All to play for in Armagh

By Shaun Casey

FOR some teams in the Orchard County, their season is all on the line in the final round of the group stages, while others have already been knocked out of the SFC with one game remaining.

Armagh Harps, Silverbridge and Tullysaran are all lingering at the bottom of their groups and no matter the results this weekend, none of those three teams can save their seasons.

The Harps face Culloville this weekend in a complete dead rubber. The Harps are out while Culloville have already topped the group and booked their place in the final eight.

In Group A, Maghery and Granemore will battle it out on Friday night for second place, but both are through to the playoffs next week regardless of how things pan out.

Group B is extremely interesting as Killeavy, Clan na Gael and Cullyhanna can all mathematically finish at the top of the pile, or in third place.

Cullyhanna need to beat Killeavy, and hope Silverbridge surprise the Clans, in order to avoid the playoffs. Killeavy and Clan na Gael drew in round one, and both won their second-round encounters, so are on the same points tally.

If results go as expected, Killeavy and Clans should both finish on five-points, meaning score difference will come into play. As Silverbridge have nothing to play for, and the Lurgan Blues are at home, they’ll be keen to rack up a big score.

Group C is evenly divided with Clann Éireann and Mullaghbawn jostling for top spot while Carrickcruppen and Sarsfields face off in a winner takes all encounter, with the loser seeing their season come to an end.

Clann Éireann won the championship in 2021 and 2024 and welcomed Sean McCarthy and Conor McConville back into action last week. Mullaghbawn are a rising force on the Armagh scene with youngsters Fergal O’Brien and Martin McKinley impressing in recent weeks.

Carrickcruppen are on home turf on Sunday afternoon and having reached the quarter-finals last year, will be disappointed if they don’t make it out for the group. Sarsfields have been relegated back to Intermediate for next year, so have nothing to lose.

Tullysaran are out of Group D and the big meeting this weekend is the clash of county champions Madden against Crossmaglen. Those two teams, along with Dromintee, can still claim the number one place.

If Madden and Dromintee win, then it’ll come down to score difference and the Raparees are +16 after demolishing Tullysaran. Dromintee will likely need to win by more than that to leapfrog Madden.