Armagh - 1-12 Tyrone -1-12: Something about these thumping afternoons in Clones lets you know the championship is getting serious. Tight and intense, hard just to breathe - and that's only in the press box.
What an amazingly intense afternoon it also turned out to be on the field. Love would never tear these two teams apart and 70-plus minutes of football couldn't do it either. If next Sunday's replay starts the way this finished we could get the game of the summer.
Armagh had been given no hope of defeating Tyrone, the cool new league champions setting out on the All-Ireland road. For most of the second half, though, Tyrone must have been thinking about the scenic route. After a first half that refused to put more than a point between either side, the contest really opened up, with Armagh leading the way. Fifteen minutes into the second half they pulled four points clear, and suddenly looked like real winners.
Steven McDonnell began the damage with a sweetly executed goal that came off a long, long pass from Aidan O'Rourke. Seconds later Ronan Clarke reinforced the break with a point, and Armagh led 1-11 to 0-10. From then on it was Ulster football at its most competitive and enthralling.
Tyrone took a while to respond, but meant business when they did. Sean Kavanagh was heading the charge up front - remarkable as it was his first senior start (at 19), as a last-minute replacement for the injured Brian McGuigan.
Kavanagh helped reduce the gap with a point, adding to one by Declan McCrossan. Their chance seemed to be slipping though as the clock ran out, especially when Clarke added another powerful point with just two minutes of normal time left. Clarke afforded himself a fist in the air and no one could blame him.
Just as the PA announced four minutes of added time would be played, Tyrone found what they were looking for. Ryan McMenamin's ball landed perfectly for Kavanagh, and even though he had a trio of Armagh defenders for company, he shot low and confidently into the net. All square again then, 1-12 apiece.
What came over those last four minutes is open to correction such was the pace and ferocity of the game. Armagh had held back a little after establishing that lead and were now holding on for their lives. There seemed no way their defence would hold out. Brian Dooher was sending in some lethal balls, one of which was fisted to the net by substitute Pascal Canavan but was ruled out as a square ball. Peter Canavan had time, too, with an open ball, but laid it off for Richard Thornton, who shot wide.
This mesmerising climax finally ended when Armagh captain Kieran McGeeney blocked down the shot of Seamus McCallan. With the final whistle came one massive sigh of relief, from both sets of supporters.
As they left the field, the Armagh players appeared the more disappointed. For most of the second half they had played the better football, and were well deserving of their four-point lead when it landed. They just didn't press hard enough when it counted most and nearly paid a high price.
Still, the team performed well beyond expectations. Oisin McConville was back to his sharpest and his free taking was flawless. John McEntee and Paddy McKeever were also running free and killing the Tyrone half backs.
Playing at centre back, McGeeney worked hard all afternoon, while Paul McGrane was the most notable midfielder of all. Their defence as a whole can hardly be faulted too, especially Justin McNulty.
But Armagh did lack that extra punch up front. Diarmuid Marsden had a slow day and if there was a little more substance there that four-point lead could have been built into a winning lead.
Tyrone, though, had similar problems up front. Even when Armagh sat back and let them attack, there was little of the swift and cohesive movement that marked their league victory. Peter Canavan's golden touch deserted him too many times, and there was a watered-down influence from Stephen O'Neill and Gerard Cavlan. Both players were taken off in the last 10 minutes having failed to score from play.
Kevin Hughes was also absent for long periods and Tyrone would certainly have been crying were in not for the sensational game from Kavanagh, one of the county's minor stars from last summer.
Even during the slacker first half, which ended 0-6 apiece, Tyrone were a pale shadow of the side that crushed Cavan last month. Canavan's first true contribution was a free after 32 minutes.
The first half also saw the Tyrone defence either soft on tackles or surrendering excessive frees, and that allowed McConville and McKeever to get busy early. Once the heat started rising and the game truly took off, all that was forgotten.
TYRONE: 1 P Ward; 2 C Gormley, 3 C Lawn, 4 B Robinson; 5 R McMenamin, 18 S Teague, 6 C Gourley; 8 C McAnallen, 9 C Holmes; 10 B Dooher, 11 S O'Neill, 12 G Cavlan; 19 S Kavanagh, 14 K Hughes, 15 P Canavan. Subs: 17 D McCrossan for Teague (half-time), 20 S McCallan for O'Neill (60 mins), 23 Pascal Canavan for Cavlan (65), 21 R Thornton for Hughes (71). Subs not used: J Devine, C McGinley, S Mulgrew. Booked: McMenamin, Peter Canavan.
ARMAGH: 1 B Tierney; 2 E McNulty, 3 J McNulty, 4 P McCormack; 5 A O'Rourke, 15 K McGeeney, 7 A McCann; 8 J Toal, 9 P McGrane; 10 P McKeever, 11 J McEntee, 12 O McConville; 13 S McDonnell, 6 T McEntee, 14 D Marsden. Subs: 22 R Clarke for T McEntee (21 mins, inj), 19 F Bellew for McCormack (half-time), P Loughran for Marsden (70). Subs not used: P Hearty, J Donaldson, C O'Rourke, K Hughes, B Duffy, G Reid. Booked: E McNulty, A McCann, McDonnell, Bellew.
