How the game was won: John O'Keeffe on the three factors that helped determine the outcome to yesterday's final.

The greater pace of Tyrone:

The first major factor in Tyrone's victory was their greater pace throughout the team. Combined with their excellent ball control they were able to break past the Armagh tackles, win in the one-on-one situations, and so get themselves into more scoring positions. In that regard they were way ahead of Armagh.

That was also very well assisted by the support play coming from the back, which made sure their possession was well guarded. That sort of tactic also requires great stamina, and Tyrone had that in abundance.

Along with that, the resilience in how they handled the Armagh hits was crucial. I thought Tyrone absorbed all that Armagh could throw at them, and unlike some teams, could recover and move on almost immediately.

Central to that sort of game is midfield, and Kevin Hughes in particular was outstanding. Others like Conor Gormley and Brian Dooher epitomised that exhaustive running and remarkable sustaining of pace.

Gormley also made that fantastic block from Steven McDonnell towards the end, which for me was the play of the game. It saved Tyrone, and killed Armagh, and it's great to see that coming in a defensive situation, rather than something that happened in the forward line.

The other thing about Tyrone's pace was it brought them into so many scoring positions. They had two or three clearcut goal chances, and it would have been a travesty if they didn't win considering those sort of scoring chances. Normally a team would bury at least one of them, so they showed a lot of mental strength to get over those misses, and maintain their desire for victory.

But it has to be said too there was a lot of tension in the game, particularly in the first half, which led to a lot of poor kicking and passing from both sides. A player like Gerard Cavlan will be disappointed with some of his misses after getting into some great positions.

The sending-off of Diarmuid Marsden:

There is no doubt the straight red card shown to Diarmuid Marsden was a major blow to Armagh's chances. He is one those explosive players who can unhinge a tight-marking defence.

From what I saw the incident looked relatively harmless, but that both Marsden and the Tyrone player Philip Jordan were culpable. So I was very surprised when I saw the red card, and there's no doubt it had a major bearing on the overall result.

Armagh just couldn't quite recover with 14 men. They were always that bit too far back in defence to really impact on Tyrone's lead, and they really needed a goal to pull out a victory. But in the latter stages when they went hunting for one there were simply too many Tyrone bodies protecting the goal.

Someone with the explosive pace like Marsden will always be missed in a situation like that. So for that reason Armagh were definitely weakened in a big way by his sending-off.

But there were other problems in the Armagh performance. Some of Kieran McGeeney's delivery was unusually inaccurate. Part of the reason was down to the close marking of the Tyrone players on the Armagh forwards, so it was difficult to pick out clear options.

But still a lot of his kicks went astray, or worse still, went to the opposition. So McGeeney wasn't the dominant factor that he has been in the past.

Others things, too, like that bit of luck fell short of Armagh. If McDonnell's shot had gone in they would have been right back in it, but instead they never got ahead. And it proved to be a rare occasion when they just couldn't pull out a win in a very closely fought match.

The Peter Canavan factor:

You have to give great credit to the belief throughout the Tyrone team, but Peter Canavan is such a big part of that. His reappearance for the final 10 minutes I think was crucial as well because it helped maintain that level of belief until the end.

He had steadied the boat in the first half, but when he came back on it proved how important a part he plays in the team, and the leadership he represents for the younger players. To see him coming back on gave the whole team an important psychological lift, even if his actual contribution over those closing moments wasn't especially crucial. His presence alone was so important.

And what Peter Canavan has gone through to win that All-Ireland is remarkable, and was also a major driving force on the whole Tyrone team. There's no doubt now he is part of the best team in the country, and they fully deserve their All-Ireland title.

Canavan is a good example too of the quality of footballers that are throughout this Tyrone team. They can defend collectively, and while it mightn't always be pretty to watch, it's very obviously about winning. And they can bring the ball up the field in an intelligent way.

And in Canavan and the likes of Owen Mulligan and Enda McGinley you always felt Tyrone were more likely to unhinge the Armagh defence.

With that pace and ability to break through tackles they were always capable of getting the extra man over, and get the extra man into space in front of goals. That will always help you win matches.