Rory Grugan stars as Kieran McGeeney's Armagh dump Dublin and seal All-Ireland SFC quarter-final spot
KIERAN McGeeney hailed 'one of the best players I've ever seen' as Rory Grugan steered Armagh to the All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals.
Captain Grugan stepped up to the plate again with eight points as the
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Armagh boss Kieran McGeeney hailed Rory Grugan as one of the best players he's ever seen after the win over Dublin
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Armagh handed Dublin their second defeat of the 2025 campaign
They've still got a game to go against Galway in the round robin but can't be caught at the top.
The funny thing was, boss McGeeney was frustrated with their performance.
He reckoned they should have been more clinical in attack for starters, wasting a number of goal cances.
And he said they were let off the hook by Dublin's woeful shooting at the other end with the hosts drilling 17 wides.
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Armagh still looked the better side overall with five two-point scores proving the difference in the five-point win.
Prodigal son Rian O'Neill nailed three of those two-pointers in just his second game back after an extended break.
Grugan grabbed the other two-pointers and was named Man of the Match.
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Boss McGeeney said: "I've said it for years, I think Rory's one of the best players I've ever seen.
"He's outstanding, has been for us for years. You always look at it from a different perspective when you're involved.
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"You see it from the inside out rather than the outside in. You see what he brings. It was another good performance from him.
"We had a lot of good performances there today. Darragh McMullan was exceptional again. So was Oisin Conaty.
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"Now Conaty definitely got plenty of attention but he was still outstanding for us. I thought everybody put in good shifts, just the conversion rate when we were in goals was very poor."
Armagh had a slow start and were lucky to be only three points down after the opening quarter.
But they dominated the second quarter, hit the interval with a four-point lead and kept Dublin in their rear-view mirror for the entire second-half.
It's back-to-back wins for Armagh after taking care of Derry in Round 1.
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But it's back-to-back losses in Championship games at Croke Park for Dublin who lost their last game at the venue too - the 2024 quarter-final against Galway.
And beaten Leinster semi-finalists Dublin have now lost two games in the one Championship campaign for the first time since 2010.
They can still potentially win the All-Ireland and only need a draw in Round 3 against Derry to finish second in the group.
But things are looking a lot rosier for Dublin manager Dessie Farrell's former clubmate McGeeney.
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The Armagh chief said: "There was definitely a mix of the good and the bad but look, with the way results have gone, we're through and you would take that every day of the week.
"To be able to top the group is a testament to the way the boys put their shoulder to the wheel."
And 'Geezer' promised that the beaten Ulster finalists won't be going through the motions against Galway in what is a repeat of last year's
He said: "No, you can't do that. You can't because you'll go soft. We're going to be playing, to me, one of the top three teams in it.
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"They were beaten by a point or two by Dublin, and they drew with Derry. Galway, to me, are still one of the top three or four teams in the country.
"They'll be smarting because they know how good they are. If you go soft into that game, you could lose players and you could lose a whole lot of other things as well."
O'Neill wasn't at his very best on just his second start of the year for Armagh - but still nailed those three two-pointers.
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Dublin were without Con O'Callaghan and lacked both his calming presence and razor sharp finishing.
They were 0-6 to 0-3 up after the opening quarter but were relying heavily on Cormac Costello for inspiration.
Costello tortured Paddy Burns and clipped five first-half points, three from play and another from a free that he won off Burns.
But seven bad wides in the half cost the Dubs and Armagh came roaring back into it in the second quarter.
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Armagh kicked three two-pointers in that period and outscored Dublin by eight points to take a 0-13 to 0-9 half-time lead.
Dublin were even more wasteful in the second-half with 10 wides to add to their earlier seven.
But they were chasing the game at that stage and understandably opted for two pointers, seven of which flew wide.
Costello and Paddy Small did kick a couple of long-range scores but techical errors killed any chance they had of a landmark win.
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Three times in a row they breached the 4/3 rule. The first two times they failed to keep three forwards up the pitch when Armagh were attacking. On the third occasion one of Dubin's four defenders went over the half-way line while Dublin were attacking themselves.
It all added up to three simple 20-metre frees for Armagh that were meat and drink for Grugan.
Goalkeeper Ethan Raffery burst forward and pinched a point from play too. And there were scores from subs Stefan Campbell and Joe McElroy, along with the influential McMullan.
Tiernan Kelly made a huge steal on Dublin sub Eoghan O'Donnell late on as well, celebrating it like a score.
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Armagh 0-24
Dublin 0-19
Armagh: E Rafferty 0-1; P McGrane, P Burns, B McCambridge; R McQuillan 0-1, T Kelly, J Og Burns 0-2; J Duffy, B Crealey; D McMullan 0-1, R O'Neill 0-6, 2 tp, 1 tpf, O Conaty 0-2; R Grugan 0-8, 1 tp, 1 tpf, 4f, C Turbitt 0-1, A Murnin.
Subs: S Campbell 0-1 for Turbitt 52, J McElroy 0-1 for Duffy 63, T McCormack for Grugan 67, N Grimley for O'Neill 68.
Dublin: S Cluxton; D Byrne, T Clancy, A Gavin; S MacMahon, B Howard 0-1, S Bugler 0-3, 1 tp; P O Cofaigh Byrne, C Kilkenny; K McGinnis, N Scully, C Basquel; P Small 0-4, 1 tp, C Costello 0-8, 1 tp, 3f, L O'Dell 0-1.
Subs: L Gannon 0-2 for Basquel 20, J Small for Gavin h/t, T Lahiff for McGinnis 48, L Breathnach for O'Dell 48, E O'Donnell for Scully 60.
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Ref: J McQuillan (Cavan).
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ARMAGH will play Galway in Round 3 of the All-Ireland SFC on June 14/15 at a neutral venue
DUBLIN will play Derry the same weekend, also at a neutral venue
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