COMING out of a funeral Mass last Saturday, I was approached by a neighbour who stated quite openly: “Mark my words Tierney and all the rubbish you print in thon paper every week, but them hoors from Tyrone will send us to Division Three tomorrow.”
On Monday morning, after all the excitement and general confusion the day before as to who would eventually take the plunge into Division Three, I had to make a phone call to a Tyrone principal currently plying his trade in south Armagh and he answered the call by saying “ Hello, Fermanagh Supporters Club here.”
Don’t get me wrong, I am not in any way a conspiracy theorist and I don’t apportion any blame towards the Red Hands. They had precious little to do with our disappointing return to Division Three - even if few tears would have been shed north of the River Blackwater at our demise on Sunday evening as we somewhat reluctantly wrestled with the news ourselves.
There were so many permutations going into the game, with very few experts who spoke to me giving any indication that they knew exactly what they were talking about. However, if anybody wants to know why Armagh didn’t remain in Division Two then a pretty woeful night in Kingspan Breffni Park is the simple reason why. A 17-point defeat against our Championship rivals Cavan is the stand-out black mark on a campaign which started poorly, but ended quite well with our best performance to date against Derry.
Unfortunately for Orchard county fans, we may have won the battle, but ultimately we lost the war. After being relegated, the mood going into the Championship can be so negative and subdued. Yet I can’t help feeling that there are quite a few positives to take forward to when we visit Kingspan Breffni Park again, where I can confidently predict a far tighter scoreline and a more uncomfortable afternoon for Terry Hyland and his charges than he experienced at the beginning of March.
In their last three games, Armagh should have beaten Galway, showed great character against Tyrone in atrocious conditions while rescuing a deserved draw, and saved their best performance all year for Sunday against a Derry team that is being earmarked as an emerging force.
More pleasing from Geezer’s perspective is that their scoring average has gone up. And while there is a certain degree of pessimism around the fact that Jamie Clarke has opted out this year, a lot of players have stepped up their game - particularly Michael McKenna and Stefan Campbell who have impressed me greatly all year.
If you wanted to enter the Championship on the back of a battling and gutsy performance to stave off relegation then Monaghan boss Malachy O’Rourke and Fermanagh opposite number Pete McGrath will feel galvanised.
They witnessed some real backs-to-the-wall stuff as their teams pulled off dramatic, pulsating results in the last game of their respective divisions. Listening to the drama unfold on the radio, it was very easy to get carried away with the drama and excitement emanating from Castleblayney and Brewster Park, even if some of the reporting from Enniskillen may have been a tad skewed at times.
Roving reporter Ger Treacy, originally from Fermanagh but now residing in Beragh in county Tyrone and married into a well-known Tyrone family, may have to bring his many childer up as Tyronians. However, you got the feeling his blood still runs green given the fact that his voice raised an octave in pitch with pride every time Fermanagh attacked Tyrone in a pulsating last few minutes. He honestly sounded exhausted at the final whistle.
Another Ulster county worthy of merit as it seldom comes their way is Antrim, with Frank Fitzsimons and Gearoid Adams having finally worked the oracle for the Saffrons after years of underachievement. Even more importantly, they maintained their unbeaten record with the draw against Louth which again bodes well for optimism as they head for a League final match with the same county ahead of the Championship.
I wouldn’t say that Down underachieved in Division One as they were punching above their weight in the premier echelon. And while not winning a single encounter tells its own tale, it was nonetheless a spirited performance in their last encounter against Mayo which will give new manager Eamonn Burns some positivity heading towards the summer fare.
The unavailability of some of their star players through one reason or another is a problem that I would have thought in the past would never be associated with the Mourne county. However, if Eamonn Burns had a full complement of players to pick from then the negativity surrounding their performances to date would be nothing more a temporary problem.
Probably the most impressive Ulster county throughout the League has been Cavan. They have produced some great results in their run to promotion after losing their first two matches to Tyrone and Derry respectively. I look forward to seeing how they perform against Tyrone in their Division Two final to see if they can maintain this impressive run.
Donegal have reached their League semi-final without doing anything that dramatic. Their match with Dublin might also prove to be a good pointer as to their aspirations later in the year. I said prior to the beginning of the League that Tyrone, Monaghan and Donegal are slightly ahead in terms of quality and strength-in-depth than the rest in Ulster and that you could pretty well throw a blanket over the rest in relation to their ability to beat each other on any given day. I haven’t really seen anything that has changed my opinion in that department.
I must finally add my commiserations to all at St Patrick’s, Maghera after they very nearly defied all the odds against a previously unchallenged Killarney team in the Hogan Cup final. Had they received that little bit of luck and a few correct decisions from the officials necessary on these big occasions then the story could have been so much different.
