Derry 3-14 Armagh 1-11:Shut out in Ulster since 1998, Derry stand on the cusp of an eighth provincial title after throwing off the shackles in Clones this afternoon. The outsiders were well worthy of their nine-point win as Armagh were consigned to the qualifiers.
Having failed to even reach a final since 2000, John Brennan’s side spoke of his side’s “mental block” in the build-up to this semi-final. In the event, it was Armagh who appeared encumbered with the mental baggage as Derry built a solid base in the first half.
Mark Lynch’s goal from an acute angle was the highlight, but five points from the boot of Eoin Bradley laid the foundation while Armagh were restricted to just six points for their own.
Armagh needed just 14 seconds of the second half to launch their comeback as Michael O'Rourke's neat finish after some impressive interplay between Billy Joe Padden and Steven McDonnell left just two points between the sides.
But Bradley, the standout performer on the day, settled any nerves with a classy finish over Armagh keeper Paul Hearty before Conleth Gillgan put the result beyond any doubt.
"We had to come up to a standard but we won more comfortably than I expected,” Brennan said after the final whistle. "They scored a goal early in the second half but we came straight back with three points and that is a sign of a good team."
“We like to play attacking football,” he added. “We showed out there today that we have moved away from 'puke football'. I never believed in it. We showed that in some of our scores, particularly the third goal after our goalkeeper made a wonderful save and we went straight up the pitch for Conleth Gilligan to score.
"The contribution of our three inside forwards shows what fantastic players they are. We have wonderful talent in Derry and it's perhaps unfortunate that things did not happen for us in the past, but today was our day.”