Tyrone’s Ulster Championship journey ended in heartbreak today after a dramatic late Armagh winner denied them a place in the provincial final. Despite a stirring second-half comeback that saw the Red Hands overturn a six-point deficit and even lead heading into injury time, it was the Orchard County who squeezed through by the narrowest of margins in a pulsating encounter.
It was a bitter pill for Malachy O’Rourke’s men to swallow, having shown immense heart, hunger and resilience to wrest back control after a sluggish first half where Armagh dominated possession and kickouts.
Darragh Canavan had given Tyrone an early lead, but from there it was Armagh who imposed themselves, with Oisín Conaty and Oisín O’Neill leading the charge. Darren McCurry was Tyrone’s go-to man throughout the afternoon, keeping the Red Hands ticking over with an exceptional tally of points, but even he could not prevent Armagh from taking a 0-11 to 0-8 lead into half-time.
The second half saw the All-Ireland champions push further clear, stretching the gap to six points by the 47th minute. Tyrone’s kickout struggles continued to hurt them, but their spirit never wavered. Inspired substitutions, including the introduction of Eoin McElholm and the return of Padraig Hampsey, injected fresh energy.
A purple patch followed where Tyrone rattled off seven unanswered points, with McElholm, Peter Harte, McCurry and Canavan all to the fore. Harte’s stunning two-pointer drew Tyrone level, before a dramatic free – awarded after Armagh manager Kieran McGeeney was yellow carded for dissent – allowed McCurry to edge Tyrone in front for the first time since the opening minutes.
The Red Hands pushed two points clear with just minutes remaining, and Clones roared in anticipation of another famous Tyrone win. But it wasn’t to be.
Jarly Óg Burns and Stefan Campbell hauled Armagh back level, and after a Tyrone kickout was turned over, Armagh pounced. Rory Grugan showed nerves of steel to slot the winning free deep into stoppage time, leaving Tyrone crestfallen at the final whistle.
Manager Malachy O’Rourke was happy with aspects of the performance, despite the result: “We were pleased with the character, we were pleased with the fact that the boys kept going right to the end. Towards the end our work rate was really good and we manufactured some quality scores.”
“We wanted to test ourselves against the All-Ireland champions, we felt that earlier on in the year when we played in the National League that they ran through us to a degree. We knew it was going to be a good benchmark for us going forward. I think, even though we didn’t play our best, we came close and could have won the game so there’s plenty of positives to take out of it and plenty of things we need to improve as well.”
“We struggled on kickouts a lot of times. There’s a lot of things that we need to get much better at. At the same time we got ourselves into a great position to win the game and we’re disappointed we didn’t quite end it.”
Despite the defeat, Tyrone can take huge positives from a gutsy, battling display that will stand them in good stead ahead of the All-Ireland series. McCurry’s clinical shooting, McElholm’s fearless impact off the bench, and the return of Hampsey will give hope that better days are still to come.
But for now, the Red Hands are left to reflect on what might have been, after coming within touching distance of a place in the Ulster final.
By Rory Cox Sat 26th Apr
