Ulster SFC Final/Armagh 2-8 Tyrone 0-14: In the pitiless heat of Croke Park it looked as if Armagh had shot their bolt. Yesterday's Bank of Ireland Ulster football final entered its final couple of minutes with the champions trailing by four and set to reap the meagre harvest of an insipid display.
But the one aspect of the game in which they had a definite edge over an otherwise superior Tyrone was in terms of goal menace. That helped them back into the game during the second half and it was to provide an explosive conclusion to a disappointing final.
Oisín McConville and Steven McDonnell were the main players in the crucial goal - as they had been in the earlier one. Neither had a particularly good game yesterday but certain things are reflex.
McConville's high ball in from the right wing was marvellously juggled and fielded by McDonnell despite the attentions of Shane Sweeney, who had marked his illustrious opponent quite well - even if he was helped by some uncharacteristically woeful finishing by the Armagh corner forward, who ended up with five wides.
The 69th minute, however, was make-or-break for the team and their prospects. Four points in arrears and McDonnell can still suppress any panic at the drift of the match for him personally and slot a gem of a goal. As if to underline the liberating impact of the score, Armagh won the kick-out and Paul McGrane barnstormed through the middle to equalise nervelessly.
There you had it. In the space of a few seconds we went from having new Ulster champions to having to wait a fortnight to find out who they'd be.
It was as if the match had gone haywire and the closing minutes saw attack and counterattack and a couple of dubious decisions that will probably vex Tyrone people when they watch the match again.
It did seem that Mickey Harte's side had won a 45 when Mark Harte managed to bundle Paul Hearty over the end line - a not inconsiderable feat given the disparity in size - after the Armagh goalkeeper had been rattled by fumbling the ball during Tyrone's last attack.
After a confident, unbelievably hard-working afternoon and a dazzling performance by Stephen O'Neill up front, Tyrone mustn't be able to believe that Armagh's hopes of retaining the title are still alive.
The All-Ireland winners of two years ago defied reservations in a number of areas. Most importantly they didn't lose out as expected at centrefield, simply because their cover and industry meant they owned the breaks. I can't think of the last time Armagh were as ineffectual at generating possession as they were in yesterday's first half.
Ironically it was the replacement of the more physical John Toal, who shipped a nasty knee injury and had to be carried off, by Philip Loughran that helped turn the tide.
Marking Armagh's in-form full forward Ronan Clarke, Chris Lawn had a great first half particularly. If the Armagh man was done no favours by the haphazard supply of ball, the Tyrone full back was sharp and decisive and consistently beat his man to the ball.
Tyrone set about the task with grim enthusiasm, stripping the attack down to O'Neill and Peter Canavan, whose first-half appearance was dogged by misfortune and wayward shooting with the injured veteran replaced at half-time and Martin Penrose pushed up.
This left Brian Dooher, Brian McGuigan and Enda McGinley swarming around the middle like locusts, winning ball and directing their team's attacks.
The first half was shockingly poor, Tyrone's energy and commitment the only admirable qualities on show.
Marksmanship on both sides was dire with the exception of O'Neill, who clocked up all of his team's five points by the break and doubled that tally after half-time. We were into the final quarter before Dooher became the first player other than O'Neill to score for Tyrone.
Armagh's own statistics weren't great either and it took until the 24th minute for the defending champions to get on the scoreboard at all.
They might have had their first goal earlier after Aaron Kernan's free dropped under the crossbar and although John Devine caught the ball, TV pictures seem to indicate the Tyrone goalkeeper was bizarrely standing well back in his net.
A recovery was sparked in the 45th minute. It coincided with the belated switch of Francie Bellew off - and Enda McNulty on to - the rampant O'Neill.
From the kick-out McGrane sent a long ball in behind the Tyrone full backs. McDonnell was on to it, admittedly after picking the ball off the ground, and his shot was well saved by Devine.
But it fell for McConville and he too fouled the pick-up but got away with it and planted the ball coolly to the net. Within minutes McDonnell had equalised at 1-5 to 0-8.
It was a feature of Tyrone's control of the match that they gradually eased away again, building up a four-point lead.
Armagh at least showed urgency in trying to stem the tide and Kieran McGeeney was particularly galvanic with his punishing runs from the back and some phenomenal defensive work. It didn't look like it would make much difference as the clock ran down but there's always the chance it will.
ARMAGH: 1. P Hearty; 2. A Mallon, 3. F Bellew, 4. E McNulty; 5. A Kernan (0-1, free), 6. K McGeeney, 7. A O'Rourke; 8. J Toal, 9. P McGrane (0-1); 10. M O'Rourke, 11. T McEntee, 12. O McConville (1-1); 13. S McDonnell (1-2, points a free and 45), 14. R Clarke (0-1), 15. B Mallon (0-1). Subs: 27. P McKeever for M O'Rourke (25 mins), 22. P Loughran for Toal (33 mins), 20. J McEntee (0-1) for McEntee (45 mins), 24. M Mackin for B Mallon (66 mins), 19. C McKeever for Kernan (68 mins).
TYRONE: 1. J Devine; 2. R McMenamin, 3. C Lawn, 4. S Sweeney; 5. D Harte, 6. G Devlin, 7. P Jordan; 8. C Gormley (0-1), 9. S Cavanagh (0-1); 10. B Dooher (0-2), 11. B McGuigan, 12. M Penrose; 13. P Canavan, 14. S O'Neill (0-10, four frees), 15. E McGinley. 20. M Harte for Canavan (half-time), 22. O Mulligan for Penrose (half-time), 23. J McMahon for D Harte (51 mins).
Referee: J Bannon (Longford).
Attendance: 60,186.
