'Armagh v Tyrone semi-final has the makings of a classic'

BBC News

25-04-2025

Not that the Ulster Championship has been bad this year - far from it, in fact - but Saturday's semi-final between Armagh and Tyrone is probably the first game that really gets you out of your seat.Last weekend's quarter-finals had plenty of entertainment value. Down's win over Fermanagh at Brewster Park was a great spectacle and Monaghan gave Donegal a scare in the second half at Clones, but a first Tyrone and Armagh game in the Ulster Championship since 2012 will attract serious interest all over the country.Armagh and Tyrone have played out some of the most memorable championship games in my lifetime, and with the chance of making the Ulster final on the line, this weekend should be no different.There should be a huge crowd in Clones, too, so it has all the makings of an Ulster Championship classic.Both teams finished the league on seven points - Armagh survived while Tyrone were relegated - and had reasonably comfortable quarter-final wins, so they wouldn't have learned a great deal, but that is sure to change come Saturday evening.This will be an interesting battle of squad depth. Both teams have marquee players but the depth of their panels is the real strength.Interestingly, when you look at Armagh for this game, it's difficult to tell who will start and who will come off the bench because they have so many options, even with a sizeable injury list.
'Expect extra-time'
Tyrone are in a similar boat. Against Cavan, all but two of their starting line-up scored. Thirteen different scorers in a championship game is no mean feat and a lot of it came from solid team play, suggesting they are starting to click into gear at the right time.Their 1-24 tally with 13 different scorers shows they are not reliant on Darragh Canavan, but having him back fit for Saturday would be a huge boost to their hopes. He would add a new dimension to their attack and cause the Armagh defenders a serious headache as to who picks him up. With Canavan, Tyrone pack a real punch, but Armagh have serious firepower too and they got a lot of joy from their two-pointers against Antrim from Oisin O'Neill, Rory Grugan and Ethan Rafferty. It is a difficult one to call. Armagh are All-Ireland champions but haven't won an Ulster title since 2008, so that has to be in their minds. They were impressive against Tyrone in the league, but that was three months ago and the first round of Division One. This is a different level of intensity.It is a huge afternoon for Tyrone as well. They haven't performed overly well in Ulster since winning it in 2021, and from playing under Malachy O'Rourke for Monaghan, I know how highly he values provincial success. Tyrone took Donegal to extra-time in last year's semi-finals and I can see this one being tied after 70 minutes, too. If I'm sticking my neck on the line, Tyrone might shade it in extra-time but I'd fully expect these two to keep us guessing right down to the final kick.
'All going to plan for Donegal'
As for Sunday's game, it's hard to see Down stopping this Donegal machine. Beating Fermanagh would have taken a lot out of Down, both emotionally and physically, because they looked in serious trouble with 10 minutes to go.Down did well to pull it out of the fire but Fermanagh forced them to dig deep. Those types of games can be difficult to recover from and the fact that Donegal are moving so well only makes the task even more difficult for Conor Laverty's side.For Donegal, it looks like everything's going to plan so far. They beat Derry comfortably and did a lot of things well against Monaghan. In the second half, Monaghan exposed a few gaps in their armoury but Donegal were still the better team. One of the impressive things about Donegal is they don't force things. Their scores are well-worked and well-taken. With the introduction of the two-pointer, we have seen a lot of teams trying to force the issue, but Donegal always seem to know when to attempt the two-pointer and when to string a few more passes together and take the single score. So many of their players are in-form, too. Shaun Patton is having a great year and is arguably the form keeper in the country, Peadar Mogan was impressive against Monaghan and Daire O Baoill seems to play well every week now. Add in the scoring power and experience of Michael Murphy, Patrick McBrearty and Ciaran Thompson and it looks like Donegal are trending in the right direction as they build up for a serious tilt at the All-Ireland. This Ulster series has featured a lot of courageous performances from underdogs: Antrim, Fermanagh, Monaghan. As a neutral, you're hoping Down can do the same against Donegal, but Jim McGuinness has only lost one Ulster Championship game over his two Donegal stints and it's hard to see that record changing on Sunday.