Twisting tale ends up level

They pulse to eclectic rhythms in this part of the world. A match in Ballybofey which threatened to lapse into an early goal-ridden landslide suddenly veered towards the stiflingly tense for a long period before finally evolving into a festival of attacking heroics at the death.

After it all, it's difficult to know which set of players will sleep the better over the week.

Armagh trailed by three points, 0-9 to 2-6, with just nine minutes remaining when the narrative seemed to take its final turn. The visitors had been scything through the home team for most of the second half, chipping away at the scoreline and combining with increasing verve. Donegal looked weary and a little frail and home hearts froze when Paddy McKeever spun and nailed a ferocious shot which seemed destined for a goal.

But Tony Blake got a fingernail to it, the ball glanced off the post and as Armagh stood on stunned, the home team broke upfield and Brendan Devenney chipped a point to leave them four to the good. Although that sequence represented Armagh's day in microcosm, there was a certain wonder that they were still in contention at all, given their catastrophic initial 10 minutes.

At the outset, Armagh were rootless in attack and hesitant defensively while Donegal, never easy to predict, were simply blistering. Noel Hegarty lobbed a free for Tony Boyle after three minutes and the full forward cracked his shot past Brendan Tierney.

Just four minutes later, Adrian Sweeney spotted John Duffy roaming free behind Armagh's fretting back three. Another precise lob and a measured finish by Duffy put Donegal two goals up. Boyle then whipped over a free after 10 minutes and it seemed as though summer had just brought another bad dream for Armagh.

That they shook themselves upon the snap introduction of Diarmuid Marsden was no coincidence. The Clan na Gael forward directed matters from deep, linking with the increasingly pivotal diamond of Kieran McGeeney, Paul McGrane, Jarlath Burns and Justin McNulty as the visitors gradually starved Donegal of possession.

The home team managed a solitary score - a Devenney point from a free - between the 10th and 43rd minutes and only hit their first point from play after 51 minutes.

This was in part due to the shocking inconsistency which afflicted the free-takers from both sides - John Duffy and Tony Boyle were in uneven form for Donegal while Cathal O'Rourke misfired for the visitors. Only Oisin McConville nailed the shots with regularity and it was mainly through his boots that Armagh whittled away the Donegal lead.

Down 2-2 to 0-5 at the half, they ate into that deficit with gusto, trailing by just one after 46 minutes. Yet once pushed to the brink, Donegal dug deep and forced some more daylight between them, with Jim McGuinness nailing a free and Brian Roper curling a point.

That settled the home team and again they steadily amassed a four-point lead before Armagh blitzed them. Marsden fired a through ball which Blake spilled and Paddy McKeever hammered home. For the first time, Armagh's play sang with belief and Donegal could but watch as they worked the ball to the flying Marsden who, inevitably, fired his team into their first lead.

Given Donegal's lamentable recent history in tight games, it looked bleak for the home team but from the kick-out, Damien Diver threaded a pass for the gutsy Roper, who lobbed a fine equaliser from the wing.

Armagh, though, were oozing with ideas now and calmly came searching once more, with Oisin McConville picking out McKeever, who slammed home what again appeared to be the conclusive score.

Not to be. In borrowed seconds, John Gildea pitched a long free skyward, the ball broke off Tony Boyle and young substitute Michael Hegarty grabbed possession and coolly arced a reprieve. When it ended, neither team knew how to react.

While both sides half-realised their flair for attack in the end, they will also have to reflect upon the old failings which have hindered them in the past. Armagh again flirted with inexplicable self-combustion while Donegal peddled the short game way too frequently. Yet both teams burn with stubborn belief. Clones will again fizz with the unpredictable next week.