Tyrone's defence of their All-Ireland title is over after they were well beaten in their qualifier clash against Armagh this afternoon.
It was a game dominated by Kieran McGeeney's side, who looked like the better team right from the throw-in. They were far more dangerous in attack, with their Ulster rivals lacking the sort of incisive play that is needed to break down top level opposition.
Tyrone could have considered themselves rather fortunate to only be one point down at halftime, with the general feeling being that they could not perform much worse in the second half. However, Armagh would up their performance level by another notch to ultimately run out as six-point winners on a scoreline of 1-16 to 1-10.
Armagh goalkeeper Ethan Rafferty can pop up anywhere, as Tyrone are discovering to their cost.
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This ultimately brings to a close one of the most disappointing Sam Maguire defences in recent memory, with Tyrone comfortably beaten by both Derry and Armagh in their only championship outings of 2022.
The Sunday Game panel discuss Tyrone's loss to Armagh
Speaking on RTÉ after the game, both Oisín McConville and Sean Cavanagh said that there was a clear gulf in class between the two sides on show this afternoon.
Seán Cavanagh thinks Armagh's six-point winning margin flatters his native Tyrone.
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McConville: Armagh played with more energy than Tyrone did. They had more variation in the way they attacked, they used the long ball well at times but also were able to retain possession.
Even something as simple as Armagh turning over two of Niall Morgan's kick-outs in the second half and turning them into scores, simple stuff like that. Armagh owned the ball at times and were deserving winners.
Six points (winning margin) was probably a fair reflection on the way things went...
Cavanagh: In today's game Armagh were ten points the better team. We came here today wanting to see if there was anything left in this Tyrone team, and six or seven points flatters Tyrone.
I think Armagh played the pattern of the game well, kicked a lot in the first half and had runners off the shoulder when they needed to. Second half they played on the counter well, ran hard and fought like dogs. Any time they were coming into a contest in most areas of the field, an Armagh man was coming out with the ball. They had a much better spread of scores.
They played with more ambition. They took the fight of the game to Tyrone and were fully deserving of the win. Tyrone just weren't at the races...
We were waiting on Tyrone to get back into the game, I certainly was. But whenever it came down to it, it was Armagh who pressed on that bit further. You have to give them credit for that, they weren't waiting to see what Tyrone were going to bring to it.
Armagh will now move on to the next round of the qualifiers, while Tyrone will be left asking how things went so wrong this year after their All-Ireland triumph in 2021.
They will certainly be looking to bounce back with a stronger effort next year, with their recent triumph in U20 All-Ireland final suggesting that some changes to their panel could be on the horizon.
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