Big Joe feels good and bad

When big Joe Kernan reached early for the Lucozade Sport he must have known it was going to be that sort of afternoon. As draining to watch as it was to play, and then ending with the thought of being back in Clones next Sunday to do it all again.

"Well I'm long enough in the game to know that you never take anything for granted until the final whistle," he sighs. "I suppose we won most of the battles out there, but you have to give some credit, too, to Tyrone. They're not National League champions and Ulster champions for nothing." There were moments, though, when Armagh looked like winners, then looked like losers: "I don't know if we were waiting for the whistle or what, though we had a few chances of own. We did go to sleep a few times, but they just kept coming at us and so maybe the draw was a fair result.

"But coming here no one gave us a hope. When we sit down and look at the video we'll probably feel like we did throw it away, and it's always disappointing to give away a late goal in a situation like that."

Tyrone joint manager Art McRory took a more casual approach to his responsibilities, sitting up in the stands with Eugene McKenna. Afterwards he tries to sum up the typical mix of emotions that come with a draw.

"Firstly I don't think the sharpness was there of the last two league games. That added to the pressure that Armagh were putting us under. And we were pushed all the way. So we're glad were still in the Ulster championship. That game will do us a world of good too. Armagh will probably feel like they lost if, rather than us holding on to it. But under the circumstances, I thought it was a good Tyrone performance.

"But, to be quite honest, we were staring defeat in the face for quite a while. Sean Kavanagh's goal resurrected us. But we did lose a lot of breaking ball at midfield. Kieran McGeeney was dropping back in there and mopping up a lot of stuff for Armagh. But full credit to Armagh, they played very well.

"I just think we paid the penalty for those two last league games, where we were given too much time on the ball, and we simply weren't prepared for the pressure we were put under today. I mean knowing it and coping with it are two different things."

Ryan McMenamin also talked of mixed luck. "Well we expected a very tough game from Armagh, and we got that. But we didn't really get into the game until the last 20 minutes.

"But we did learn a few lessons today, and hopefully, I can improve my game on the likes of Oisin (McConville). Maybe we were too relaxed about it at the start, but the intensity of Armagh wasn't something we were used to for a while, and maybe those games against Mayo and Cavan wasn't the sort of build-up we needed for a game like this."