Five points without reply in the closing stages propelled unbeaten Mayo to their third successive victory of an impressive Allianz Football Division 1 campaign at Dr Hyde Park in Roscommon.
The Westerners finished like a train to overtake an Armagh side who failed to score in the last ten minutes, and saw their three-point lead wiped out in the closing stages.
The 0-15 to 1-10 result means that Mayo are now firmly in contention for a place in the league decider with three rounds still to play, while Armagh sit just behind them in third place in the table.
The Orchard County had got off to a dream start with a goal in the opening moments from Ciaran Mackin after his attempt for a point seemed to loop over the head of Mayo goalkeeper Rory Byrne, who started in place of the injured Rob Hennelly.
That put Kieran McGeeney's team in the driving seat for the majority of the game and they looked set to clock up their third win of the campaign when then led by 1-10 to 0-10 swinging into the final ten minutes.
However, despite playing against the breeze, Mayo rallied and scores from Ryan O’Donoghue (two frees) and Paddy Durcan hauled them level.
With the momentum behind them, and Armagh’s challenge fading, last year’s All-Ireland finalists went ahead through Jordan Flynn on 69 minutes before Paddy Durcan added an insurance score during the five minutes of additional time that was played.
Such an outcome had looked unlikely when Mayo were rocked by Armagh's early goal.
The Ulster men also led by 1-03 to 0-01 after 10 minutes thanks to well-taken points against the breeze from Jason Duffy, Stefan Campbell and Rory Grugan.
Mayo finally got into the groove thanks to three scores in quick succession from Ryan O’Donoghue, Mattie Ruane and Diarmuid O’Connor as they started to harness the wind.
That purple patch meant that Armagh’s lead was reduced to the minimum after 21 minutes.
Scores had dried up for the Orchard men after their flying start, but Rian O’Neill finally raised a white flag to get the scoreboard moving again and Armagh led by 1-05 to 0-06 at the interval.
James Horan took evasive action during half-time and introduced both Padraig O’Hora and Aidan O’Shea in an effort to get Mayo firing on all cylinders.
They certainly hit the ground running as quickfire scores from Aidan Orme (free) and Diarmuid O’Connor levelled the match for the first time.
Armagh hit back though with points from Rory Grugan and Conor Turbitt to take the initiative again and they managed to keep Mayo at arm’s length for a spell.
But Kevin McLoughlin made a big impact after coming on during the opening half and his point in the 60th minute gave the huge Mayo crowd something to shout about.
However, in keeping with the trend of the match up to that stage, Armagh rallied once more and a couple of scores from captain Aidan Nugent eased Armagh 1-10 to 0-10 ahead after 62 minutes.
Remarkably though, Kieran McGeeney’s side failed to score again and Mayo took over.
A sustained period of pressure led to two frees being converted by Ryan O’Donoghue before the rampaging Paddy Durcan drove forward to land the equaliser in the 66th minute
Midfielder Jordan Flynn then fired over the lead score in the final minute of additional time to put Mayo ahead for the first time in the game, and the marauding Paddy Durcan had the last word when he hit the target in the fifth minute of stoppage-time.
When the league resumes in two weeks, Mayo travel to Kerry while Armagh will welcome Kildare to the Athletic Grounds.
Mayo: R Byrne; L Keegan, R Brickenden, M Plunkett; O Mullin, S. Coen, S Callinan; J Flynn (0-1), M Ruane (0-1), F McDonagh, D O'Connor (0-2), C Loftus; A Orme (0-1, 1f), F Irwin, R O’Donoghue (0-7, 5fs, 1m).
Subs: K McLoughlin (0-1) for Irwin (24); P Durcan (0-2) for Brickenden (27); A O’Shea for Loftus (HT); P O’Hora for Callinan (HT); J Carney for McDonagh (60); F Boland for McLoughlin (73).
Armagh: E Rafferty; P Burns, A Forker, A McKay; C Mackin, N Rowland, J Óg Burns; C Mackin (1-0), B Crealey; S Campbell (0-1), R Grugan (0-2,1f), T Kelly; J Duffy (0-1), R O’Neill (0-3, 2fs), A Nugent (0-2).
Subs: C Turbitt (0-1) for Duffy (45); J Morgan for McKay (49); S Sheridan for Crealy (55); O O’Neill for Rowland (63); C O’Neill for Forker (71).
Referee: D Coldrick (Meath)
