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Armagh and Tyrone renew rivalries at Croke Park a decade on from classic series of clashes

Sean Cavanagh (centre) is set to face his brother-in-law Charlie Vernon (left) as Tyrone meet Armagh again at Croke Park. Picture by Seamus Loughran
Sean Cavanagh (centre) is set to face his brother-in-law Charlie Vernon (left) as Tyrone meet Armagh again at Croke Park. Picture by Seamus Loughran Sean Cavanagh (centre) is set to face his brother-in-law Charlie Vernon (left) as Tyrone meet Armagh again at Croke Park. Picture by Seamus Loughran

ONE of the GAA's great rivalries will today be renewed on the pitch that helped make it famous, as Tyrone and Armagh meet at Croke Park for the first time since their classic clashes more than a decade ago.

Families, friends and in some cases neighbours will be divided as the counties do battle for a place in the All-Ireland semi-final.

More than 80,000 fans will be descending on GAA headquarters for a double-header which also features Dublin against Monaghan.

Armagh edged their last championship encounter against Tyrone in 2014 at an All-Ireland qualifier at Healy Park in Omagh.

However, the match in Dublin is the first in Croke Park since their titanic tussles in 2003 and 2005.

Tyrone won by three points in the 2003 final to win Sam Maguire for the first time, while there was little to separate the neighbours during three bruising meetings in 2005.

The Ulster final that year, played in Dublin, went to a replay which was won by the Orchard County but Tyrone were to have the last laugh with a dramatic one-point victory in that year's All-Ireland semi-final, considered one of great games in the history of the association.

The rivalry is perhaps felt most acutely in the village of Moy, where the River Blackwater separates Armagh from Tyrone.

The Moy Tír na nÓg club boasts Tyrone captain Sean Cavanagh amongst its players, but has members from both sides of the county divide.

Cavanagh's own wife Fionnuala hails from Armagh and he is set to line out against his brother-in-law, Charlie Vernon.

Philip McQuade, a member of the club committee at Moy and a Tyrone supporter, said there was "nervous excitement" ahead of the game.

"It is a situation where Armagh are on a bit of a run, so we are a wee bit cautious but Tyrone have been kicking about this stage for the last few years," he said.

"Our club is fairly mixed and there has been a bit of banter at training.

"My mother is an Armagh woman and she just can't watch the two sides playing each other."

He added: "There would be a lot of our younger lads going down to the match who wouldn't have any memory of those games (2003 and 2005), believe it or not, but that period definitely did see the membership go well up in our club."

Regardless of which county emerges victorious, the Moy man also said "most people" will get behind their neighbours as one of the two pushes for another All-Ireland title.

The rivalry also extends to politics, where West Tyrone MP Barry McElduff said he was the victim of a drive-by "Up Armagh" shout yesterday from party colleague and Camlough man Conor Murphy.

"I've already seen Tyrone play Armagh in the O Fiaich Cup final in Crossmaglen and they were a very spirited outfit," he said.

"Armagh people are not unlike Tyrone people in spirit and personality, but all similarities and bonhomie will be cast aside for 70 minutes and more this afternoon," he said.