Tyrone 1-12 Armagh 1-10

The biggest crowd of the day was drawn to the Athletic Grounds, to witness the cross-Blackwater meeting of old rivals Armagh and Tyrone in Kieran McGeeney’s first outing as Orchard manager.

When over 8,000 souls turned up, the game was delayed for a full half-hour due to a lack of ticket selling facilities.

Those who got to their seats early were warmed by an old-fashioned schmozzle, on eight minutes, that earned Armagh captain Ciarán McKeever and Colm Cavanagh red cards.

Further reds were to follow, Finnian Moriarty and Aaron Findon picking up second yellow cards as the second half wore on, leaving Armagh exposed to the dangers of playing with two men short.

Experimental line-ups

Both sides had experimental line-ups, with Armagh’s Mícheál McKenna showing impressive strength in hitting three points from play. McGeeney also employed Jamie Clarke at half-time as a roving half-back, which worked well at times.

Tyrone were able to welcome back Cathal McCarron, the 2013 All-Star nominee who has endured some very public troubles over the past 12 months. He was a candidate for man of the match as the Red Hand defence looked short on leadership, trailing 0-5 to 0-6 at half-time.

However, it was Seán Cavanagh who refused to be beaten in this game. With Armagh losing three players to red cards, he scored five points himself, as well as presenting Aidan McCrory with a goal after some dogged persistence.

Armagh would hit back with a goal of their own almost immediately, but three Darren McCurry points, along with one from debutant Cathal McShane, would bring the victory to Tyrone.

McGeeney reflected on Cavanagh’s contribution afterwards, citing last summer’s fiery qualifier between these two.

“Tyrone would have talked a lot about what happened in the summer, even though we would see it differently in the summer too. Seán made a point there today that he wanted to come around and stop people pushing him.”