Derry not counting their titles yet

There was a self-contained atmosphere in the Derry dressing-room in the aftermath of having qualified for an Ulster final against Donegal in three weeks. After all the misses - some narrow, some not - of recent years, they weren't going to react with anything other than caution to having merely reached the stage where last year the wheels came off. "We took our chances and they didn't," according to victorious captain Kieran McKeever. "We knew what we had to do at certain stages of the game, the older, more experienced players were talking all the time to the younger ones, keeping them tight, keeping the formation right.

"It was an experienced sort of performance, we knew what we had to do. We knew the threat was always there from (Diarmuid) Marsden and (Oisin) McConville, they had space up front and out round the middle of the field. We had to keep putting the pressure on their kicker to make sure they didn't get good ball in."

Even when Armagh drew level with 10 minutes to go, McKeever had remained calm. "I knew even though they came back to get the draw that we still had the potential to get the scores on the board. I never thought about defeat."

Derry's late exhibition perhaps distorted the fact that much of the match had been a tense affair with some poor and error-ridden football but some good stuff as well - a dichotomy recognised by Derry selector Frank Kearney.

"We were ragged at times, we were very, very good at times. So we have to extend the periods when we're very good. We respected Armagh going into the match, possibly gave them too much respect in that we thought negative thoughts when we should have been much more positive.

"They went into the match under a lot of pressure. While we were being labelled as the bookmakers' favourites, there's no doubt the word on everyone's lips, the quiet word behind the hand, was Armagh were going to win. They were up for it, but that creates pressures on players and they didn't get the confidence-builder they needed.

"Two years ago in the championship at Celtic Park, they got a four-point start which gave them a lot of confidence and us a lot of trouble. They didn't get that start today."

For Armagh joint-manager Brian Canavan it was a match which had been there for the taking. "It was very disappointing. We had two goal chances and we didn't take them. When we equalised with 10 minutes to go, I thought our team would raise their game, but they ended the stronger.

"We knew coming in that Derry would be the team to beat and I always thought that the team that won the day would win the All-Ireland and I still believe that. They have a lot of quality players in their forward line and they hadn't a lot of possession in the first half, but they used it to the utmost.

"We couldn't have done any more. We tried pushing men in and moving them about, but at end of the day Derry finished the better side. They raised their game and their forward line was more economical."

So where now for Brian Canavan and this Armagh team, came one final, gloomy inquiry.

"Ehh, we're going to Cootehill for a feed."