Ulster SFC/Armagh 2-12 Fermanagh 1-7: It was billed as a day of chastisement by the most formidable team in Ulster but was nothing so personal. Instead, there was something sadly customary about the way Armagh brushed Fermanagh out of the Ulster Championship at Clones yesterday. With their departure faded the last of the electrical surge created by last July's mind-blowing adventures in Croke Park.
Fermanagh are no longer the unfancied underdogs with the giant-killing punch. Instead, they must return to the rag-and-bone shop of the qualifiers and try and achieve something special anew.
This was an afternoon of sport that was never likely to yield a game for the ages. Besides having lost the element of surprise, Fermanagh were also encountering a team locked into a strong and sweeping mindset. The league champions were in control here but it was hardly vintage Armagh. They presented nothing as fearful as last year's Ulster final performance.
But then they did not need to. They hoofed 21 wides from all angles, with their unstoppable scoring machine Steven McDonnell failing to land a score from play, much to the bemusement of the 24,147 in attendance. His colleagues were only too happy to take up the slack. Ronan Clarke fisted the 37th minute goal - created by a pinpoint, perfectionist pass from Oisin McConville - that broke the game open.
Hitting Fermanagh just two minutes after the restart, that goal stretched them terribly. Brian Mallon struck for 1-3 on a strong and industrious afternoon that will reassure Orange County fans so used to seeing Diarmuid Marsden in the number 15 jersey.
The capacity of the Armagh management to identify and groom such an accomplished successor so quickly must give other counties reason to despair. Aaron Kernan also looked born to his role.
The manager's son always seemed to achieve perfect positional placement and Martin O'Rourke was busy and tidy, firing a couple of fine points when Armagh needed them early on. But it was the old sensations that stood out again. Paul McGrane was central to Armagh's complete mastery at midfield, with Martin O'Rourke and John McEntee chipping in as the Armagh midfield unit defied Niall Tinney's best efforts to locate a Fermanagh man from his kick-out. By the time Martin McGrath, Fermanagh's All-Star midfielder came in with just under 20 minutes left, his team were already chasing shadows.
It was difficult to know what more Fermanagh could have done. Despite McDonnell's errant form, his day was also clouded by an excellent man-marking job by Ryan McCloskey. Barry Owens was similarly strong at midfield, his lone critical mistake being to lose Clarke for that goal. Charlie Mulgrew's decision to introduce Rory Gallagher, once the enfant terrible of Fermanagh football, looked inspired in its timing.
Trailing 0-7 to 0-2, Gallagher instantly created space for a Mark Little point and then brought his county right back into the game. James Sherry made a memorable fetch at midfield and when Gallagher was played through by Little, he sold Francie Bellew a silky dummy handpass before sliding a shot beneath Paul Hearty.
That left them a single point down at the break despite having repelled almost ceaseless orange pressure. With the normally unforgiving Armagh forwards in wayward form - it wasn't as if McDonnell banged all 21 wides - there was intrigue enough in the game to give rise to the suggestion Fermanagh might just be temperamentally hard-wired to trouble Armagh. Had Little's 41st-minute goal chance, blocked brilliantly by Hearty, been converted then maybe the crowd would have been treated to more of the gallantry of last summer.
But Armagh's next score, finished by Mallon after John McEntee and John Toal took possession at midfield, snuffed out that notion. There was something chilling in the ravenous speed and economy of that point - returned from a Fermanagh kick-out - that suggested it was a matter of when.
Within 10 minutes, the familiar sight of orange shirts pouring through open spaces at dangerous angles deep in opposition country spelled death for the little county. With any number of colleagues to pass to, McConville spoon-fed Mallon the pass which led to Armagh's second goal. The youngster wheeled away in celebration as Philip Loughran's big frame cast a shadow across the field. Two minutes later came the obligatory lightning bolt of a point from McEntee, whose clear, long-ball game once again worked so effectively for Armagh.
Fermanagh did manage to highlight at times that pacy, tricky forwards like Little and Maguire can trouble the Armagh defenders when given the opportunity to run at them in space. But the back six marshall their territory so tightly that such moments were rare. Tom Brewster, the hero of the hour when the counties met in Croke Park, was retired early by Mulgrew and after his audacious beginning, Rory Gallagher got lost in the crowd. Armagh have nearly a month now to prepare for their next Ulster dog-fight, against Donegal in Clones. It promises to be full-blooded because if Armagh made one thing clear yesterday, it is that they would prefer to advance in the championship the old-fashioned way.
ARMAGH: P Hearty; A Mallon, F Bellew, K McElvanna; A Kernan, K McGeeney, C McKeever; J Toal, P McGrane; M O'Rourke (0-2), J McEntee (0-1), O McConville (0-4, 2 frees); S McDonnell (0-1, free), R Clarke (1-1), B Mallon (1-3). Subs: P Loughran for J Toal (58 mins), A McCann for K McElvanna (65 mins), A O'Rourke for C McKeever (65 mins), M Mackin for S McDonnell (65 mins), P Duffy for A Mallon (65 mins). Bookings: R Clarke (53 mins)
FERMANAGH: N Tinney; S Goan, B Owens, R McCluskey; R Johnston, S McDermott, D Reilly; L McBarron (0-1), J Sherry (0-1); E Maguire, T Brewster, M Little (0-4, 3 frees); A Little, S Maguire, C Bradley. Subs: N Bogue for D Reilly (15 mins), R Gallagher (1-1, 50), for T Brewster (34 mins), M McGrath for S Maguire (52 mins), R Keenan for C Bradley (53 mins), M Lilley for L McBarron (60 mins). Bookings: S Goan (17 mins.
Referee: D Coldrick (Meath).
