Armagh have scoring power to win battle of champions

RTÉ News​

3 days ago

They may be complaining of dead rubbers in certain other sports but there's none of that in the All-Ireland Football Championship this weekend, especially not in the fearsome Group 4.
The last two All-Ireland champions collide in Croke Park, the first time they've met in championship in Kieran McGeeney's reign. Meanwhile, things could be getting edgy up in Derry, where Galway need a result.
I know few enough people saw it but the Armagh-Derry game was a fairly rip-roaring affair.
Kieran McGeeney was talking before about how it's nearly impossible to defend in the new game, with all the enhancements brought in to make forwards' lives easier. He probably saw nothing to change his mind last weekend.
Armagh were on top for most of the game and with 15 minutes left, it looked like they'd give them a right pasting. Their range of scorers was especially impressive, with Conor Turbitt, Oisín Conaty, Andrew Murnin and Ross McQuillan all clipping over points at will.
Derry were headed for a defeat not that dissimilar to their league loss in Armagh a few months ago. Then they hit two goals in a minute and the game took off in another direction entirely. It was a chaotic finish and Derry could have hit a bagful more of goals.
You could have driven a fleet of Ulster buses up the middle of the Orchard defence in the last 10 minutes and Derry seemed to make a goal chance every other minute.
Brendan Rogers fired so many shots at Rafferty in the second half, he ran out of bullets.
For Armagh, it might have been a litle alarming. If you're allowing that much open space in the Athletic Grounds, then Croke Park won't be any more forgiving in that regard.
By 66 minutes, the gap was down to four points, which with the two-point arc and a wind behind them was a managable deficit. But Derry missed a late two-point effort and the All-Ireland champions held out.
I know Geezer attributed the scare afterwards to the spate of substitutions that were made when the game looked to have been settled. Running the bench can leave you a little shapeless and disjointed if you're not careful or alert.
Strange to say, it's up front where Dublin might have issues in this one, especially if Con O'Callaghan hasn't recovered from the injury incurred against Galway.
While Armagh have been running up big tallies, the Dubs have been more modest on the scoring side of the ledger and Colm Basquel and Cormac Costello have been pretty wasteful in the last couple of matches.
So much hinges on the Cuala man's availability, not just on account of his own brilliance but the minding he takes which allows space for his team-mates.
McGeeney has only managed Armagh in two competitive games against the Dubs (and one fairly hot and heavy challenge match, I believe), both of which were in the league.
They've won the two of them. With their scoring power, I'd back them to make it three this weekend and take control of the group.
The other match in the group has even more riding on it as Galway take on Derry.
Whoever loses here could be staring down the barrel of elimination which would be hard to stomach for Galway, given the hype that's surrounded them for much of the summer.
We're still waiting for the Derry team of 2022/23 to re-emerge. Zero competitive wins from 10 games in 2025. Have they a scalp in them?
They showed a bit of life in the Athletic Grounds, particularly in the attacking sense. We know they have the players.
It's a big game for Galway's much-vaunted middle third. They were wiped in the first half he last day. Not alone that, Galway were the only team not to beat Derry in Division 1, after being killed on breaking ball in the second half in Celtic Park. They were lucky enough to scrape a draw in the end.
As is often the case with Galway, we're waiting with bated breath for what combination of forwards is named. Padraic Joyce was dropping suggestions the last day that Damien Comer was close to a return but then we won't know until the team is named - and possibly not for a couple of days after that.
The outlet he offers could be especially potent against Derry. We saw how he destroyed them in the All-Ireland semi-final a few years ago and they've been conceding goals by the boat-load this year. Considering Galway's attacking depth and Derry's porousness, I'd expect Galway to win but it's a dangerous game.
It's potentially a last-chance saloon game for Mayo in Omagh after what has been a fairly turbulent week - my God, was it turbulent...
A loss here and it's hard to see them chasing down Donegal in the final round, especially if score difference is in the mix.
We all had a shock at the start of the week when news emerged that Kevin McStay had taken ill was and was in hospital. Fortunately, he's recovering, albeit stepping back from the role for a little bit.
We're all wishing Kevin the best in his recovery, a man who has given so much to Mayo football as a player and a manager.
As he said in his statement, he'll be with the players in spirit this weekend, with Stephen Rochford the man in charge for the trip to Tyrone.
On form, you can't make a case for Mayo but in the circumstances, with the emotion of the situation, you wouldn't be that shocked if they pulled something ouf of the fire.
Watch Dublin v Armagh in the All-Ireland Football Championship on Sunday from 3.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1. Highlights on The Sunday Game at 9.30pm