Last-gasp Armagh break Tyrone hearts to reach Ulster final

With the final kick of the game, All-Ireland champions Armagh defeated fierce rivals Tyrone 0-23 to 0-22 to advance to their third straight Ulster Senior Football final. Rory Grugan scored a free with the final kick.

Thanks to Peter Harte and Darren McCurry’s successive two-pointers in the final stages of a incredibly dramatic semi-final that came to life in the second half of Clones, Tyrone edged two clear in the closing stages.

However, after the score exchange between Conor Turbitt and Eoin McElholm, Armagh scored the game’s final three points in a heartbreaking finale at St Tiernach’s Park, which was watched by 21, 288 spectators. Jarly Og Burns, Stefan Campbell, and Grugan scored after the hooter, to break Tyrone’s hearts.

On May 11th, the winner of Donegal and Down’s provincial decider will face Armagh, who lost the penalty shootout matches in the 2023 and 2024 finals.

Armagh were the better team in the opening period of a slow-burn semi-final, which ended in an intense atmosphere. They deserved a 0-11 to 0-8 lead at half-time.

And while Armagh went five up with the first two points of the second half thanks to the impressive Oisin Conaty, two Tyrone two-pointers from Conn Kilpatrick, Harte, and McCurry made a powerful turn in the Red Hands’ favor.

When Conor Turbitt, who missed the quarter-final victory over Antrim, was made one of three last-minute adjustments, Armagh’s scoring potential was further hampered by the absence of Rian O’Neill.

However, Tyrone’s side had no trouble creating and scoring chances even with the flame-haired sharpshooter, as Oisin Conaty and Ross McQuillan each scored two points and Oisin O’Neill added two more points to put them up 0-4, 0-1, after Darragh Canavan opened the account for Tyrone.

After missing last week’s game against Cavan, Canavan was Tyrone’s main injury concern heading into the game. However, he was chosen to start and positioned alongside his younger brother Ruairi, who had taken Peter Harte’s place just before throw-in.

However, Darren McCurry (0-1) kept the scoreboard ticking over while the Canavan brothers only managed a score of 0-1 overall when Tyrone fell behind by a score of 0-6 to 0-3.

The All-Ireland champions looked set to win the final when Oisin O’Neill, Jarly Og Burns, and Ben Crealey scored an unanswered three-score surge from Oisin O’Neill, Jarly Og Burns, and Conaty, a standout for Armagh, added two more at the start of the second half to make it 0-17 to 0-11 clear.

However, Tyrone’s bench helped them take control of the game in the third quarter as they kept chipping away. After being introduced, Eoin McElholm added two points, and Harte’s two-pointer gave the Red Hand fans their biggest roar of the day.

Kieran McGeeney, Armagh manager, was booked for dissent after Harte scored by kicking a sideline flag onto the pitch.

Tyrone were 0-21 to 0-19 ahead when McCurry scored the resultant two-point free.

With six minutes left, Tyrone had to hold on, but Armagh fought back and won the match with a win as Jarly Og Burns and substitute Stefan Campbell fired over to bring the score level.

Subs: O O’Neill’s Conor Turbitt (52); Crealey’s Jemar Hall (54); McMullen’s Cian McConville (0-1) for Murnin (67); and McConville’s McGrane (71).

Subs: B Hughes, S. McPartlan, C. Turbitt, J. Hall, T. Kelly, C. McConville, A. Forker, N. Grimley, C. Mackin, G. Murphy, and S. Campbell.

Tyrone: N Morgan, C Quinn, P Teague, N Devlin, M McKernan (0-2, 1 2pt), R Brennan, K McGeary, B Kennedy, C Kilpatrick (0-2, 1 2pt), A Donaghy, J Oguz, C Daly, D McCurry (0-10, 4f, 1 2ptf), R Canavan, D Canavan (0-4, 2f).

Seanie O’Donnell is substituted for Aodhan Donaghy (40), Ben McDonnell is substituted for Oguz (46), Eoin McElholm (47), Peter Harte (1 2pt) for Daly (54), and Padraig Hampsey for Quinn (60).