By Niall McCoy

ARMAGH manager Kieran McGeeney has identified one area where his team still have ground to make up on the top teams in the country – their on-pitch mindset.

The Orchard county boss was delighted with their performance as they defeated Monaghan 1-16 to 1-12 last weekend in their first Division One game since 2012. He said that Saturday’s clash with Tyrone at the Athletic Grounds was another step up though, and another chance to get up close to a team that has the mental side of the game finely tuned.

Whatever the outcome – and a win would bring a first Division One semi-final for Armagh since 2005 within touching distance – it’s sure to be a learning curve. That is why McGeeney has been preaching the need to be playing top-flight football for so long.

“It’s probably mentality, same as every sport,” he said when asked where the gaps still existed compared to the leading lights.

“We were a bit better (defensively), Ciaran (McKeever) has added a bit more bite to it.

“You watch a game and then you watch it a second time and it’s a good bit different.

“To me that’s all linked to mentality. You get back and you make contact and you make contact. Being aggressive and all that stuff, that’s a choice.

“Muscle and pace isn’t the problem with anyone anymore, everybody has got it. If it was down to information we would all have six packs and be millionaires. Applying it is a different thing.

“I suppose the battle. That battle when you feel like you can’t go on a wee bit more.

“If you look at the last 15 minutes between Donegal and Tyrone, it’s nearly like shadow boxing. It’s not all-in physically but it is mentally.

“Getting a free-kick, taking three or four minutes to take it, annoying things, putting things down – there’s just a different mentality with teams that are able to control a game. Those battles will be key to us, we have to get them.”

Continued learned has always been a theme for ‘Geezer’, and the side’s 12-point hammering at the hands of Donegal in last year’s Ulster semi-final was a sign of the road that still had to be travelled. The ruthlessness displayed by the Tir Chonaill county spoke volumes to the Orchard manager.

“Eight minutes, 1-6. You go to sleep, you can do that in the second or third division, you might get two or three points scored against you. Quality teams will put in 1-6. Some of the silly mistakes we made, they were like schoolboy stuff.

“These boys wouldn’t normally do it but it’s just when pressure comes on, and if you have the team on the other side of it who can really punish you.

“Sometimes you can make those mistakes on a day and think they’re not too bad, you’re not going to get punished, but you come against the Dublins, Kerrys, Tyrones, Donegals, they’ll put that 1-6 in in those eight minutes.”

This, of course, will be the second all-Ulster meeting for both Armagh and Tyrone with Monaghan and Donegal completing the Division One North picture.

McGeeney said that he didn’t know if the familiarity was a good thing or a bad thing ahead of the round two clash.

“It’s a hard one, it can get very incestuous alright. At the same time they’re first division teams and you’re going to be playing them anyway. It’s just that it’s three in-a-row.

“There are different styles of football. I don’t think it makes that much difference, I genuinely don’t.

“It’s fair to say, no disrespect to ourselves or Monaghan, that Tyrone and Donegal are in the top four or five teams in the country on their day.”

With the All-Ireland Championship only a matter of weeks away, some managers may be forgiven for keeping one eye on that particular competition, especially with the straight knockout format in place for a second season.

McGeeney, however, said that they would be going all out for the win against their neighbours.

“I have yet to be in any set up since I was fit to kick a ball where a manager said ‘listen, we don’t care about this match, we’ll see how it goes.’

“Everyone else puts different importance on it when you’re outside it but every team I’ve ever been with goes out to win every game. You might hold a player back if they have a niggle or something like that, but everyone tries to win.

“I think we need more games, not less. Everyone complains about the training and that stuff so give us more games, less training. It’s a very easy solution.

“The way the league has gone over this past number of years, McKenna Cup, three games, straight into the league, seven games. Four weeks later you’re into the championship.

“It’s completely different from when we played. It’s bang, bang, bang, bang, it’s just games all the time and I think it’s a better way.

“I’ve said it before, I’d love to see home and away games, 14 games, Cut out the provincial cups because most of them are getting four or five games in that anyway. It’s only another two games.”