All-Ireland champions Tyrone are firmly on the march again after dethroning provincial kingpins Armagh in the soaring heat of St.Tiernachs Park Clones on Sunday afternoon. The Red Hands were full value for their win to set up another derby encounter with Derry with a place in the decider up for grabs, writes Kevin Kelly.
A lot of talk in the build-up to the game centred on the fact that Armagh were a team in transition and they would struggle to compete with the best side in the country and that expectation rang true when Tyrone raced into an eight point lead early i
n the second half.
At that stage Tyrone definitely appeared to be well on their way to a comprehensive victory but they perhaps took their foot off the pedal a little, although a lot of credit has to go to their opponents for the way that they fought back.
The Orchard county could have rolled over and gave up their Anglo Celt Cup without a fight but that is not in their make up and a Ronan Clarke goal reignited their challenge.
At one point they had the deficit reduced to two points but that's when Tyrone's experience and know-how came to the fore with some superb scores.
Captain Brian Dooher, on as a second half substitute, hit a truly inspirational point from the right wing when it was badly needed before his Clann na Gael clubmate weighed in with the score of the game with a terrific strike with the outside of the boot from the opposite flank.
Armagh battled bravely to the final whistle, but their resistance had finally been broken as Tyrone booked their place in the last four.
Both sides deserve enormous credit for the fare they served up in energy sapping weather conditions and there is no doubt the game was helped by a superb refereeing performance from Monaghan official Pat McEnaney, who let the contest flow throughout.
One of the highlights of his decision-making was allowing an advantage to Armagh fullforward Ronan Clarke to run through and bury the ball in the Tyrone net - despite being clearly fouled by Conor Gormley.
The Carrickmore defender earned a yellow card for his troubles and, with just a minute left to play, he was sent off. But that didn't stop him from earning my man of the match award.
He had a terrific tussle with Clarke throughout and capped a fine display with a breathtaking goal when he found himself in the clear and coolly dummied Armagh keeper Paul Hearty before crashing the ball in off the underside of the bar for his first major in championship football.
That score arrived in the 40th minute and, with Tyrone leading 2-6 to 0-4, the Orchard men were in big trouble; but they threw caution to the wind and their fightback demonstrated that they will prove difficult opponents for whoever they face in the qualifiers.
For Tyrone this was probably the best way for them to have won the game. Had they gone on to record an easy win, it wouldn't have done them any good for that forthcoming battle with the Oak Leafers. But now, while it was a good victory, Mickey Harte knows that there is still work to be done.
There were plenty of positives to be taken from the game, not least the performance of the defence. Armagh's main attacking threat of Steven McDonnell and Clarke were restricted to just 1-1 from play with Gormley, Justin McMahon and PJ Quinn all standing out in defence.
In midfield Kevin Hughes and Enda McGinley worked tirelessly against Armagh's new pairing of Kieran Toner and James Lavery while, up front, Stephen O'Neill made a welcome return from injury and he marked the occasion with an impressive 1-3 to his name - including a quality goal just before the break when he deftly turned his marker inside out before firing low to the net past Hearty.
That score gave Tyrone a lead that they were never to lose, establishing a 1-5 to 0-3 lead at the short whistle.
Prior to that score both sides had shared the opening half a dozen points in a cagey start, although there is no doubt that the Red Hands should have been comfortably ahead as they hit eight first half wides.
Armagh made a confident start with McDonnell and Lavery both hitting fine points but time and time again their attempts to get the ball into their inside line were thwarted by Gormley, Quinn and company.
O'Neill's goal helped change the course of the game with full forward Sean Cavanagh then galloping through the Armagh defence to land a quality point and Armagh were relieved to hear the halftime whistle.
McDonnell and Owen Mulligan traded points on the restart before a long delivery from the Cookstown man saw Gormley get in behind the Armagh defence and he gave Hearty no chance with an expert finish for a commanding lead.
Tommy McGuigan and Aaron Kernan converted frees for their respective sides before Armagh were thrown a life line in the 50th minute when Clarke showed great strength to hold off Gormley before racing through to blast past John Devine.
Kernan and Brian Mallon reduced the deficit to two but that was as good as it got for Armagh as those quality efforts from Dooher and O'Neill pushed Tyrone clear again as they claimed their first Ulster championship win over Armagh since 2001.
