Safety first for Armagh at Croker

By Shaun Casey

WHOEVER leaves Croke Park on Saturday night with the two-points will take a massive step towards safety and that will be the objective for both Armagh and Dublin.

They are two teams that have had great success from Division Two in recent years. Dublin captured Sam Maguire in 2023 from the second tier while the Orchard County followed suit twelve months later.

There’s been a serious turnover of players in both squads since those years however, and both counties will feel they can still offer a lot at the highest level.

Armagh currently rest inside the relegation zone, with two-points to show from five games, from their first-round win over Monaghan. The Dubs have also defeated Monaghan and overcome an in-form Roscommon two weeks ago to sit on four-points.

In the game Ger Brennan’s men have lost, they’ve been second best by a long shot. Even against Monaghan on Jones’ Road, they were below standard, but the quality of Con O’Callaghan dragged them over the line.

The Cuala clubman didn’t line out against Roscommon the last day out, and if he’s unavailable on Saturday, it’ll give Kieran McGeeney’s men a major boost.

But the rest of the tried and tested names on the Dublin team sheet really stood up against their Connacht opponents. Niall Scully, Seán Bugler, Paddy Small, Eoin Murchan, Ciaran Kilkenny and Brian Howard all led the line.

For Armagh, they have been playing well and virtually doing everything right, they’re just not converting their chances in front of the posts. For example, they had 36 shots against Donegal but only registered 0-19.

Dropping out of the top tier certainly wouldn’t be the end of the world, but Armagh, and McGeeney, fought so hard to get to that level that it would be a shame if they can’t hold on.

But unfortunately, sport is cruel and they can have nobody to blame but themselves. That being said, they are still missing a huge amount of experience like Rory Grugan, Aidan Forker, Aaron McKay and Barry McCambridge to name a few.

They are also lacking a real threat from outside the arc and with Ethan Rafferty making a late outfield cameo against Mayo two weeks ago, perhaps that’s a tactic we’ll see at Croke Park this weekend.

Armagh haven’t rattled the net since the opening round either but have an eye-watering amount of talent at that end of the field. When it clicks, they’re going to rack up a huge score some day, and Saturday could possibly be the day.