WON & DONE

McGuinness has winning formula yet again...but there's work to do

- PADDY TIERNEY

JIM MCGUINNESS hailed Donegal's resilience as his men condemned Armagh to a third straight Ulster final loss.

The 28,788 fans in attendance at St Tiernach's Park were treated to a game for the ages with Niall O'Donnell the extra-time match-winning hero on Saturday.

The GAA's disciplinary bodies may take a dim view of some of the unsavoury scenes after the full-time whistle, but that ought not to detract from a sensational game between two of the leading contenders for the Sam Maguire.

"Armagh are All-Ireland champions and it was the All-Ireland champions against the Ulster champions - we didn't want to give that crown up," said McGuinness. "We did not want to give that crown up but we had to go to the same level as we went last year to retain it.

"It would have been a very, very long run down the road having got beat in the position we were in with 69 minutes on the clock. There were huge learnings for us."