All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Group 2, round 3: Armagh v Galway (Saturday, Carrick-on-Shannon, 4pm, live on RTE2)
LAST year’s epic battle between these counties ended in disappointment for Armagh but that was viewed as an appetiser for the glory this season was expected to bring.
After falling behind in the game, Armagh produced a thrilling comeback and took the lead, only to be pegged back and then pipped at the post…
That sequence of events has a familiar ring to it for Orchard county fans who have seen their county come so close, so often that now, for the first time in a long time, they haven’t taken up their full allocation of tickets for this game and Pairc Sean MacDiarmada, capacity 9,300, is not sold out.
Armagh have been riding by the seat of their pants throughout this group phase. Opinion supposed that they were understandably jaded after their Ulster final loss against Derry when they laboured to a fortuitous one-point win over group outsiders Westmeath in their opener.
But those groggy signs were still there a couple of weeks ago in Omagh when Armagh looked edgy and frenetic, missing three goal chances before Tyrone pulled away and Rian O’Neill was red-carded. There was a late fightback but the Orchardmen had left it too late.
Armagh have been criticised for being over-defensive and the two changes Kieran McGeeney has made could hardly be described as attacking. Maghery defender Ciaran Higgins and Paddy Burns both come in for their first starts of the campaign in place of suspended Rian O’Neill and Jarly Og Burns who has been named on the bench.
McGeeney has made changes to his team for every game of this campaign and sometimes you wonder if he knows what his best team is. He must do of course and although he does make alterations here and there he keeps faith with a core group of players – eight have started every game including Sunday’s and Ben Crealey, Conor Turbitt, Conor O’Neill and Andrew Murnin have started six of the seven.
What is at stake in Carrick-on-Shannon? Well, Connacht champions Galway cannot be knocked out now. The Tribesmen have beaten Tyrone (by three points) and Westmeath (by eight) so far and will progress to the knockout phase but they will want to top the group and earn a weekend off and a home quarter-final against a preliminary round winner.
Victory will mean Armagh could take top spot depending on the result of Tyrone versus Westmeath and if Westmeath were to cause a shock and beat Tyrone at Kingspan Breffni and Armagh were to lose they could exit the competition on scoring difference.
So there is plenty riding on this game for Armagh and after the ‘perfect’ storm that saw them relegated from Division One, the Orchardmen will be doing all they can to keep their destiny in their own hands.
O’Neill’s absence is a major blow to the side. The go-to man for long-range free-kicks and 45s, it was his score that forced extra-time in last year’s classic at Croke Park. A ball-winner in midfield and a tower of strength in his own square, the Crossmaglen clubman will be missed but Conor Turbitt did seem to flourish in his absence in the early rounds of the Championship.
The Lurgan native was introduced as a second half substitute in the League game against Galway in Armagh back in March. A low-scoring affair was decided when Matthew Tierney hammered home the Tribesmen’s goal a minute from time.
Galway wanted it more that evening and manager Pauric Joyce has named 10 of the players who started then for Sunday’s rematch. Also back in are Damien Comer, who has caused the Armagh defence headaches in previous meetings, Peter Cooke and Cillian McQuaid, who scored 1-2 last year, is back in midfield.
Armagh have not been consistent in midfield this year. Their own kickout strategy has malfunctioned at crucial times and they have invariably conceded the opposition’s restarts.
If Galway get enough of the ball, they will hurt the Orchard defence and the full-back line – with Higgins and Paddy Burns getting their first starts – will have their hands full against Comer and Shane Walsh.
Armagh need this more and, as always, you feel they could be one performance away from kicking into top gear but Galway, if they are fully focussed on getting top spot and have an axe to grind after the row at Croke Park last year, get the nod to shade it in Leitrim and leave Armagh hoping for a favour from Tyrone.
Galway: C Gleeson; J McGrath, S Kelly, J Glynn; D McHugh, J Daly, C Hernon; P Conroy, C McQuaid; M Tierney, J Heaney, P Cooke; I Burke, D Comer, S Walsh
Armagh: E Rafferty; P Burns, C Higgins, A Forker; G McCabe, A McKay, C O'Neill; C Mackin, B Crealey; J Duffy, R Grugan, C Cumiskey; C Turbitt, A Murnin, S Campbell.
