ULSTER SFC SEMI-FINAL Armagh 1-12 Down 0-11: THEY HAVEN'T gone away, you know. Boom times come and go but it is beginning to look as though the vibrant orange colours of Armagh will always dominate the summertime in Clones.
It was back to the future for the standard-bearers of the Ulster game here yesterday. They sent Down packing from the province with a performance that bore the contradictory Armagh hallmarks of flamboyance and thrift.
The names on the team sheet may be changing but the philosophy remains the same. Armagh will be short-odds favourites to claim their seventh Ulster title in 10 years against Fermanagh here in a fortnight. It is an intriguing pairing. In recent years, Armagh have been winning the provincial silverware almost as an afterthought in their grand push for a second All-Ireland title.
Fermanagh, of course, have never won that prize and have not made it to this stage since 1982. Their appearance at this stage has been the most pleasing aspect to what has been a superior Ulster championship. Naturally, they will be cast as the romantics but they will know all too well that Francie Bellew and the boys do not read Mills Boon on their nights away from the training ground.
It was another tough day for Down football. The glories of their victory over Tyrone seemed terribly far away in the last 10 minutes of this match as Armagh, playing with 14 men, nailed down a narrow but significant lead.
In their most ambitious days, it was a trademark of Armagh that they could make a slender advantage seem an insurmountable gap as they set about killing the game, as they did against a Laois team that was briefly tipped for the All-Ireland five years ago.
Of course, many of the men who lined out for Armagh then have stepped aside but it is clear from this performance that the apprentices were not mitching school. So many young Armagh men looked the real thing here, Stephen Kernan pitching in with 1-2 from play, Finian Moriarty looking perfectly at home at left corner back and Kieran Toner coming through a tight midfield battle under the watchful eye of Paul McGrane.
The fresh faces pushed Armagh back to another final but it was the old vintage that pointed the way. Anyone can see the return of Ronan Clarke transforms the options open for Armagh. Clarke struck three points from play and conveyed the impression the double act he enjoys with Steven McDonnell is only warming up.
Elsewhere, Bellew commanded the square with his usual authority and, during the critical period, with Down trying to claw their way back into contention, he ambled outfield and, such is his natural read of the game, looked perfectly comfortable in the cut and thrust of the middle third.
Indeed, it was Bellew's first-half break into open country that led to the game's only goal, a move shimmering with the old Armagh qualities of patience and intelligence, a fast-slow series of handpasses culminating in two transfers through Paddy McKeever and Aidan O'Rourke before Kernan provided the assassin's finish.
It was a triumphant return to the big time for Aidan O'Rourke too. Having concluded his county days were over, the Dromintee man finds himself back in the thick of it. A year ago good odds would have been available on his succeeding Kieran McGeeney in the number six jersey. Perhaps the day will come when some flying young number 11 turns him but O'Rourke rarely allows himself to get exposed and he is brilliant at playing the simple, correct pass. And it was no surprise that he popped up to kick the insurance point after 29 minutes. That score, putting a goal between the teams, broke Down hearts.
Down should not believe their season is done. They battled gamely if not always cleverly here. They had the bad luck of seeing one free-taker, Liam Doyle, helped off after just 28 minutes, a blow that was compounded by the fact their other placed-ball man, Aidan Carr, had a jittery old day. Such is the life of a free-taker.
Danny Hughes threw himself into the fray heroically and big Dan Gordon was a force around the middle. But the Down machine - that oiled, running game full of goal-bound menace and flair - was not in evidence. Armagh simply did not allow the Down men to get into their groove.
Down employed their chief forward, Benny Coulter, on the 40 but got him no decent ball, and whenever the Mayobridge man went foraging for his own possession, he found himself facing a small orange army when he turned for goal. There was no way through.
Like so many teams before them, Down discovered the frustration of trying to force a path through the Armagh system.
Even after Martin O'Rourke was sent off, nothing really changed - except Armagh began to use the extra space their forwards enjoyed to greater effect.
The younger O'Rourke is a contradiction in that he is incredibly disciplined in possession, never dithering, always thinking of the pass ahead, but gets himself into needless mischief in the loose; he walked here for a few third-man tackles. It was a critical moment for his team-mates and their response was the most substantial indication that Armagh still mean business and have not called time on their national ambitions.
ARMAGH: P Hearty; A Mallon, F Bellew, F Moriarty; B Donaghy (0-1), A O'Rourke (0-1), C McKeever; P McGrane, K Toner; C Vernon, P McKeever (0-1 free), M O'Rourke; S McDonnell (0-3, frees), R Clarke (0-3), S Kernan (1-2). Subs: A Kernan for B Donaghy (44 mins), B Mallon (0-1)for K McKeever (47 mins), P Duffy for S Kernan (67 mins).
DOWN: B McVeigh; L Howard, D McCartan, D Rafferty; A Carr (0-6, frees), L Doyle, P Murphy; D Gordon (0-1), J Colgan (0-1); R Murtagh (0-1), A Rodgers, D Hughes (0-1); J Clarke, B Coulter, R Sexton. Subs: K McKernan for L Doyle (inj, 28 mins), P McCumiskey for J Clarke (51 mins), J McGovern for R Sexton (58 mins), S Kearney (0-1, free)for R Murtagh (58 mins).
YELLOW CARDS: Armagh: M O'Rourke (12, 37 mins), B Donaghy (33 mins), A O'Rourke (64 mins); Down: J Colgan (7 mins), D Rafferty (37 mins), D McCartan (45 mins). RED CARDS: Armagh: M O'Rourke (37 mins); Down: None.
Referee: J McQuillan(Cavan).
