Rory Grugan's post-hooter winner finally settled an epic in favour of the All-Ireland champions as Armagh squeezed out Tyrone at Clones to reach the Ulster SFC final.
A crowd of 21,288 was treated to a derby special that thrilled and spilled its way to a nerve-jangling climax, and the Orchard displayed immense character to survive a furious Red Hand fightback.
The final hooter had already sounded when Conor Turbitt won a free that Grugan steered between the posts to keep his side on course for a first provincial title since 2008.
For Tyrone, the provincial dream is over, but they’ll take a lot of positivity from a confidence-building showing into the All-Ireland series in a few weeks time.
Darragh Canavan shot Tyrone ahead after 30 seconds, but Paddy Burns quickly got to grips on his man-marking job on his direct opponent, keeping him relatively quiet for the remainder of the half.
And it was the All-Ireland champions who looked more dangerous going forward, reeling off scores through Ross McQuillan, Oisin Conaty and a two-pointer from Oisin O’Neill.
Daren McCurry was the livewire that kept the Tyrone attack buzzing, slotting over a couple of points, but the Orchard men were able to claim more than their share of possession from the opposition kick-outs, and were more efficient in creating the space for a shot at the posts.
Callum O’Neill and Ethan Rafferty both found the target, but a Michael McKernan two-pointer changed the momentum just when it looked like the Sam Maguire Cup holders were about to pull away.
McCurry brought the sides level, but Kieran McGeeney’s men were able to quickly restore their two-point cushion with a couple of Andrew Murnin points.
McCurry, the only genuine threat in the Tyrone attack, brought his tally to five, but Callum O’Neill and Conaty stretched the advantage, and Armagh went in at the break with a 0-11 to 0-08 lead.
Conaty was a constant thorn in the side of the Tyrone defence, firing over a couple of quickfire points at the start of the second half, and Ben Crealey stretched the lead out to six on 45 minutes.
Howver McCurry was in the mood, and the Orchard County could do nothing to stop him as he pinged over a few more gems.
Eoin McElholm came off the bench to add a further spark to the Tyrone attack, hitting a couple of points, and another sub, Peter Harte, sliced over a two-pointer to bring the sides level at 0-19 each on the hour.
And the Red Hands went ahead in a bizarre sequence which saw Armagh manager Kieran McGeeney concede a free, picking up a yellow card as well for kicking out at a sideline flag, and McCurry punished with a two-point conversion.
Now Armagh had to show their mettle, and they found the response they needed.
Turbitt, off the bench to add further quality to their attack, found the space to kick a point, and even after McElholm restored the two-point cushion for Tyrone, the Sam Maguire Cup holders hit back with scores from Jarly Óg Burns and a Stefan Campbell leveller, before Grugan capped it all off with that late winner.
Armagh: E Rafferty (0-01); P Burns, B McCambridge, T McCormack; R McQuillan (0-02), G McCabe, J Og Burns (0-02); C O’Neill (0-03), B Crealey (0-01); D McMullan, O Conaty (0-04), P McGrane; R Grugan (0-03, 0-02fs), A Murnin (0-02), O O’Neill (0-03, 1tp).
Subs: C Turbitt (0-01) for O O’Neill (51), J Hall for Crealey (53), C McConville for McMullan (61), S Campbell (0-01) for Murnin (62) S McPartlan for McGrane (66).
Tyrone: N Morgan; C Quinn, P Teague, N Devlin; M McKernan (0-02, 1tp), R Brennan, K McGeary; B Kennedy, C Kilpatrick (0-02, 1tp); A Donaghy, J Oguz, C Daly; D McCurry (0-10, 0-04fs, 1tpf), D Canavan (0-04, 0-02fs), R Canavan.
Subs: S O’Donnell for Donaghy (41), B McDonnell for Oguz (47), E McElholm (0-02) for R Canavan (47), P Harte (0-02, 1tp) for Daly (53), P Hampsey for Quinn (58).
Referee: D Gough (Meath).
