The order has changed in Ulster. Derry won the Anglo-Celt for the first time in 24 years and at the weekend Armagh turned the tables on Donegal to join the new champions in the All-Ireland quarter-finals.
Armagh have attracted good notices this year, starting with the devastating display that beat Dublin on the opening night of the league. Their kicking game turns possession into attack quickly and menacingly.
They took a while to get on top of Donegal but the indications were there from the start when Man of the Match Rian O’Neill fired a free, awarded at the throw-in, into Rory Grugan who took a great catch, landed and finished to the net all in the space of 10 seconds.
Grugan said the team had worked on potential moves from the start.
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“I suppose a throw-up can be a set piece. It’s one of the few times that it’s 15 on 15. You can get early ball into the forwards without any massed defence. You try to make the most of it.
“It was a fairly agricultural pass in and it broke down for us and we were able to get the goal. It was nice to get a score. You work on those things all the time and it’s rare that it comes off. If you come away with a score it’s good; if you come away with a goal, brilliant.”
O’Neill may have views on his precise ball being described as “agricultural” but it was a typical illustration of the instincts Armagh have been working on for a long time.
Their attention to Shaun Patton’s kick-outs, normally a strength for Donegal, paid out spectacularly. Having already coughed up one kick-out that nearly ended in disaster, the goalkeeper went short again to Brendan McCole and Grugan put in the tackle that dislodged the ball, which culminated in an attack that yielded a penalty, dispatched by O’Neill.
“You have to pick your moments,” said Grugan. “Sometimes you get time to get up and get a squeeze after a free or if there’s a lot of men up the pitch. Other times you give it up and just have to defend from a wee bit deeper. A couple of times we were able to get a decent press on and those short kicks around the D are sort of precarious if your first touch as a defender isn’t good when you win it.
“The ball just spilled away from one of the defenders and you have to try to capitalise with a goal. We got the penalty and Rian tucked it away to get maximum reward.”
The cascade of scores turned around a match that Armagh trailed, despite the early goal, by four, which changed the dynamic of the contest, according to Grugan.
“When you have the lead you can play the game at a different pace, play it on your terms. You can pick off a point and keep the ball for a while and then pick off another. They then have to come out of their shell . . .”
Croke Park has already provided happy memories this year and he’s pleased to be getting back for the All-Ireland quarter-final against Galway.
“Everyone wants to play in Croke Park. That’s players in general but as a team and the way we play, that’s where you want to be.”
