Latest news with #Dublin-Armagh
Irish Examiner
3 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Farrell and McGeeney prepare to put friendship on hold
'Our manager, their manager, they're great friends so looking forward to a serious contest,' is how Ciarán Kilkenny, fresh from an illuminating individual performance against Galway last Saturday week, previewed Sunday's Dublin-Armagh clash. Dessie Farrell and Kieran McGeeney's origins story is well-known. They formed a mutual appreciation society to get the better of Conor Deegan who had joined Kilmacud Crokes in 1997 and was part of the Stillorgan team that beat Na Fianna in the '98 Dublin SFC final. For that and the bragging rights he had over them as part of two All-Ireland winning Down teams, Deegan was their target. McGeeney's older brother Patrick followed as did Cullyhanna's Des Mackin. By 2005, Mobhi Road had become an Orchard as two more of McGeeney's Mullaghbawn and county team-mates, the McNulty brothers Enda and Justin, had transferred. Enda McNulty dispelled the theory that McGeeney had been paid to play for Na Fianna, pointing out the only thing they received was free fruit (is it any coincidence Armagh are now sponsored by Simply Fruit?) After Paul Caffrey had led them to the first two Dublin titles, Farrell's current right-hand man Mick Galvin, who had played the two previous seasons, was manager when the club claimed the three-in-a-row in 2001. The 1999 success was the club's third ever crown and first in 20 years. They haven't claimed one since. Regaling a story about the pair's final days in the yellow and blue, McGeeney once gave an insight into how tight they were. 'I remember myself and Dessie and Senan (Connell) and Justy (McNulty) went to a friendly game. The craic going down in the car was brilliant. 'We bounced out on to the field, you'd swear we were a bunch of young fellas. And on the way home, my knee was done, he's (Dessie's) Achilles was done, Justy's hip was done and Senan's hamstring. All four of us limped into the car. There's nothing like a wee bit of reality just to let you know that you're old.' Those bonds don't break and with for nearly every step that the Gaelic Players Association (GPA) took towards recognition in 2010, McGeeney was with Farrell. From the GPA's first press conference in Belfast in 1999 when they travelled from Dublin together to McGeeney being secretary as Farrell held the chief executive role before the latter bowed out soon after becoming Kildare manager for the 2008 season. For their monotone, sometimes gruff exteriors, there is a kindness to them. Those experiences have made them players's managers. There are many tales of the lengths McGeeney has gone to for his men, ones that should stay private, but it is obvious there Is more than one side to him. 'Deep down, I think he likes to have a wee go at the media,' said Rian O'Neill last July. 'He likes to wind ye up a little bit. It's good to see you fighting back at him but he's a smart man.' The appreciation for Farrell among his group came through loud and clear after their 2023 All-Ireland success. 'I just thought some of the shots at him the last two years were disgraceful, to be honest,' said James McCarthy after that year's final. Both have had their brushes with the authorities, of course. In 2017, McGeeney was suspended for 12 weeks following an incident involving linesman Joe McQuillan in a league game against Antrim. McQuillan is the man in the middle for Sunday's game. Farrell was banned for a similar period when Dublin were found to have breached the pandemic lockdown rules and the GAA's training ban in March 2021. But neither have stopped pushing the envelope. Both haven't shied away from querying the Football Review Committee in public and this year Armagh and Dublin have been at the forefront of exposing the limitations around the team registration protocols. For Armagh's Ulster opener against Antrim, they made two late changes to the squad – James Morgan and Daniel Magee being introduced. That same weekend, Dublin did the same for their Leinster quarter-final win over Wicklow as Stephen Cluxton and Cian Murphy were replaced by Hugh O'Sullivan and Niall Doran. The weekend before last, Seán Bugler emerged from nowhere to begin the All-Ireland group win over Galway. Last weekend, Rian O'Neill did the same against Derry. If the pals are comparing notes how to get around having to name a 26-man championship match-day panel on a Thursday, it would be no surprise. After all, over recent seasons they have grown to consider each other's team as their optimum challenge game opponents but now for the first time since Farrell followed McGeeney into inter-county management in 2020 they meet in championship. Afterwards, there will be handshakes and arm-holds but in the seconds and minutes between McQuillan's first and final whistle, their brotherhood is parked. Speaking on 'Off The Ball' last Saturday, Farrell's former team-mate Paddy Christie spoke of Farrell's stubbornness and the incredible competitive streak that he saw both at county and club where Christie's Ballymun Kickhams and Na Fianna were the keenest of local rivals. McGeeney has described himself as 'a stubborn sort of fucker'. Birds of a feather flock together.
Irish Daily Mirror
4 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Omerta around infamous 2015 Dublin-Armagh challenge game still holds 10 years on
The Dublin-Armagh rivalry is thin in terms of competitive meetings - but they have found their edge elsewhere. Sunday's clash at Croke Park will be just the counties' sixth ever Championship tie and first since 2010, though they have crossed paths a couple of times in the League in recent years. But a challenge match that they played 10 years ago that virtually nobody got to see and the result of which is long forgotten, is still remembered for all the wrong reasons. Before the throw-in, Dublin's Davy Byrne suffered facial injuries which sparked a full scale brawl. Byrne required hospital treatment and the CCCC investigated but with all parties remaining tightlipped, not much came of it though both counties were hit with hefty fines. The GAA's then director general Páraic Duffy expressed his frustration around the episode in his annual report some months later. 'The efforts of CCCC to investigate the matter followed an all too depressing pattern,' he wrote. 'Even though the name of the player alleged to have been responsible for Davy Byrne's injury was in general circulation, no assistance was forthcoming from the counties in bringing the player to account.' When asked yesterday, Dean Rock didn't shed much further light on events of that day in DCU. 'We had played a couple of days previous in the Leinster final,' he said. 'We had guys who didn't get enough minutes and squad players who were identified to play that game. 'I was doing some frees and we were doing some small bit of a skills session at the time and then there were a few roars, and then turned into a jog and a sprint up to see what was going on.' Armagh weren't regular challenge game opponents of Dublin at the time and they certainly weren't after that, though that has changed in recent times given the relationship between Dessie Farrell and Kieran McGeeney. 'At that time under Jim [Gavin], certainly not,' says Rock. 'Like, we would have played a lot of challenge games probably against Cork and Monaghan and Cavan. They would have been the ones we would have played most of the time. 'But yeah in recent years under Dessie, it certainly would have been Armagh. So in the last couple of years, there could have been six, seven challenge matches against Armagh. So there would be a lot of familiarity there and understanding with each other. 'There has been probably kind of a healthy rivalry in many ways built up, not in competitive games, but off the field and different things. So that's just the relationship with Dessie and Kieran.' Rock, who retired after Dublin's 2023 All-Ireland win, gave his take on Rian O'Neill resurfacing with Armagh last weekend after his self-imposed exile. Diarmuid Connolly made a similar mid-season return for Dublin as they chase five-in-a-row in 2019, which was the source of some discontent within the squad, though Rock says 'I don't see any downside to it'. 'It's another exceptional player coming into the group who's obviously going to challenge other players because he wants to get in and get more minutes and then everyone else has to up their game to prove that they deserve the jersey. 'So I think in that regard, it can only be positive. Look, they're a close-knit group up in Armagh as well, it's not the biggest county, so they've got good relationships up there with each other, I'm sure, and I'm sure they'd welcome him back with open arms. 'I think the best thing for Armagh now is that it's now done and there is closure to it. I mean, he's fully back now, he's back in the mix and there's no question marks hanging over them anymore. So it's now, you know, full throttle now on the All-Ireland pursuit again.' He added: 'The big question marks will be can he get to the level he got to last year? And based on maybe the training that he has or hasn't done, or hasn't been exposed to, that could be a big question mark for him personally. 'But even if you got the best out of him for 45, 50 minutes, it could be the difference in a lot of these tight games.'
