Record-breaking Armagh thump Down to reach Ulster final

Armagh, in contrast, struggled to find their range during the opening exchanges. While their first two scores came from Oisin Conaty and Conor Turbitt, they were guilty of three bad wides during Down's ascendancy.

But after a score from the excellent Jarly Og Burns was followed by Andrew Murnin kicking the Orchard's fourth wide, Armagh decided enough was enough, and after captain Aaron McKay showed exceptional grit to win a breaking ball and send his side down the field, Tomas McCormack sidestepped Peter Fegan and beat Ronan Burns with a low drive into the net.

While Og Burns and Guinness traded scores after the goal, Armagh stormed clear with an unanswered 1-8.

Their second goal will be a painful part of the Down post-mortem as Darragh McMullen won a kick-out from Blaine Hughes - who replaced Ethan Rafferty before throw-in - rounded the stranded Mourne keeper Burns and pumped the ball in for Turbitt, who shrugged off Ryan McEvoy to palm into the unguarded net.

While Havern knocked over the final score of the half, Down looked a spent force by the interval, with Armagh's tally of six fisted points evidence of the ease with which they had cut into the Mourne defence.

Image caption,

Tomas McCormack scored Armagh's first goal with a superb finish

Monaghan were able to overturn a sizeable half-time deficit against Derry but there was no such resurgence from Down on Sunday.

In truth, after Turbitt, Murnin, McMullen (two-pointer) and Jason Duffy further stretched Armagh's advantage, the second half was something of a non-event.

The highlight was the manner in which Turbitt took his second goal, plucking the ball out the air before turning Liam Kerr and rifling a dead-eyed shot into Burns' bottom right-hand corner.

Turbitt's goal sent the Down fans heading for the exits.

Had they stayed, they would have only witnessed more pain for their side as Armagh continued to clip over scores with remarkable efficiency, managing 1-17 during their second-half procession.

While Monaghan showed courage and character to stun Derry on Saturday, based on how Sunday's semi-final unfolded, it will take a Herculean effort for them to stop Armagh ending their 18-year wait for a return to the provincial summit.

Teams and scorers

Armagh: Blaine Hughes; Peter McGrane (0-1), Aaron McKay, Paddy Burns; Joe McElroy, Tiernan Kelly (0-1), Jarly Og Burns (0-4); Jason Duffy, Andrew Murnin (0-3); Greg McCabe, Darragh McMullen (0-2, 1x2p), Tomas McCormack (1-2); Oisin Conaty (0-5), Conor Turbitt (2-5, 3f), Cian McConville (0-3, 1f)

Subs: Oisin O'Neill (0-4, 1x2p) for McCabe (51), Daniel Magee for Murnin (52), Gareth Murphy for McElroy (56), Thomas Galvin for Turbitt (59), Aaron O'Neill (0-2, 1x2p) for Conaty (60 mins)

Down: Ronan Burns; Peter Fegan, Pierce Laverty, Callum Rogers; Caolan Mooney, Shane Annett (0-1), Daniel Guinness (0-4); Odhran Murdock (0-1), Ryan McEvoy; Miceal Rooney, Ceilum Doherty, Pearse McPolin; Adam Crimmins, Pat Havern (0-2), John McGeough.

Subs: Liam Kerr (0-2) for McGeough (26), Jamie Doran for Crimmins (HT), Ryan Magill (0-2) for Rooney (40), Barry O'Hagan (0-2, 1f) for Havern (47), Finn McElroy for McPolin (55), Tom Close for McEvoy (62).

Referee: Brendan Cawley (Kildare)

Attendance: 27,423