Geezer ready for “tough” Dublin visit

By Shaun Casey

IT’S 14 years since Dublin last visited the Cathedral City back in 2011. It was a season where they would ultimately end a 16-year wait for an All-Ireland title, but little did they know the history they were about to create in the years after.

Now as they travel north again, it’s Armagh who are the reigning holders of the Sam Maguire and that makes for an interesting contest. Dublin are one of the in-form teams in the division, while the Orchard County are more concerned about the bottom end of the table.

Kieran McGeeney’s men have three points on the board, with last week’s draw against Mayo adding to their round two victory over Tyrone. The only points Armagh have grabbed this year have been on home turf, which may be a good omen ahead of Saturday.

“It’s a big one, Dublin are playing well at the minute,” said the Orchard boss. “They’re like a machine, they just keep producing players and they’re a big, strong team. Division One is tight but we’re looking forward to it, having the Dubs coming up to Armagh.

“Dessie (Farrell) is a good friend of mine and it’ll be a big game. They’ll be tough and they’re going rightly at the minute. It’s going to be a tough one but that’s what Division One is all about, there’s no easy ones.”

Reflecting on the Mayo draw, McGeeney was able to pick out the positives. Armagh were eight up at half time but a second-half revival from the Westerners saw Armagh scramble for the final two scores of the game to earn a share of the spoils.

“It’s another point on the board and you have to take that,” added McGeeney. “We had our chances but the way the game is played now, seven or eight points is not a big lead, especially if there’s a breeze.

“It was disappointing that we gave up 1-4 during that black card time, which was a big blow to us. We just to have tidy up on the discipline side of things.

“There were positives, we worked the ball well, but we had a couple of bad wides at the beginning of the second half that would have kept us that wee bit ahead.

“But giving that up in the second half and still being able to come back from two points down with two minutes left was good so there’s definitely pluses from the second half too.”