Ulster say yes to travelling south

Joe Kernan can leave his home in Crossmaglen and arrive at the gates of Croke Park in 50 minutes, presumably while driving within the speed limits. For the Armagh football manager the fact that Sunday's Ulster final has been moved to GAA headquarters is as much a convenience as an extra incentive to win.

Mickey Harte sat at home last year while Ulster took their football showcase outside the province for the first time. Now his Tyrone team are out to regain their Ulster title, and what better stage to do it on than Croke Park. Sometimes you can please all of the people all of the time.

"I think it's great for the teams and the supporters," said Kernan. "The success of Ulster football over the last few years has brought all this about, and the following for all the Ulster counties is so much better than ever before. So many families can come down now at a reasonable price, and to limit it to the 35,000 in Clones would have been a shame."

Last year 67,136 descended on the capital to watch Armagh do battle with Donegal, and a crowd close to Croke Park's capacity of 82,000 is expected for Sunday as Armagh do battle with Tyrone - possibly the fiercest of rivals in Ulster football.

"I think it's definitely the right decision," agreed Harte. "Clones and Casement Park have served us well, and will continue to do so, but when you have the situation where more people want to go than can be facilitated in their own province then where else would you want to go but Croke Park? I know I was quite envious last year watching it, and I'm very much looking forward to going there on Sunday."

That's where the niceties ended, however, when both managers came face-to-face yesterday at the Bank of Ireland centre in Dublin. Both Armagh and Tyrone believe they can and will win on Sunday, which if everything goes to plan is just a stepping stone to winning the All-Ireland.

"Like any final when you're in it you have to win," added Kernan. "And if you can't raise yourself for a final there's obviously something wrong. This title is definitely there to be won for both teams. If you lose you will be gutted, because you don't want to go the other route. And if you win you hope that will spur you on to greater things."

A year ago Armagh put in a performance that instantly made them All-Ireland favourites, but they then fell in their quarter-final against Fermanagh.

"What happened after we won in Ulster last year was a disappointment. But you can't turn back the clock. Last year is gone now, and you can only try to win the next one. We're in a situation now where we can do that," added Kernan.

There are those that believe Sunday's final should carry a parental advisory such was the intensity of some of the earlier rounds of the Ulster championship. Both managers have expressed satisfaction that Monaghan's Pat McEnaney will referee. Yet Kernan is not worried about producing football as smooth as a rhapsody: "I still think we take unfair stick. Some of the games we've played over the last few years have been very entertaining. We have brought more intensity into the game, but I don't think that's a bad thing.

"We'll be judged on our results in years to come, and if we get the results that we hope we should do, we won't care what the so-called purists do."

Harte, meanwhile, has a little more to worry about in that his team has been chopped and changed with surprising regularity this year, and some questions do remain about their form. Several of his more experienced forwards are now playing in the defence.

"It hasn't been that extreme," suggests Harte. "I think the modern players are a lot more adaptable anyway, and don't have the sense of one position. But necessity is the mother of invention, and that did play into it as well. If you lose a few players like we did then you've got to find replacements, and I think of every player on my team as footballers, and not positional players.

"But consistency does make winners, and we can't say at this stage of the season that we've been a consistent team ever since 2003. We're always trying to get back to that position, but we can only take it each game at a time. I believe we'll have to get back to that level if we are to achieve what we want to."

One player Harte is not worried about is Peter Canavan - scorer of 1-7 in the semi-final replay with Cavan.

"I think he did very well in the drawn game against Cavan, and definitely helped keep us in the game. But Peter knows himself that he'll have to reproduce that form on Sunday. But there's plenty more to Peter Canavan, there's no denying sthat."