Murphy's instant impact as Donegal punish Armagh

Armagh captain Aidan Forker became embroiled in a shoving match with Michael Murphy immediately the Glenswilly man's introduction and was then red card for headbutting the chest of the Donegal substitute

Michael Murphy was at the centre of instant drama on his return to Donegal duty as he helped the home side maintain their winning start to Division One of the Allianz Football League by beating All-Ireland champions Armagh 0-21 to 1-10.

Jim McGuinness felt the need to introduce the 35-year-old for his first inter-county action in 981 days after Armagh had cut Donegal's six-point half-time advantage to only two within nine minutes of the restart.

However, Armagh skipper Aidan Forker immediately squared up to Murphy and they became embroiled in a pushing match, which was followed by the Orchard County captain headbutting the Glenswilly man in the chest.

Forker's actions left Tyrone referee Sean Hurson no option but to red card the Armagh captain.

Murphy's response to the borderline farce was to point from play with his left foot within 30 seconds and he soon added another before scores from man of the match Patrick McBrearty and Ciaran Thompson left the home side in control once more at 0-17 to 1-7 ahead.

The 2012 All-Ireland winning skipper's ball winning in midfield helped Donegal close out the game as he also added a further late free to complete a thoroughly impressive return to the inter-county stage.

Earlier, Darragh McMullen's eighth-minute goal had given Kieran McGeeney's side a 1-2 to 0-2 lead as he finished to the net after good work by Jarlath Og Burns and Tomas McCormack.

However, Donegal responded with nine straight points with Armagh run ragged as all but one of the home side's 12 first-half points came from play.

With Armagh giving the ball away on numerous occasions, Donegal ruthlessly punished the turnovers as skipper McBrearty hit three first-period points with his Kilcar club-mate Ryan McHugh, Jamie Brennan, Oisin Gallen and the lively Conor O'Donnell all contributing 0-2.

Armagh were also struggling to come to terms with the new rules - in particular having to hand the ball to the opposition when penalised - with keeper Ethan Rafferty punished as he held on to possession too long in midfield on one occasion, which led Donegal to being awarded a 13-metre free, which Gallen pointed.

After looking off the pace for the majority of the first half, Armagh looked like they were back in the contest as successive two-pointers from Rafferty and Andrew Murnin left only two between the sides.

However, Forker's red card seemed to take the air out of their challenge.

After full-time, the adoring home fans surrounded their hero Murphy on the pitch.