THERE'S a curious incongruity to the fact that, while Armagh and Mayo contest Saturday's Nicky Rackard Cup final, Meath will still be in their Croke Park dressing-room preparing for the main event.
Armagh and Mayo both beat Meath just weeks ago in Division 2B of the Allianz National League, yet it's the Royal County, as Ring Cup finalists, who are just a game away from competing in the MacCarthy Cup.
Armagh won the Division 2B title outright and defender Ciaran Clifford agrees it is "odd" now to be aspiring to Meath's level just weeks later. Indeed, if Meath beat Antrim in the Ring decider, then they could very well be operating two Championship tiers higher than Armagh in 2017.
All of that merely confirms for Clifford that Armagh are making significant progress and are not as far away from a great leap forward as people may think: "It's definitely strange seeing the same teams that you defeated this year then playing at a level above you," he said.
"It makes you think about where you can go, but we have to be careful because, as we seen last year, we looked a wee bit too far ahead and it came back to bite us. Roscommon beat us in the Nicky Rackard final, but even watching them going on giving Down a very good game in this year's Christy Ring and hammering Derry shows there's very little between the teams at this level at the minute.
"There seems to be almost two seasons in one, the league season seems to be very different to the Championship. Like in football, if you're a Division Two team then you'll beat a Division Three team and if you're a Division Three team then you'll beat a Division Four team.
"But hurling is different. Just because you're in Division 2A or 2B, it doesn't necessarily mean you're going to beat a team from Division Three come the summer. It definitely makes things interesting."
Mayo beat Armagh by eight points just a month ago in round 2A of the Rackard Cup though, only weeks previously again, Armagh prevailed by seven points in the league.
If that suggests a draw is a decent bet approaching this weekend's rematch, consider that Armagh have arguably more motivation to succeed after losing last year's final in agonising circumstances.
Armagh took the lead in the 27th minute of that game through Conor Corvan and held it until the 72nd minute, only to be suckered by a Roscommon goal from a free which stole the game.
"It was the last puck of the game," winced Clifford.
"Not good memories, no. It's not a nice place to be, getting beaten in any final, but getting beaten the way we did was particularly tough. It was more the fact of how they won, a free, the last puck, our goalie hadn't even time to take the puck out.
"My one clear memory is of being hunched over on the 21, just thinking of all the training that had gone in since November. Okay, it's a level three All-Ireland, but you still put the same work into the Nicky Rackard as the Armagh footballers put into their Ulster championship campaign. To lose it the way we did was just very, very disappointing."
There is a clear opportunity to atone this weekend, however, and perhaps even inspire: "Once boys around the county see the bit of progress with hurling then hopefully there'll be a bit of a sway towards that," said Clifford.
"You might get four or five extra hurlers next year because we'll be in Division 2A and lads might say, 'you know what, I fancy that'. Obviously, winning the Nicky Rackard would be a big help that way."
Mayo's challenge for a first Rackard title looks set to be aided by county football star Keith Higgins. He played for Mayo in the Connacht Championship against London last weekend and is currently in camp with Stephen Rochford's panel in the English capital, but is expected back to play at Croke Park.
"Hopefully we'll have him, that's the plan," said Mayo's Eoghan Collins, a club and county colleague.
"They're over in London at the minute so, if he comes home unscathed, we'll have him. He's class. It just comes to him so easily. He could be a couple of weeks or a couple of months out of hurling and he'd pick up a hurl and, within three or four days, he'd be the most skillful man on the pitch. He gets it back in the click of a finger."
Collins described Mayo's Rackard campaign as like a mini-Ulster championship having competed against Tyrone, Armagh and Donegal to reach the decider: "I've found the Ulster lads just physically big lads," said Collins.
"We played Meath and Wicklow in the league as well and they were physical, but a bit quicker. We'll just be trying to get up to our speed and maybe hurl a bit quicker than Armagh. Hopefully, Croke Park will suit us too."
