MOMENTUM swung across the county line between Down and Armagh throughout the 1990s. In the early part of the decade Pete McGrath’s Mournemen held the whip hand but by 1999 Joe Kernan’s Armagh had seized the momentum.
For both counties, dominance in these duels has been a forerunner to All-Ireland success and as the counties prepare for Sunday’s Ulster semi-final at Clones Benny Tierney looks back at some of the memorable ding-dong battles with Andy Watters…
A special derby
THE credit card went ‘beep’ and the kids’ faces broke into smiles. Down jerseys were doing good business in the Newry O’Neill’s store on Wednesday as the Mourne faithful got kitted out for a trip to Clones.
That night the Down U20s won the Ulster title and there is a feeling that the county is on the march again.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve had one like this,” says Benny Tierney.
“Everybody is interested in it and it’s been in every conversation. Even in the school here (St Peter’s PS, Cloughreagh) we have a few Down supporters and the slagging is getting going and I love that. It’s been a long since Armagh and Down has been talked about like this.
“Everybody is looking forward to it and don’t be fooled, anybody can beat anybody in the Ulster Championship in a derby match. Down will have respect for Armagh but they won’t fear us. They’ll have a go and you never know what can come out of a derby. Look at the results last weekend – Offaly beating Meath and Louth beating Westmeath…”
If the red and black was flying off the shelves in Newry, you can be sure the McKeevers store in Craigavon was shifting plenty of Armagh gear too.
Yes Down are making progress but they still have ground to make up on Armagh who went to Kingspan Breffni and beat Cavan by five points last Saturday night. Being favourites doesn’t always sit well with Armagh and there’s always that nagging doubt in Orchard county folk…
“If Down get a good start you never know what might happen,” adds Benny.
“I’d like to think Armagh might have enough but there’s still that wee nagging sensation in the back of your head that you always get against Down because there’s a lot at stake.”
June 9, 1991, Ulster Senior Championship quarter-final: Down 1-7 Armagh 0-8
IT was June but summer took the day off on that wet and windy Sunday at the Newry Marshes. Umbrellas up on the terraces, the greasy ball, mud flying, men sliding…
The counties had met twice the previous year. James McCartan’s two goals earned Down a draw in the first meeting (an Ulster semi-final) but 1-3 from the outstanding Kieran McGurk saw Armagh clinch a one-point win.
So there wasn’t much between them and, since neither county had won Ulster in almost a decade, expectations were low when the 1991 Championship began.
Tierney had made his senior debut in 1990 and by 1991 he had been joined in the Armagh side by former St Colman’s College team-mates Jarlath Burns (whose son Jarly Og will line-out for Armagh on Sunday) and John Rafferty who was given a man-marking job on James McCartan, another College old boy.
Damien Horisk also made his first Championship start and at full-back for Armagh was Gareth O’Neill whose versatile son Rian will have a major role in this latest chapter.
Gary Mason, Brendan McKiernan and Peter Withnell all made their debuts for Down. Greg Blayney was outstanding and it was Withnell who earned the penalty that swung the game the home side’s way.
Mickey Linden took it and Tierney dived athletically to his left but Linden’s strike was a rare moment of quality in the game and the ball whistled into the corner of his net.
“I have vivid memories of not saving that,” says Benny.
“I think the ball was hitting the net as I started to move. It was one of those penalties where it might have looked on TV that I just missed it but I can assure that it nearly hit me on the way back as I was diving.
“Mickey was a great striker of a ball and he hit that one well. I was well beaten so I’d have to give that one to Mickey.”
That penalty was the difference and Down won by two points but the victory didn’t convince the sceptics that holiday plans for July and August might need to be altered.
No-one saw an Ulster title in Down, let alone a Sam Maguire.
“In those days there were no big buses going to games, you headed for the car and went home,” says Benny.
“I remember coming out with my head down. Obviously you’re not happy when you lose and you don’t want to meet people –you just want to get into the car and get away home as quickly as possible.
“But I met James McCartan’s dad (James senior). I had known him through playing for the College because James (junior) had been playing and his dad went to all the matches. So he saw me with the head down and he says: ‘Ah don’t worry about that Benny, the pick of those two teams wouldn’t win an All-Ireland’.
“Going on the performance that day, and it was a dire day, you could see where he was coming from but then Down just went on the march, as they did. A Down team could look very ordinary in the early stages but they had that belief and that talent and when they got on a role they were very hard to stop.
“We didn’t go any further obviously but they went on to win an All-Ireland and that was the story of that day.”
August 1, 1999: Ulster Senior Championship final: Armagh 3-12 Down 0-10
GLORIOUS sunshine at Clones and a pendulum swing the Orchard County’s way. Down had won All-Irelands in 1991 and 1994 but the stars of those great sides were fading and the new faces hadn’t reached the level of an Armagh outfit that was heading for the very top.
Tierney had a handy time of it as Oisin McConville (whose 2-7 was more than the entire Down team managed) and Diarmaid Marsden ran riot the other end.
“It was a strange phenomenon for us to give Down the beating that we gave them that year,” says Benny.
“I suppose, looking back on it, Down were on the road a long time and there were a lot of miles on a lot of the legs when – apart from the old goalkeeper – we had a young team. The likes of Marsden and McConville were getting going and Paddy McKeever was only 18 years of age. So there was a freshness about us in ’99 and we knew we were going somewhere.
“That was one of our best days ever in Clones and we did to Down what they had normally done to us over the years.”
Sunday, April 30, 2023: Ulster Championship semi-final: Down ? Armagh ?
THERE have been occasional spikes on the monitor here and there, but Down have been mostly flat-lining since 1999.
Eamonn Burns’s side shocked Armagh in 2017 and came close again in 2019 but the memories of glorious heydays were gathering dust and rust until the appointment of Conor Laverty as manager at the start of this season united the county under the red and black banner.
Armagh have to be favourites for Sunday’s renewal of this rivalry but the old ‘swagger’ shows signs of returning to the Mournes.
Nothing puts the wind up Orchard county natives like a confident Down side.
“You’d be very foolish to think that Armagh will have it all their own way on Sunday,” says Benny.
“You just have to look at the Down U20s to see there’s a bit of a lift going on in Down at the minute and you have to hand it to Conor Laverty, he has reinvigorated Down. They’ll be going to Clones on Sunday a bit like we used to go – they’ll go with a lot of hope but they have a realistic chance and they’ll put it up to Armagh.
“If Armagh go into the game with any complacency it will come back to bite them. Down are a team that is definitely on the up and Conor has them singing a sweet tune.”
