Orchard County upset the applecart

Dublin 1-13 Armagh 1-14

The width of an upright denied Dublin a place the All-Ireland final this afternoon as the Orchard County upset the applecart and booked a place against Kerry on September 22nd for themselves.

Needing a point to force a draw, Dublin were awarded a free-kick deep into injury-time but with virtually the last kick of the game, and in front of the Hill, marksman Ray Cosgrove's effort rebounded of the post and was cleared away to safety.

There was time for no more, giving Armagh a deserved win on the day while Cosgrove, Dublin, and their hordes of supporters, must reflect on where it all went wrong and pack away the bunting for another year.

The winning score came five minutes from time, setting up a breathless finish. The right fist of Oisin McConville did the damage, the forward hand passing the ball over Stephen Cluxton's goal for his fifth and most important point of the day.

Dublin, predictably, poured forward in search of an equaliser but were unable to break down a stubborn and well marshalled Armagh defence before they were awarded a free two minutes into stoppage time.

The responsibility fell to Cosgrove and, despite the pressure, few in Croke Park would have gambled against the youngster taking the match to a replay. The full-forward has amassed 6 goals and 23 points this campaign, six of those points this afternoon, and while it was tricky, the free was certainly kickable.

But it was not to be. His curling effort from the hand rebounded cruelly in to the arms of the waiting defence and away as the match finished in the most dramatic of fashions.

In truth, the first half of this encounter had been decidedly ordinary and only exploded into life minutes into the second half when a goal apiece, barely 60 seconds apart, set the tone for a second-half that was full of the thrills and spills that an All-Ireland semi-final deserves.

After the disappointment of last weekend, when the highly anticipated clash between Cork and Kerry turned out to be more memorable for ugly scenes and tantrums than the quality of the football on offer, it had been hoped Dublin and Armagh would provide a vintage tie.

But the first half was far from champagne football and will have done little to sate the purists. A bright start from Dublin, revelling in front of an 80,000 plus crowd, boded well but both sides seemed to lose their direction with scrappy periods of play interspersed with few moments of real quality.

Ciaran Whelan, magnificent in the rout of Donegal, struggled badly to impose himself in midfield during the first -half and both the Raheny man and partner Darren Magee were second best to the breaking ball on too many occasions. Yet for the first ten minutes it had been all Dublin. Indeed, apart from an effort that came back off the post in the second minute, Armagh barely managed a kick in anger in the Dublin half until McConville dispatched a neat free-kick in the 11th minute.

By that stage Dublin were already three points to the good, all from play, and looked as if they could build on their early advantage.

But tigerish defending and a greater workrate in the middle of the park dragged Armagh back into the contest, affording them the lions share of possession for the remainder of the half. Another two free-kicks from McConville and a moment of real quality from Stephen McDonnell helped them draw level - with six points apiece - by the break.

Whatever Joe Kernan and Tommy Lyons had to say during the interval did the trick, within minutes Croke Park was treated to the type of swashbuckling play that had been lacking early on.

First Stephen McDonnell kicked Armagh into the lead, for the first time, with a second delightful score before Dublin put together a wonderful flowing movement to level things once more.

Armagh responded with a goal, Paddy McKeever bundling the ball home from close range to the delight of the travelling support.

But their cheers were immediately strangled as within a minute, a rampaging Ciaran Whelan, anonymous in the first-half, beat Benny Tierney with an unstoppable long-range effort to tie things up at 1-7 apiece.

The tone of the match was set, and the combatants traded scores until the 65th minute, when McConville escaped the clutches of Coman Goggins and delivered his side into an All-Ireland final.