'HA ha, McGeary! Slap it up ya!'
'Footballer of the Year, Footballer of the Year!' 'All-Ireland Champions, All-Ireland Champions!'
'We showed you how to win it!'
'We've done it four times now, well!'
If the on-pitch rivalry between Armagh and Tyrone had abated for a few years, as this columnist pointed out only last month, it never went away in the stands - and in the bars.
The above exchanges loudly punctuated the closing moments of the recent Dr McKenna Cup meeting at Healy Park when the visitors held on for their first senior win over the Red Hands in seven-a-half years.
The battle for bragging rights will flow on as long as the River Blackwater does.
My own lovely mother always had words of disdain for Tyrone men who went running about after "Armagh women" - some of them even going so far as to marry them.
Although east Tyrone is a hot-bed of Gaelic football, the clubs closest to Armagh are mostly - with all due respect - lesser lights, with even the Moy producing better players than teams; the same goes for Eglish. Derrylaughan has given the Red Hands big Brian Kennedy now, but Derrytresk and Killyman are generally at Junior and Intermediate levels, although the fame of the former's Mick Cushnahan lives on.
West Armagh isn't especially strong for the GAA either, apart from recent champions Maghery on the shores of Lough Neagh. Clonmore, Collegeland, An Port Mor, Tullysaran, and Middletown complete the first line of defence/ attack against the O'Neill County, but the last-named are best-known for hurling.
Yet even so the rivalry between the Orangemen and the red and whites remains intense, and has been ratcheted up ahead of Sunday afternoon's top flight clash by Armagh's excellent opening night victory away to Dublin in Croke Park.
The Athletic Grounds has occasionally been a home away from home for Tyrone football in recent years but the welcome will be hellishly hot rather than warm this weekend.
Armagh would love nothing more than to beat the All-Ireland champions, as McGeeney calls them.
The Red Hands ended Armagh's unbeaten record in round five of Division 1A in 2003, a match remembered more for the lack of a guard of honour at Healy Park for the reigning All-Ireland champions.
No doubt that will be done in the cathedral city this weekend…as it was in 2009, the last time these counties met with one of them holding 'Sam Maguire'.
Tyrone prevailed in that Ulster SFC quarter-final at Clones by 2-10 to 1-10, largely thanks to 1-3 from an attacking star surnamed O'Neill - Stephen. The game's other goals came from Conor Gormley and Ronan Clarke.
Armagh now look to their own O'Neill, Rian, a son of Gareth and a nephew of Oisin (McConville), with the combination of physical and scoring power that you'd dream of from such breeding.
The Crossmaglen lad has been profiting from some throw-back kicks forward by Armagh, those classic long diagonal balls which led to so many scores for the dynamic duo of Stevie McDonnell and Clarke.
Clearly the coaching of Kerry's 'Star', Kieran Donaghy - the son of a Tyrone father - is paying off, as is the Armagh board's patience with manager McGeeney.
'Geezer' has suffered enough tough days and nights at the hands and feet of the Red Hands, as player and manager, including losing the 2003 All-Ireland Final and the 2005 All-Ireland semi-final, before a humiliating hammering, also at Croke Park, in the 2017 All-Ireland quarter-finals.
Beaten by 18 points, 3-17 to 0-8, Armagh must have felt like they'd been run over by an 18-wheeler, and that was a Tyrone team which was then well beaten itself (2-17 to 0-11) by Dublin in the subsequent semi-final.
Armagh's progress, their journey along the road to recovery since that shellacking, has been significant. Promoted as Division Three champions in 2018, they earned promotion to the top flight in 2020.
Tyrone won last year's Division One North encounter in Armagh by five - either side would snap your hand off for a one-point victory now.
Let the slagging continue…
////////////////////////////////////
OK, lads, you have to build a car.
Rafael, you can have four used tyres - sorry, one of them's burst. And some sticky tape. Only used twice. That lovely seat which makes you relax and feel comfortable isn't available at the moment, it's off being repaired. And unfortunately that pricey carburettor has to stay in the garage. Can't say why.
Boooooo! Boooooo! Boooooo! Why can't you get that car motoring, you fraud?!
What's that, darling Frank? Of course you can have those expensive tyres. Do you prefer Michelin or Pirelli? You also have that ready-made seat that wasn't there for Rafael.
The expensive carburettor still can't be used - but we'll bring in two very similar ones so you have a choice if one of those doesn't work out well.
Now sit back and listen as Everton fans and soccer pundits try to tell us how much better a job Frank Lampard does than Rafa Benitez did.
Sure, the Spaniard made mistakes - but he also brought in the club's best two players this season, Demarai Gray and Andros Townsend, for the princely combined sum of £1.7m.
That's probably not enough to pay for a Lampard photo-shoot.
Benitez was criticised for negative tactics and his (lack of) man-management - had anyone at Everton studied his methods over his lengthy career?! - yet those two players he was able to bring in were both goal-scoring wingers.
Lampard has no doubt already endeared himself to Toffees after he shouted and swore at the Liverpool bench for having the temerity to celebrate becoming champions in 2020.
Chelsea, and Lampard, of course, did not celebrate that club's first title in half a century (purchase date 2005).
Trophy celebrations won't concern him at Goodison this season. However, if he is to bring silverware to Everton, and take them into Europe, he'll have to show actual managerial ability, not just rely on club 'owner' Farhad Moshiri magicking up more multi-millions from down Alisher Usmanov's sofa.
Derby fans will also note rich kid Lampard's lack of commitment, unable to resist the lure of his old club, unlike their admirable current boss, a certain Wayne Rooney, who would have been a better bet for Everton in the long-term. Wazza at least doesn't need loadsamoney in order to achieve results.
