Six weeks on from their four-goal rout at Donegal’s hands when they were exposed on kick-outs and ruthlessly punished on turnovers as they pushed numbers into attack, the same vulnerabilities manifested in Celtic Park as they lost their third successive championship game.
From where they were just nine weeks ago when they took out Dublin in a league final, this is an extraordinary collapse for a team that was being touted as potential challengers to Dublin and Kerry later in the summer.
Three defeats now and yet they survive. Is there really a path forward for them? Should there be? The championship format will really face scrutiny if they arrive in Croke Park for the All-Ireland quarter-finals.
To Armagh’s credit they were ruthless when the opportunities presented and drove forward to create overlaps throughout in the knowledge that Derry had over-committed.
Armagh scored three goals but it may well have been six or seven.
Derry had looked comfortable early on with Conor Glass moving inside to set up an Emmett Bradley score and then land a mark.
But Armagh were level on 13 minutes, 0-3 each, when home fragility surfaced with Conor McCluskey stripped of possession by Tiernan Kelly, allowing the impressive Oisin Conaty, such an addition to Armagh this year, to glide in and tee up Ross McQuillan for the opening goal.
There had been warning signs earlier when the impressive Ben Crealey got a touch off one of his own kick-outs and Conaty ran on to it at blistering pace. The gaps were yawning and Conaty poured through to hit the underside of the crossbar.
Derry didn’t adjust however and stubbornly kept pushing everyone up, the sense of deja vu all too apparent. In the past they’ve been adept at holding possession but here they were cruelly exposed again and on 21 minutes. Brendan Rogers had a pass intercepted by Aaron McKay who put Conor Turbitt away into more clear space.
Turbitt had so much time he could literally pick his spot and walk the ball in around Odhran Lynch.
By the break it was 2-8 to 0-6 and while Derry did rally to score the first three points of the second half, Armagh regained control.
On 41 minutes they engineered another breakaway, 5 v 3, but corner-back Barry McCambridge couldn’t get the touch right from Turbitt’s pass across the goals.
They got it right next time though when McQuillan caught one of their own kick-outs magnificently and somehow freed himself to put Rian O’Neill in the clear.
O’Neill didn’t need the support, firing a shot past Lynch for a third goal and a 3-10 to 0-11 lead on 54 minutes. Game over.
All that was left for Derry was for substitute Ciaran McFaul to get himself sent off for a yellow/black card combination on 59 minutes compounding another miserable day.
They haven’t scored a goal in three games now and have conceded nine. Their deployment of just two substitutes, even when things were going so badly, reflected how shallow their resources are.
For Armagh though recovery from the Ulster final defeat has been swift and impressive, even as they look set to lose Ciaran Mackin to a season-ending cruciate ligament injury.
Scorers – Armagh: C Turbitt 1-4 (0-1m, 0-1f), R O’Neill 1-1, R McQuillan 1-0, T Kelly, O Conaty 0-2 each, O O’Neill, B McCambridge, A Forker, R Grugan, S McPartlan, B Crealey (m), A Nugent (f), N Grimley all 0-1 each
Derry: S McGuigan 0-7 (4fs), C Glass 0-3 (1m) E Doherty, L Murray, P Cassidy, D Baker, E Bradley all 0-1 each
Armagh: B Hughes; A McKay, B McCambridge, P McGrane; C Mackin, T Kelly, A Forker; N Grimley, B Crealey; S Campbell, R O’Neill, J McElroy; R Grugan, C Turbitt, O Conaty. Subs: R McQuillan for McGrane blood (10-62), J Duffy for Campbell (50), G McCabe for Forker ((57), O O’Neill for R O’Neill (57), S McPartlan for Crealey (65), A Nugent for Turbitt (67), D McMullan for Mackin (74)
Derry: O Lynch; D Baker, C McKaigue, C McCluskey; C Doherty, B Rogers, D Gilmore; C Glass, E Bradley; E Doherty, E Mulholland, P Cassidy; N Toner, S McGuigan, L Murray. Subs: C McFaul for Bradley (43), D Cassidy for Toner (46)
Referee: D Coldrick (Meath)
