Ulster SFC semi-final: Armagh 3-33 Down 0-14
Majestic Armagh posted an Ulster senior football championship record 42 points as Down experienced the ultimate week of highs and lows in sport.
Just seven days on from pulling off the upset of the championship by ambushing Donegal, Down suffered their heaviest Ulster SFC defeat ever as their neighbours dished out a 28-point semi-final hammering in Clones.
To compound Down’s day of misery, Westmeath’s Leinster semi-final victory over Kildare on Sunday afternoon means Conor Laverty’s side have been frozen out of the All-Ireland series and are instead now consigned to the Tailteann Cup. This wasn’t a defeat, it was a season-defining catastrophe.
In scoring 3-33 (42 points), Armagh beat the Ulster SFC record which they had set themselves against Fermanagh only last week when they scored 2-32 (38)
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And the monumental nature of the victory may in time be looked back upon as a seminal performance for this Armagh team, because at times they were simply untouchable in front of 27,423 at St Tiernach’s Park.
It is no secret one of the burning ambitions within the group is to win an Ulster title – the last time Armagh lifted the Anglo Celt was in 2008. They have lost the last three deciders, one in extra-time and the other two after penalty shoot-outs.
The Orchard County had star performers in almost every area of the field here. Their full-back line formed a solid orange wall, with two of Down’s full-forward line withdrawn by the interval and all three long before full-time.
Joe McElroy covered an incredible amount of ground, while Jarly Óg Burns went toe-to-toe with Odhrán Murdock in the middle third, the Armagh man’s superb display seeing him finish with 0-4 while Down’s star turn had to settle with 0-1.
If Down’s kick-outs and Murdock’s midfield superiority had been their calling cards before the game, it’s fair to say Armagh went after both. They hammered the hammer.
Armagh had 12 different scorers, with Oisín Conaty and Conor Turbitt at times looking unmarkable.
But the platform for the victory was built on a masterclass of kick-out distribution from Blaine Hughes. The Armagh goalkeeper delivered a kicking clinic, finding a team-mate with 20 of his 21 restarts.
Several of his long-range arrows were gasp-inducingly stunning, including probably the best kick-out of the summer when he found Darragh McMullan with a peach on the half-hour mark, the ball eventually ending with Conor Turbitt slapping home Armagh’s second goal.
That goal came midway through the spell in which Armagh buried Down’s Ulster hopes, scoring 1-8 without reply to lead 2-12 to 0-7 at the interval. And it only spiralled for Down thereafter, a certain defeat becoming a chastening Clones experience.
“Listen, it’s hard to put your finger on [what you put that performance down to], Armagh were the supreme team today,” said a clearly subdued Laverty afterwards.
“They overrun us in every facet of the game. I felt we started the game well and were 5-2 up but after that it was one-way traffic.”
And it’s hard to argue with that summary. And it’s hard to fathom, given the final score, that Down led 0-5 to 0-2 after 12 minutes. Armagh had registered three wides in the opening six minutes. All things considered, it had been a decent start for the Mourne men, though the exertions of their display against Donegal seemingly caught up with them.
They would manage just nine further points from the 12th minute until full-time. In that same period, Armagh scored 3-31. It was a hurling score. Hell, you’d even do a double take on that scoreline in hurling.
“It’s the Donegal game, I knew it was going to go one way or the other [for Down],” said Armagh boss Kieran McGeeney.
“It was either going to give them a bit of energy or sap their energy. The performance they put in last week probably paid its toll this week. I wouldn’t say it’s a true reflection of what Down can do.”
The all-action, hard-running Jarly Óg Burns scored what would be the first of seven Armagh fisted points in the 14th minute before the momentum of the entire contest shifted decisively.
Tomás McCormack did brilliantly, after a scramble in the middle of the field, to eventually come away with possession from a Down kick-out. The turnover ended with McCormack getting the ball back and drilling it beneath Ronan Burns, 1-3 to 0-5.
Armagh turned over the resulting Down kick-out as well and Andrew Murnin palmed over. The tide had turned.
Just seconds after Down starting to take on water in Clones, about 140 kilometres away the final whistle in Tullamore sounded – Westmeath had won. A cruel double twist. Down’s summer had turned.
Turbitt’s first goal on the half-hour mark was a thing of simplistic beauty – two beautifully executed long balls exposing Down’s gamble in bringing Ronan Burns out the field for Armagh’s kick-out.
Armagh scored the first five points of the second half before Down hit the target again. Down just wanted the whole ordeal to be over, but Armagh were determined to drag out the show.
Turbitt went low and hard for their third goal in the 53rd minute, 3-22 to 0-9, while Oisín O’Neill (0-4) and Aaron O’Neill (0-2) both came off the bench and added scores. Armagh scored 1-17 after the interval before registering their first wide of the second half.
Armagh will face Monaghan in the Ulster final in Clones in two weeks. Down must prepare for a Tailteann Cup opener against Leitrim. Having won the Tailteann Cup in 2024, there has been little appetite in the Down to make a return to that competition.
“We’ll have to chat to the lads and see where our hunger is at,” said Laverty. “We are in the Tailteann Cup now, it wasn’t in our plans but that’s life, that’s where we are at.”
But Armagh is where they wanted to be – preparing for an Ulster decider.
“Monaghan will have no fear of ourselves, I can guarantee you that,” said McGeeney.
“It’s back to porridge tomorrow, trying to get ready for an Ulster final.”
Armagh have caused quite the stir in how they got there.
ARMAGH: Blaine Hughes; Peter McGrane (0-0-1), Aaron McKay, Paddy Burns; Joe McElroy, Tiernan Kelly (0-0-1), Jarly Óg Burns (0-0-4); Jason Duffy (0-0-1), Andrew Murnin (0-0-3); Greg McCabe, Darragh McMullen (0-1-0), Tomás McCormack (1-0-2); Oisín Conaty (0-0-5), Conor Turbitt (2-0-5; 3f), Cian McConville (0-0-3; 1f).
Subs: Oisín O’Neill (0-1-2) for McCabe (51 mins); Daniel Magee for Murnin (52); Tomás Galvin for Turbitt (59); Aaron O’Neill (0-1-0) for Conaty (60).
DOWN: Ronan Burns; Peter Fegan, Pierce Laverty, Callum Rogers; Caolan Mooney, Shane Annett (0-0-1), Daniel Guinness (0-0-4); Odhrán Murdock (0-0-1), Ryan McEvoy; Miceal Rooney, Ceilum Doherty, Pearse McPolin; Adam Crimmins, Pat Havern (0-0-2, 1f), John McGeough.
Subs: Liam Kerr (0-0-2) for McGeough (26 mins); Jamie Doran for Crimmins (h-t); Ryan Magill (0-0-2) for Rooney (39); Barry O’Hagan (0-0-2; 1f) for Havern (46); Finn McElroy for McPolin, Gareth Murphy for McElroy (both 55); Tom Close for McEvoy (62, blood sub).
Referee: Brendan Cawley (Kildare).
