Derry claim second Ulster title in a row after shootout win over Armagh

For 90 minutes this Ulster final fizzled with a bright mess of colour and periodic quality and above all else, edge-of-seat-anticipation. An exhausting afternoon ultimately ended with a penalty shoot-out, a Derry victory and an engulfing red sea.

Sunday revealed a fact about Clones that critics of the venue fail to account for.

The Ulster final is not purely about function. It is also theatre. That needs character and it was repeatedly revealed when both sides needed it the most.

From sunrise to sunset the town heaved and the dial turned. It was all headed towards a heart-in-mouth crescendo in front of the eastern end. Odhran Lynch saved three penalties to seize the Anglo-Celt Cup and finish the evening paraded shoulder high.

At 4pm, St Tiarnach’s Park was tight as a drum with no space to even turn a sweet in your mouth.

Derry strived to stretch it even further as they started with a three-minute attack, flirting with turnovers near the sideline and again when a Lynch pickup was adjudged to be just above the turf. Eventually Shane McGuigan curled over his first of the afternoon.

He would finish with seven points in a magnificent performance.

Armagh had multiple opportunities to reply, Conor Turbitt missed a free and Ciaran Mackin was blocked down after a high press paid off. Rian O’Neill put an end to the wastefulness and struck a monster free to level it up.

At times it was confounding and confusing and a bit of a circus. That’s before we even get to the jersey clash.

It was the sort of contest that had you second-guessing who was playing where or even playing well.

Kieran McGeeney made a late change before throw-in, starting defenders James Morgan and Barry McCambridge in place of midfielder Ben Crealey and forward