Football Analyst: Lightning didn't even threaten to strike twice as Armagh steamrolled Fermanagh in this Ulster Championship game without having to reach any of the heights of the closing stages of the National League, writes John O'Mahony

The league champions could afford to shoot 21 wides, put in a moderate performance by their standards and still win easily.

Fermanagh obviously contributed to this because they were only a shadow of the pacy, inventive, high-work-rate side we saw so many times last year.

Maybe it is that the surprise element is gone, or that Martin McGrath was unable to start because of illness, or that it was Clones rather than Croke Park. Whatever happened, Fermanagh never got out of the blocks.

It was the proverbial case of men against boys as the physical strength of Armagh dominated in all sectors.

The men in orange won about 70 per cent of the kickouts, most of them cleanly, and it was lucky for Fermanagh that Ronan Clarke wasn't on shooting form; he beat Barry Owens time and time again in the air, and even though he scored a goal and a point he posted five wides, some of them fairly easy chances.

Despite all the Armagh dominance in the first half, Fermanagh ended up being a lot closer than they should have been thanks to the introduction of Rory Gallagher, who laid on a point immediately for Mark Little and then scored a goal himself when he opted to shoot instead of pass, which paid off with the ball trickling past Paul Hearty.

Gallagher had replaced Tom Brewster after about half an hour, a big contrast with last year in Croke Park when it was Brewster who turned the screw with the winning point.

Whether it was the tribal element of the provincial championship or the burden of the tag of favourites, Armagh looked quite edgy in that first half.

Stephen McDonnell was certainly having an off day on Ryan McCluskey. He missed frees, dropped shots short that he would normally score with his eyes closed and had a few poor wides.

Indeed the wides count from just three of the Armagh attack is telling: Oisín McConville had five, Ronan Clarke had five and Stephen McDonnell had three.

Where would Fermanagh be if those three had been on target?

Of course it shows the quality of a good team that others stepped up to the mark. Brian Mallon weighed in with 1-3 and Martin O'Rourke had his best game of the season at right half forward, scoring two good points and showing a high work-rate.

This game was effectively over five minutes into the second half after two incidents sealed Fermanagh's fate.

At one end of the field Ronan Clarke was left totally unmarked for a McConville pass to finish a goal, and at the other end Paul Hearty made a superb save from Little to deny a certain goal.

The bounce of the ball and the bit of luck that Fermanagh had in last year's quarter-final victory deserted them yesterday, but the biggest factor was the absence of the high work-rate and pace that ran the Ulster champions off the field then.

For Armagh yesterday, it was like a training run for the last 25 minutes, with the winners showing by their body language they were just playing down the clock, and the losers already setting their sights on the qualifiers.

Fermanagh are going to have to regroup and try to get their rhythm and teamwork back. The challenge for Charlie Mulgrew is to try to combine the individual brilliance of the Gallaghers with Brewster, Little, Stephen Maguire and company.

Martin McGrath's restoration to full fitness is also vital, as they were blitzed in the middle of the field.

It was always going to be difficult for Armagh to maintain the momentum they had in recent weeks against Wexford and Mayo.

They will be glad to have this first one out of the way. Donegal now await on June 12th, and this will require a sharper focus and a more clinical performance with the shooting boots.