NFL Armagh 3-10 Laois 0-17: The kind of affair that could only have been ruined by the dreaded sinbin. In the end, six players had their afternoons cut short, but the 7,000-plus crowd witnessed football of the calibre that is normally reserved for late July.
Laois have only themselves to blame for coughing up two significant leads, although Armagh did rediscover the thirst for the fight. Two goals from early replacement Oisín McConville and one from Steven McDonnell essentially steered the result in the Ulster men's favour.
Laois did have their moments. In particular, Ross Munnelly gave the Armagh defence a headache in yet another quality performance. He will be at the zenith of his power come the championship. Through all the exhilarating football, the yellow cards still dictated the ebb and flow. And yet, there could be no arguing with Cork referee Michael Collins' decision to dismiss Laois captain and goalkeeper Fergal Byron after he dragged Ronan Clarke to the ground.
A penalty also followed and McConville rolled the ball past Noel Garvan. That levelled affairs at 0-9 to 2-3 with two minutes to the interval.
What had gone before was well worth the journey from south Armagh. And there was plenty from that region of the Orchard County present as the Crossmaglen players were back in the fold. Also, considering Portlaoise had ended any aspirations of a fourth All-Ireland title, they had plenty of motivation to hit the ground running.
Strange then that their start was so pedestrian. Padraig Clancy and Garvan's midfield domination ensured the energetic Laois forwards were afforded plenty of ammunition, while the defensive heroics of Tom Kelly - who came in momentarily for a dazed Tom McDonald and simply could not be called ashore - initially subdued McDonnell. Still, something wasn't right. The first six Armagh shots drifted wide, alarmingly they came from the full-forward line of Clarke, McDonnell and Stephen Kernan.
At the other end Munnelly made Ciarán McKeever and Enda McNulty look ordinary. At full forward Stephen Kelly kicked three delightful points before hibernating for the second half.
Then came McConville - he rang Joe Kernan this week to ask why he wasn't in the panel, his manager thought he needed a break - whose introduction after 12 minutes pulled the pendulum back in the visitors' favour.
Trailing by five points Malachy Mackin's shot dropped into the square for Clarke to expose full back Colm Begley's lack of height. His offload gave McConville an easy chance from two yards out.
Kernan and McDonnell soon found their range, but Munnelly exuded class to keep his side clear. Then came McConville's second goal from the penalty spot with a Chris Conway point giving Laois a paltry one-point lead.
Armagh started the second half in typical fashion with Clarke also atoning for the early wayward shooting. Two minutes later Kieran McGeeney was sent to the line for chastising Collins for not stopping play when goalkeeper Ciarán McKinney was lying prone on the ground. Gary Kavanagh followed suit, apparently for insulting McGeeney.
The tension began to boil over, especially in midfield where John Toal and Clancy got acquainted. Munnelly stayed cool to kick another free, but the king marksman in Ireland is still McDonnell. He kicked three frees to put Armagh into the lead for the first time.
Just before McDonnell's hot streak, Paul McGrane replaced Mackin after he was hit hard by a Darren Rooney shoulder. He was taken to hospital for observation on a neck injury. After an eight-minute delay, for treatment on Mackin, Laois went a little flat, although Clancy and Conway did step up to level the contest entering the home straight.
The third and vital goal came after McDonnell dispossessed Rooney, fed McConville who returned the favour for the Killeavey man to put four points between the sides. Conway kicked another point and had a chance to win the match late on, but he popped a free over the bar when a shot for goal seemed like the only option.
Still, O'Dwyer saw only the positives: "There was some great scoring there. In fact, you won't see many more games like that in the championship."
LAOIS: F Byron (capt); P McDonald, C Begley, T McDonald; K Kelly, D Rooney, P McMahon; P Clancy (0-2), N Garvan; R Munnelly (0-5, three frees), C Conway (0-5, three frees), M Dunne; S Cooke (0-1), S Kelly (0-3), G Kavanagh (0-1). Subs: T Kelly for T McDonald (4 mins), C Munnelly for F Byron (34 mins), P Lawlor for G Kavanagh (38 mins), C Bergin for S Cooke (75 mins).
ARMAGH: C McKinney; A Mallon, J McNulty, E McNulty; A O'Rourke, K McGeeney (capt), C McKeever; J Toal, M Mackin; M O'Rourke (0-1), J McEntee, G Loughran; S McDonnell (1-5, three frees), R Clarke (0-2), S Kernan (0-1). Subs: O McConville (2-0, 1 pen) for G Loughran (13 mins), P Hearty for C McKinney (38 mins), K McElvanna for K McGeeney (38 mins), A Kernan (0-1) for A Mallon (42 mins), F Bellew for C McKeever (75 mins).
YELLOW CARDS: Laois: F Byron (34 mins), G Kavanagh (38 mins), S Cooke (75 mins). Armagh: K McGeeney (38 mins), A Mallon (42 mins), C McKeever (75 mins).
Referee: M Collins (Cork).
