Armagh boss Peter McDonnell pointed to his side's experience as being the decisive factor in their Ulster SFC semi-final victory over Down. McDonnell was also delighted with the Orchard County's response to losing Martin O'Rourke to a red card early in the second half. He said: "Sometimes when you go to 14 men it sparks a reaction in people. Down went in at half-time having got to grips with midfield and it took us a few moments to settle on the structure once we went down to 14. "But it seemed to motivate the players to work that wee bit harder." The primary school principal, in his first season in inter-county management, added: "We could quite easily have capitulated there. Everything was going against them. But they demonstrated their determination and that experience - the likes of Paul McGrane, Stevie McDonnell, Ronan Clarke and Aidan O'Rourke. I wouldn't want to trust that job to young fellows." McDonnell was in doubt that Armagh will need to improve for the Ulster final against Fermanagh in three weeks. "The team got a result today. But we had a lot of work to do. We gave possession away at times. We created opportunities in the first half and didn't take them. We dropped balls at crucial times. We found ourselves caught in corners and didn't come out of the corners the way I would like us to. "There is loads there for us to work on and, to tell you the truth, I would much prefer it that way. We are going into an Ulster final against Fermanagh, who are similar to Down, and today was good preparation in that respect." Tweet

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