Armagh marched into their fourth successive Ulster Senior Football final with an astonishing 3-33 to 0-14 victory over Down at St Tiernach’s Park – a result which condemns the Mournemen to Tailteann Cup football this summer.
Aiming to back up their quarter-final victory over Fermanagh, Armagh again displayed the scoring power in their ranks and were 2-12 to 0-7 clear at half-time, with Tomas McCormack and Conor Turbitt both grabbing goals.
Down were unable to conjure a response as Armagh strolled to victory, with Turbitt scoring a superb third goal for his side.
Having come through an an intense battle with Donegal last week, Down were unable to produce a similarly inspirational performance and wilted in the face of Armagh’s power and precision.
Down’s sense of dejection was only deepened by missing out on a place in the All-Ireland series following Westmeath’s extra-time win over Kildare in the Leinster semi-finals.
Armagh, whose most recent Ulster title came back in 2008, will face Monaghan in the 17 May decider – their first final meeting since 1938 – after the Farney’s heart-stopping extra-time win over Derry on Saturday.
Down fade after early promise
Going into Sunday’s game at Clones, Down faced the challenge of emulating the emotion and intensity that carried them to a stirring win over holders Donegal in Letterkenny.
And for the first 10 minutes, they seemed to have unlocked the formula once more, with an early marker laid down by Daniel Guinness and Odhran Murdock, two of the outstanding performers from the Donegal game.
After Murdock rose highest to win the throw-in, Guinness scampered clear and split the posts.
A Pat Havern free, Guinness’ second score, Shane Annett’s effort and a superb point from influential Mourne skipper Murdock – which he scored after launching his side’s attack with a turnover at the other end – had Down 0-5 to 0-2 in front.
Armagh, in contrast, struggled to find their range during the opening exchanges. While their first two scores came from Oisin Conaty and Conor Turbitt, they were guilty of three bad wides during Down’s ascendancy.
But after a score from the excellent Jarly Og Burns was followed by Andrew Murnin kicking the Orchard’s fourth wide, Armagh decided enough was enough, and after captain Aaron McKay showed exceptional grit to win a breaking ball and send his side down the field, Tomas McCormack sidestepped Peter Fegan and beat Ronan Burns with a low drive into the net.
While Og Burns and Guinness traded scores after the goal, Armagh stormed clear with an unanswered 1-8.
Their second goal will be a painful part of the Down post-mortem as Darragh McMullen won a kick-out from Blaine Hughes – who replaced Ethan Rafferty before throw-in – rounded the stranded Mourne keeper Burns and pumped the ball in for Turbitt, who shrugged off Ryan McEvoy to palm into the unguarded net.
While Havern knocked over the final score of the half, Down looked a spent force by the interval, with Armagh’s tally of six fisted points evidence of the ease with which they had cut into the Mourne defence.
Monaghan were able to overturn a sizeable half-time deficit against Derry but there was no such resurgence from Down on Sunday.
In truth, after Turbitt, Murnin, McMullen (two-pointer) and Jason Duffy further stretched Armagh’s advantage, the second half was something of a non-event.
The highlight was the manner in which Turbitt took his second goal, plucking the ball out the air before turning Liam Kerr and rifling a dead-eyed shot into Burns’ bottom right-hand corner.
Turbitt’s goal sent the Down fans heading for the exits. Had they stayed, they would have only witnessed more pain for their side as Armagh continued to clip over scores with remarkable efficiency.
While Monaghan showed courage and character to stun Derry on Saturday, based on how Sunday’s semi-final unfolded, it will take a Herculean effort for them to stop Armagh ending their 18-year wait for a return to the provincial summit.