All-Ireland Senior Football Championship qualifying round one: Armagh 1-16 Tyrone 1-10
THERE was no punching of the air along the line when the long whistle finally sounded. Instead, beneath the baseball cap, a half smile crept across Kieran McGeeney’s face as he unfolded his arms and embraced those nearby.
Elsewhere, pandemonium. In the stands, on the field. Supporters streamed onto the lush green grass from all corners to celebrate with their heroes, and to savour the kind of moment they have been largely starved of across the last decade and more.
When Armagh got the better of Tyrone in the 2014 All-Ireland qualifiers, they beat a team in transition; a side struggling to find a new identity as, one by one, the old guard exited the stage.
Yesterday, before their own people, Armagh beat the defending All-Ireland champions. That it was the Red Hand reign they ended only added to an unforgettable occasion for the hordes storming the scene of battle.
Questions hung in the air for both counties heading to the Athletic Grounds yesterday – Tyrone, having scaled the steps of the Hogan Stand just nine months earlier, bore the burden of expectation.
After being so brutally outfought and out-thought by Derry, surely they couldn’t let their grasp on Sam slip so soon? Never write them off, we were told. And, on the evidence of last summer’s escapades, it would have taken a brave soul to back against them summoning something from somewhere.
Yet they weren’t at the races, pure and simple. Armagh were too hungry, too strong, too quick, and the six point margin of victory at the close flattered Tyrone more than it did the Orchardmen, their fall from grace rubber-stamped on enemy sod.
The post-mortem about what went wrong, the exodus of experienced personnel, could run on behind closed doors - but that is for another time. This was Armagh’s day.
There can hardly be a manager whose Championship record has undergone the same kind of scrutiny as McGeeney. After eight years at the helm, that is only to be expected.
But the noise was turned up in the past six weeks, the devastation of being so routinely swept aside by Donegal not only a hammer blow to any hope of ending a silverware drought stretching back to 2008, fresh doubt was cast on just where Armagh were headed under his stewardship.
For the Mullaghbawn man, the beating heart of the Orchard sides that went to war with the Red Hands during the Noughties, yesterday has the potential to be a watershed moment. No other victory since McGeeney took up the reins in 2015 comes close in terms of significance.
At last his Orchard outfit have shown that, on the Championship stage, they can beat the big guns. That has to give them a huge surge of confidence as they await this morning’s draw. None of those in the mix for this weekend’s next round of qualifiers will be too keen on pulling Armagh’s name from the hat – the manner of yesterday’s victory making sure of that.
And yet, when Conor McKenna rattled to the net four minutes in to temporarily silence a raucous home crowd, it looked like the All-Ireland champions might just have rediscovered their mojo. Michael McKernan was the catalyst, driving into the square and when his low shot came back off the legs of Armagh ’keeper Ethan Rafferty, Rory Brennan laid off to McKenna who made no mistake.
Three minutes later a Brennan shot dropped short, Michael O’Neill got his fist to it in the square and Rafferty was forced to scramble around the post. These were nervy moments for the Orchard faithful.
But when they found their flow, there was no looking back. And Rafferty, having already showed his worth at one end, would threaten to steal the show at the other as Armagh took control.
His booming kick-out over the Tyrone press – sorely missing the suspended Brian Kennedy around centrefield - led to the Orchard’s first score, the livewire Stefan Campbell laying off to Rory Grugan. He instantly switched possession to Aidan Nugent, who swiveled away from Peter Teague and curled over. Simple.
And, with the eyes of the country on Ulster once more, there could surely be no dissenting voices this time around as an entertaining tussle opened up.
Rafferty came in for criticism after Donegal, but there was no scar tissue from Ballybofey as he sauntered up the field unchallenged and, looking left and right almost in disbelief at the amount of space he has been afforded, sent an exocet between the posts from distance. It wouldn’t be the last time either.
That is the conundrum Rafferty poses for opponents. A converted forward, one good enough to play there for Armagh across several campaigns, he carries a serious threat from any kind of distance. As Tyrone learned, you stand off at your peril.
That sent the Orchard two up and when Nugent cut in from the end line to slot beneath Niall Morgan and make it 1-3 to 1-1, it began to look ominous for Tyrone. Further goal chances followed in the space of two minutes as Armagh threatened to run riot.
First Campbell, in acres of space, opted to play in Nugent rather than the wide open Rian O’Neill, with Morgan shutting out the danger. It is in situations like these where decision-making has to improve.
Next it was Stephen Sheridan looking at the whites of Morgan’s eyes, his rising shot soaring over the crossbar rather than under it as Armagh moved four ahead. It should have been more and when Tyrone, inspired by Darren McCurry, closed the gap to one at the break, the old worries about Armagh’s ability to kill off opponents began to resurface.
Yet those fears were unfounded on a day when the Orchard weren’t to be denied. They went at Tyrone with everything after the break, determined not to let this chance slip.
Richie Donnelly came on at half-time to offer another aerial option, but he was lost to a black card within three minutes. The lead was soon back out to three, then four… the roars of approval from the crowd cranking up every time the ball sailed between the posts.
The only time the Athletic Grounds fell silent was out of concern for Armagh sub Connaire Mackin when, 10 minutes from the end, he was stretchered off with what appeared to be a serious shoulder injury.
Just three minutes earlier, Mackin had made a crucial interception yards from Armagh’s open net after Rafferty had been robbed in possession – a goal then could have had a huge bearing on the final moments, therefore his contribution to a momentous day cannot be understated.
Heading down the straight, where their heels have clipped the final fence on so many occasions before, the Orchardmen retained their focus, crossing the line with a flourish as a beautiful Andrew Murnin score kickstarted the celebrations.
Tyrone have gone - have Armagh arrived? The challenge now is to make sure yesterday represents something meaningful, and doesn’t just become another fleeting memory.
Armagh: E Rafferty (0-2); J Morgan, A Forker, P Burns; A McKay, G McCabe, J Og Burns; S Sheridan (0-1), B Crealey; R Grugan (0-1), S Campbell (0-2), C O’Neill (0-1); A Nugent (1-1), R O’Neill (0-4, 0-3 frees), J Duffy (0-1). Subs: C Mackin for P Burns (32), C Turbitt (0-1) for O’Neill (HT), A Murnin (0-2) for Duffy (59), J Hall for Nugent (59), M Shields for Mackin (68), R McQuillan for Sheridan (70+4)
Yellow cards: B Crealey (21), R Grugan (39), J Morgan (35+4), J Duffy (40), R O’Neill (54)
Tyrone: N Morgan; P Teague, R McNamee, P Hampsey; M McKernan, P Harte (0-1), R Brennan; C Kilpatrick (0-1), F Burns; C Meyler, M O’Neill, C McKenna (1-0), N Sludden; M Donnelly, D McCurry (0-7, 0-5 frees). Subs: K McGeary for Teague (30), R Donnelly (0-1) for Sludden (HT), D Canavan for Burns (50), C McShane for M Donnelly (55), M McGleenan for O’Neill (70+3)
Black card: R Donnelly (38-48)
Yellow cards: M McKernan (35, second half), R Brennan (70+10)
Referee: D Coldrick (Meath)
Att: 16,292
TACTICAL TAKE
ARMAGH
FAIRLY conservative in the early stages as they felt their way into the match but, with neither side pressing up on kick-outs in the first half, the central area was going to hold the key – and Armagh bossed this department.
McKay and McCabe provided protection as Tyrone struggled to break through the centre, while the work-rate of Sheridan, Crealey, Rian O’Neill and man-of-the-match Stefan Campbell set the tone from the off.
Goalkeeper Ethan Rafferty, and Armagh boss Kieran McGeeney, came in for some criticism in the wake of their Ulster Championship exit to Donegal six weeks earlier, but both deserve credit on a day Orchard followers won’t forget any times soon.
Rafferty’s booming kicks went over the top of the Tyrone midfield time and again as Armagh took control, while the converted forward showed Ballybofey hadn’t shaken his confidence as he came up with two class scores from play.
The intensity of the tackle and numbers forcing turnovers had Tyrone in a tailspin, while the pace of the ball into Aidan Nugent and Jason Duffy left the Red Hands chasing shadows at times. The only concern the Orchard will have is the scoring return for opportunities created – they could have blown Tyrone away much earlier had they gobbled up some of the goal chances that came their way.
TYRONE
THE absence of Brian Kennedy around the middle was keenly felt. Alongside Conn Kilpatrick, the twin towers were crucial to Tyrone’s All-Ireland success nine months ago, and yesterday they simply didn’t have the size, or bring the physicality, to live with a fired up Armagh.
It was no surprise to see captain Hampsey move onto Rian O’Neill, but the decision to put Championship debutant Peter Teague on Aidan Nugent – arguably Armagh’s best player this year – was questionable. Hindsight is a wonderful thing of course.
Teague couldn’t get to grips with Nugent’s pace and was replaced before half-time, with Michael McKernan eventually going onto the Cullyhanna ace.
Defensively, Tyrone haven’t themselves in this Championship - and while Armagh scored one goal, they could have finished up with four or five had better options been selected.
Bringing a man of Mattie Donnelly’s stature into the fold, even after a couple of months without any competitive inter-county action, could seldom be deemed a risk but he was unable to make any impact, while the Red Hands were so reliant on Darren McCurry to pull a rabbit from the hat that they never looked like dragging themselves back into contention.
