Armagh's under-21s shook off four months of inactivity at Pearse Stadium this afternoon to beat Cork, 1-19 to 2-10, and claim the county's first ever appearance in an All-Ireland football final at the grade.
The Ulster champions, whose last competitive fixture was their provincial final win over Derry in May, dusted off the cobwebs as eight of their starters bagged points in a confident display.
Armagh's direct style saw them hit the Galway ground running, and corner forward Michael McNamee, who withdrew injured at the break, helped himself to a second minute goal, as his lobbed finish eluded Cork net minder Kevin Murphy.
Armagh had soon raced into a 1-4 to 0-1 lead. It was not all one-way traffic, as Armagh goalkeeper Paul Wilson was forced into a great fisted save from Rob Long on 12 minutes.
Cork, though, clawed their way back into contention - Tadhg Twomey playing a key role in their resurgence. Twomey set up Cian O'Riordan for a quick point, and in the 26th minute saw his shot deflected into the net off wing back Aaron Kernan as the deficit was reduced to two points, 1-6 to 1-8.
Cork ended the half just one behind, as Kevin O'Sullivan kicked over his fourth free.
It was all Armagh in the second half though, as they outscored Cork by 11 points to three, until O'Sullivan rifled home an injury-time penalty.
Stephen Kernan, a son of senior boss Joe, grabbed a free and a '45, substitute Peter Stevenson struck two from play, and senior star Andy Mallon and giant midfielder Gareth Swift also pointed well as Armagh rounded off a superb win.
O'Sullivan's goal at the death proved nothing more than a consolation score for the Rebels.
CORK: K Murphy; M Prout, D O’Donovan, B Crowley; N O’Riordan, P Nealon, E O’Connor; D Coughlan, S O’Sullivan; C O’Riordan, P Kelly, J Hayes; R Long, T Twomey, K O’Sullivan. Subs used: A O’Connor for Coughlan (20 mins), K Murphy for O’Sullivan (38), D Byrnes for Long (47), R Hoare for Kelly (54)
Cork scorers: K O'Sullivan 1-4, T Twomey 1-1, P Kelly 0-2, R Long 0-1, C O'Riordan 0-1, J Hayes 0-1.
ARMAGH: P Wilson; G Smyth, F Moriarty, A Mallon; A Kernan, C McKeever, B McDonald; M Mackin, G Swift; G Loughran, S Kernan, P Toal; M McNamee, R Austin, B Mallon. Subs used: P Stevenson for McNamee (30 mins), B Toner for S Kernan (50), P Duffy for McDonald (54).
Armagh scorers: M McNamee 1-2, R Austin 0-3, G Loughran 0-3 P Toal 0-3, P Stevenson 0-2, S Kernan 0-2, B Mallon 0-1, A Mallon 0-1, G Swift 0-1, B Toner 0-1.
