Galway 0-16 Armagh 0-8: This was a functional afternoon's work. There were virtuoso moments when Galway strung together exquisitely crafted moves, more often than not culminating in scores, but they wouldn't have alleviated the now almost permanent state of distress in which football aesthetes reside.
In a match where there wasn't sufficient animosities to raise the temperatures particularly high, referee Michael Collins still had sufficient reason to issue 10 yellow cards, including double helpings for Galway's Micheál Comer and the Armagh pair of replacement Patrick McKeever and captain Steven McDonnell. And that statistic says it all.
A run-of-the-mill league match in February still contains enough casual fouling to break up the game's momentum and reduce the playing numbers by 10 per cent.
With both teams pulling one of the full forwards out, there was the usual cast of thousands around the middle of the park but Galway exploited the space up front a lot more effectively.
Weather conditions were fine and Pearse Park was in good nick for an official attendance of 6,500. Unusually there wasn't even a breeze whipping in off the sea in Salthill. Any more of this and the venue's availability as a wind tunnel resource to the aerospace industry will be endangered.
Conditions and quality football are all very well but Galway manager John O'Mahony wasn't being deflected from the central meaning of the afternoon. In the wake of the big lead lost to Meath the previous weekend, yesterday was about results.
"It was important for us to put points on the board and today counts for nothing except that. In patches the last day we played some of our best league football for the past few years but spoiled it with errors. Today we tried to minimise mistakes and although we didn't eliminate them it was an improvement.
"We blocked them and closed down space a lot better than last week but Armagh have a number of players to come back into the team, key players. None of us will mind too much what happens in the next few months if it all turns out well after that."
Like last week, when Galway moved well they looked very good. Although Armagh were a sluggish approximation of their recent summer form, the home side showed that you beat swarming defensive configurations by moving the ball fast and this they did well.
Kevin Walsh had a great match at centrefield and Michael Donnellan looked in better shape and form than he has for a while. But the most eye-catching display was Tommie Joyce's as he galloped from one assignment to another, laying off ball with geometric precision and falling back into defence after Comer's dismissal with a full quarter left on the clock. He mightn't have scored but he did everything else.
The majority of Galway's scores came from well orchestrated moves that left the final man with a scoring chance to the extent that few of the points needed to be miracles of finishing.
At full forward Nicky Joyce was top scorer with five points, four from play.Five of the six forwards were on the board by the break and it wasn't until the 50th minute that they recorded the first of only two wides.
At the stroke of half-time Armagh had a goal disallowed for what looked like a foul in the square and had it stood the margin would have been a flattering three-point deficit for the visitors.
Instead Galway led 0-9 to 0-3.
Armagh got this back to within four points at the same time that Comer was being sent off. A trace of a contest hung in the spring air but the man advantage was lost 10 minutes later when McDonnell got the line.
Galway's defence also played its part in holding on to the match with Kieran Fitzgerald to the fore at full back and his colleagues working hard to stifle any opposition recovery. And so the match stretched well beyond Armagh's limited reach and the winners outscored them 0-6 to 0-2 in the final quarter.
"We were very disappointed," said Armagh manager Joe Kernan afterwards. "Although we came back just after half-time, Galway outplayed us around the field. We're missing players but can't make excuses. It was a chance for the panel to prove themselves and we didn't take that chance.
"I was particularly disappointed with our discipline. We've always been a hard and honest team and we let that slip today. Some will be looking at themselves in the mirror and saying, 'did I do things right since Christmas?' - although we have worked hard."
GALWAY: B Donoghue; B Dooney, K Fitzgerald, M Comer; D Burke, D Mullahy, S de Paor (0-1); K Walsh, J Bergin (0-1); M Clancy (0-3), P Joyce (0-3, one free), M Donnellan (0-2, one free); T Joyce, N Joyce (0-5, one free), D Savage (0-1). Subs: C Monaghan for Mullahy (12 mins), D Meehan for Savage (52 mins), D O'Brien for Dooney (63 mins), D Blake for Burke (70 mins)
ARMAGH: P Hearty; E McNulty, J McNulty, P McCormack (0-1); A O'Rourke, T McEntee, JP Donnelly; J Toal, M Mackin; M O'Rourke, A McCann, S Kernan; S McDonnell (0-4, all frees), R Clarke, D Marsden (0-1). Subs: O McConville (0-1) for Mackin (33 mins), P McKeever (0-1) for Kernan (41 mins), B Mallon for M O'Rourke (61 mins), A Kernan for A O'Rourke (66 mins).
Referee: M Collins (Cork).
