All-Ireland SFC: Tyrone beat 14-man rivals Armagh to boost Sam Maguire hopes

Tyrone took their first positive step forward in this year's All-Ireland series with an edgy 0-13 to 0-11 win over 14-man Armagh in Healy Park.

Without a win in their last four Championship games, Tyrone enjoyed superb displays from Darragh Canavan, Mattie Donnelly and Darren McCurry.

Armagh's Rian O'Neill got a straight red card after his knee appeared to make contact with Cormac Quinn's head.

Armagh face Galway in their final group game while Tyrone play Westmeath.

As things stand, skipper O'Neill would be suspended for the game against Galway at a neutral venue in two weeks time, and Armagh say they will review the footage before deciding whether to seek a personal hearing for O'Neill from the GAA's Central Hearings Committee.

All on the line

Considering Armagh already had a win on the board courtesy of last week's win over Westmeath while Tyrone had lost in Galway, maybe Tyrone's need was the greater and they certainly played with more urgency.

They controlled the game for long spells yet it could have been a different story if a mis-firing Armagh had capitalised on their early goal chances.

Niall Morgan saved from Conor Turbitt and Jason Duffy in a finely balanced opening quarter.

Tyrone led from start to finish with McCurry landing three points of outstanding quality in the first half to put Tyrone 0-7 to 0-3 ahead after 22 minutes.

McCurry gave Aidan Forker a very difficult 35 minutes before Armagh changed markers for the second half.

Donnelly, Canavan and a mark from Conn Kilpatrick stretched their lead while Armagh's confidence was knocked by bad wides from O'Neill and Stefan Campbell.

Armagh joint captain Rian O'Neill was sent off after receiving a straight red card in the first half

Peter Harte hit the post with Tyrone's best goal chance and in the aftermath, O'Neill was given a straight red card by referee Martin McNally after his knee appeared to make contact with Cormac Quinn's head.

On the advice of a linesman, McNally flashed a red and it left Armagh four points down and a man down.

They trailed 0-8 to 0-4 at the break but were spirited in spells in the second half and made Tyrone work hard for their win.

Rory Grugan and Burns carried the fight and showed leadership but wides from Turbitt and McPartlan undermined their hopes of putting Tyrone under even more pressure.

Tyrone played keep-ball with Michael McKernan and Conor Meyler on the end of scores while Canavan came up with two fabulous points in the closing 10 minutes to keep Tyrone in front.

Mindful of their recent losses, which included blowing a five-point lead against Monaghan here in the Ulster Championship a few weeks ago, Tyrone were nervous as the winning line approached.

Had McKernan's pace not saved a distracted Morgan's blushes right at the death, sub Oisin Conaty could have plundered a last-gasp goal.

In the end Armagh came up a little short, just as they did on their last visit to Omagh in March when a league defeat saw them relegated from Division One.

Both teams will still rightly have ambitions of going far this summer.

They now have two weeks time to prepare for their final round robin games before the race to win an open All-Ireland competition really heats up.