeat.

But, essentially, this was pay-back time for Armagh for their defeat in the All-Ireland final of 2003. This time, it was very much about terrific winning scores from Oisin McConville after another impressive display of character from Kernan’s team.

Controversially, that followed the dismissal of Peter Canavan - along with Armagh’s Kieran McKeever - only seconds after he came in as a substitute and arguably the more costly loss of top scorer Stephen O’Neill in what Harte described as “dubious circumstances.”

Yet, aside from these elements - which tended to overshadow what at best was an absorbing contest but in reality was a gruelling physical encounter - the bottom line was that Armagh delivered on the promise they showed in the drawn game two weeks ago. Again, they found themselves four points adrift late in the second half, only on this occasion they were able to go the extra mile.

A minute and a half into injury time McConville kicked them into the lead from an angled free on the left. And that was after Tyrone captain Brian Dooher wasted a chance and substitute Ryan Mellon saw a high shot come back off an upright.

In another 90 seconds McConville kicked an even better score from play to ensure victory. They were - as Kernan said afterwards “magnificent scores.” And, they had given the answer to those people who “wrote him off.”

While Micky Harte pronounced that his views on their two sending-offs would form “a necessary and integral part of the reflections on the game”, he emphasised that he was not looking for excuses. “I do not want to undermine in any way Armagh’s victory. They deserve all the credit for winning,’’ he said.

Kernan, meanwhile, felt his team triumphed because “they did the simple things right” in the second half. “The game did seem to be going away from us, but there is so much heart and character in this team that we weren’t going to lose,’’ he said.

With Canavan ruled out of the starting line-up (on the basis that he would not last 70 minutes), Tyrone were put under serious pressure for the first 15 minutes. Armagh used selected wing-forward Kieran McKeever as Brian McGuigan’s marker, freeing up team captain Kieran McGeeney as sweeper and the strategy paid a rich dividend during the period.

While they easily absorbed early Tyrone raids and replacement midfielder Philip Loughran was very prominent, they managed only four points during a pronounced period of dominance. Additionally, they kicked five wides.

Tyrone made rapid progress once they settled in the full-back line, where Ryan McMenamin in particular starred in the right corner against Steven McDonnell, while 34 year-old full-back Chris Lawn kept a tight grip on Ronan Clarke.

By playing a running game from the back and operating an effective blanket defence on Armagh players in possession, they managed four points in a five-minute period to lead for the second time. Improved play from Sean Cavanagh at midfield and Brian Dooher greatly assisted them, while O’Neill gave great leadership up front.

During this stage of the game referee Michael Collins made a bad decision when he took no action when Stephen O’Neill had his foot blocked as he was about to take a shot. And, unusually for Collins, he was to make some poor calls later on before landing himself in hot water over his red card decisions. With McConville promising a goal until a well-judged pass from John McEntee went over his head, Tyrone went in at half time two points in front, 0-7 to 0-5.

Notably, by the three-quarters stage, Tyrone had stretched their lead to four points (0-11 to 0-7), with O’Neill contributing three scores, one of them a real classic. Armagh might have got a goal but for the fact that McEntee was nudged from behind in the act of kicking and his shot went wide. Conversely, they would have been down to 14 men at this stage if the referee had seen a fisted tackle from Paul McGrane, just a minute after he had been yellow-carded.

Canavan was introduced in the 54th minute, along with Eoin Mulligan and, as Micky Harte explained afterwards, it was done because they were “in control” at the time and believed that the two players would enhance that control. However, there was a flare-up as he ran in to take up his position and, from what could be seen from television play-backs, Canavan didn’t deserve to be red-carded. And the same could be said of the Armagh man.

Significantly, Armagh had got a badly needed score on the board (from a Stephen McDonnell ‘45), before O’Neill was sent off in the 61st minute. Effectively, that marked the turning point of the game because Armagh were powering their way back into contention, with Loughran again at his best and Aaron Kernan maintaining a high level of consistency.

“We showed good character,’’ said McDonnell. “Oisin’s first point was a crucial one for us. I remember asking the linesmen when I lined up for the ‘45 how much time was left. When he said there was about 12 minutes, I felt we had plenty of time to come back.

“Lucky enough, that brought us back to three points and we kept plugging away.”

Unfortunately for Collins, the errors he made had the effect of blotting out some good refereeing.

Scorers: Armagh: O. McConville 0-3 (0-2 frees); R. Clarke 0-3; S. McDonnell 0-3 (0-1 free, 0-1 ‘45); A. Kernan 0-2 (0-1 free); B. Mellon and P. McKeever 0-1 each. Tyrone: S. O’Neill 0-5 (0-3 frees); B. Dooher, E. McGinley, D. Harte, B. McGuigan, R. McMenamin and M. Penrose 0-1 each.

ARMAGH: P. Hearty; A. Mallon, F. Bellew, E. McNulty; A. Kernan, K. McGeeney (capt.), A. O’Rourke; P. Loughran, P. McGrane; K. McKeever, J. McEntee, O. McConville; S. McDonnell, R. Clarke, B. Mallon.

Subs: P. McKeever for B. Mallon (58th minute); A. McCann for O’Rourke (59th); T. McEntee for Loughran (72nd).

TYRONE: P. McConnell; R. McMenamin, C. Lawn, S. Sweeney; D. Harte, G. Devlin, P. Jordan; C. Gormley, S. Cavanagh; B. Dooher (capt.), B. McGuigan, M. Penrose; R. Mellon, E. McGinley, S. O’Neill.

Subs: P. Canavan for Penrose and O. Mulligan for McGuigan (53rd minute).

Referee: M. Collins (Cork).

Att: 31,954.