Old dogs for the hard road in yesterday's Bank of Ireland Ulster football semi-final at Clones. Derry's serial disappointments of recent years have taught them the way around the track and, when the bell went for the final lap, they confounded indications that they were flagging by reeling off 1-4 without reply to leave Armagh fading in their wake.

To go down by seven points was an injustice to the losers - the second goal was an irrelevance, coming as it did two minutes into injury-time - but there was no doubting the merit of the winners.

They survived a strong breeze and a gritty Armagh revival to lead at half-time by a point, 1-6 to 0-8, and clung on grimly during a period of supremacy for their opponents' before responding powerfully in the closing five minutes when the momentum of the match seemed against them.

Although it was primarily a team performance, they had good individual contributions from goalkeeper McCloskey, who kept out what would have been significant goals in the first half, Sean Martin Lockhart at full back, who coped well with Diarmuid Marsden, Enda Muldoon, who revitalised centrefield after the interval, and Dermot Dougan, who went on an unexpected goal spree.

The team operated well with the wings working inter-changeably as Gary Magill - although he showed poor judgment in the second half, twice disdaining easy points for fruitless attempts on goal - and Eamonn Burns covered back while David O'Neill and Paul McFlynn cropped up in attack.

Armagh were very disappointed in the aftermath. They had come into this semi-final with a promising team who had achieved a breakthrough by defeating Down in the first round and had a convincing look with influential players in good form.

Their downfall was a familiar one: the inability to take scores. It finally told against them when the more economical Derry attack hit a purple patch at the end. Most bitterly regretted will have been three goal opportunities which fell for Oisin McConville in the first half.

In the 10th minute he got a fist to a long, dropping ball from Kieran McGeeney, but Eoin McCloskey in the Derry goal made an excellent save and the ball was cleared by Gary Magill. In the 25th minute, McConville was straight in on goal but ran into problems when the defence challenged and referee Pat McEneaney gave a free out.

Four minutes later, a more clearcut chance ended once more in McCloskey making the save. Realising even one of these opportunities might have tilted the half-time balance and altered the dynamic of the second half, during which Armagh pulled level twice but could never hit the front.

In fact it was Derry, thanks to a point from Brolly after a cleverly-worked free by Anthony Tohill, who led at the interval. Even so, Armagh left the field in upbeat mood, because for a while they had been threatened with annihilation.

An interesting but austere opening 20 minutes had established a tit-for-tat pattern. Armagh had switched inform Diarmuid Marsden and Barry Duffy in the centre of the attack but, after an unpromising beginning, Duffy was sent back out to the 40 before being replaced by veteran attacker Ger Houlahan in the 31st minute.

Both teams introduced a player before the throw-in. Cathal O'Rourke was deemed unfit and John McEntee came in at right wing forward for Armagh. Derry's vacancy at left corner forward was filled by Enda Muldoon, who played deep at stages of the first half before Brian Mullins and his selectors made an honest man of him in the second half by moving him to centrefield.

With scores level at 0-3 and the teams settling after some nervous, fumbling play early on, Derry struck for the first goal. Tohill supplied Brolly in the 21st minute and Derry's dangerman took on Mark McNeill.

As he cut in across the field, Brolly slipped the ball into Dermot Dougan who expertly rounded Benny Tierney in the Armagh goal and put the ball in the net. Muldoon added a prodigious point from 45 metres to leave his side ahead by 1-5 to 0-3.

For whatever reason, Derry surrendered the initiative, and, while McConville failed to avail of his goal opportunities, Armagh knocked off five points in succession to level the score. Marsden was looking dangerous and had two points in the first half, while McConville overcame his disappointment at not scoring a goal by popping up all around the Armagh attack and showing a willingness to run at the defence.

For the second half, Muldoon and an out-of-sorts Heaney, who hadn't fully recovered from a dose of the 'flu, switched. The move helped redress the ascendancy of Jarlath Burns and Paul McGrane at centrefield and consequently reduce McGeeney's influence from centre back.

Despite a bright start, it took Armagh nearly 10 minutes to equalise. Justin McNulty, who played well throughout, seized a ball broken by Houlahan and screwed over the point.

Yet again, Derry responded immediately and Seamus Downey pushed them ahead once more. Brolly, Patrick McKeever - operating quite effectively at centre forward since Houlahan's introduction - Seamus Downey again and McConville traded scores before McKeever tied up the match in the 60th minute.

Armagh tried to up the pace and looked to have the match within their control. Substitute Ruairi Boylan hit a desperate wide in the 63rd minute, and it was possible to believe that Derry were cracking. Possible, but incorrect, as Derry's defence tightened their grip and repelled Armagh's best efforts.

With five minutes on the clock Eamonn Burns pointed a free which was quickly followed by a fine piece of work by Kieran McKeever to set up Brolly for a point.

By now the unmistakable figure of Geoffrey McGonigle had taken the field and he chipped in a few characteristic flicks and deft passes which led to two points.

Dougan rounded off the afternoon by exploiting a pass cunningly threaded through by Seamus Downey and dispatching the goal as expertly as he had the first.