Armagh 0-24; Dublin 0-19
What a difference a year makes in this game between the last two All Ireland champions.
On Sunday before a half-filled Croke Park, it was Armagh’s efficiency and Dublin’s wastefulness that largely decided the outcome of this eagerly awaited clash.
The blue and orange mix provided a sea of color backdrop but ultimately Dublin’s 17 wides to Armagh’s half dozen was the major difference between the teams.
Also you felt before the throw-in even that Dublin without their skipper and talisman Con O’Callaghan wouldn’t have the fire power whereas credit Kieran McGeeney for creating a strong panel that can as we have seen go without the likes of Rian O’Neill for long stretches and still win big games.
The aforementioned O’Neill was back on Sunday and boy, does he make a difference to a team. With the luxury of already having qualified, the Orchard County can now decide to field a full team against Galway the weekend after next or give those returning from injury and some fringe talent a chance to shine before the advent of the quarter-final in the following round of games.
Dubs’ Boss Dessie Farrell was totally realistic after the game, citing both the outrageous bad shooting and the three technical 4/3 infringements which cost them three points as core reasons why they failed to win - they failed to keep the designated three outfield players in the other half of the field.
“That wasn’t like us,” he declared and you could sense that he will have his team all present and correct, and hopefully with O’Callaghan back, they will meet a fast improving Derry side head on as both sides battle to stay in this year’s Sam Maguire series.
Armagh’s ability to land two-pointers - how great is it to see this facet of the game become so important - played a big part in their surge to victory in this Group 4 game as they landed five or 10 points via this route with O’Neill showing he had lost none of his old accuracy with a brace of these long shots from play and another from a free situation.
A huge all-round display for Man of the Match Rory Grugan saw him account for eight points in this tussle, with two of the double-pointed variety.
However, the beauty of this Armagh squad is that they are not dependent on any one shooter. In fact by game’s end they had no less than 10 different names on the scoresheet.
If you take away the shooting and technical blunders, Dublin were unlucky in their play as they twice hit the woodwork and left several shots short of the target, some of which resulted in Armagh counter scores.
They got off to the better start and seemed to be building on their surprise win in Galway when they led by 0-6 to 0-3 after 11 minutes with Cormac Costello at that stage impersonating Con in his ability to win possession and take scores on the turn and would score five of his eight points in this moiety.
The two-points gave the winners an extra pep in their step and by the interval they had turned the scoreboard around to lead by 0-13 to 0-9.
It was noticeable even at this stage that the energy of the likes of Jarly Óg Burns, Oisin Conaty and Grugan was beginning to tell and once they made a huge surge in the third quarter, Dublin were left chasing the game.
Not helped by their increasing wide count, they saw the men in orange benefit from three tap-over frees arising from the three breaches of the 4/3 rule which Grugan gleefully accepted to put over from close in every time.
Conaty's 30th minute point, when he burst through two Dublin defenders and split the posts with a cool left-footed finish, was a case in point.
Dublin continued to rack up the wides after the break.
It wasn’t all disaster for the Dubs and when Costello and Paddy Small landed a two-pointer each, it gave the blue fans hope but the irrepressible O'Neill scotched notions of a comeback by landing his second and third two-pointers to put his side clear.
Armagh: E Rafferty (0-1); P McGrane, P Burns, B McCambridge; R McQuillan (0-1), T Kelly, J Óg Burns (0-2); J Duffy, B Crealey; D McMullan (0-1), R O'Neill (0-6, 2 tp, 1 tpf), O Conaty (0-2); R Grugan (0-8, 1tp, 1tpf, 0-4f), C Turbitt (0-1), Andrew Murnin Subs: S Campbell (0-1) for Turbitt (52), J McElroy (0-1) for Duffy (63), T McCormack for Grugan 67, N Grimley for O'Neill (68).
Dublin: S Cluxton; D Byrne, T Clancy, A Gavin; S MacMahon, B Howard (0-1), S Bugler (0-3, 1 tp); P Ó Cofaigh Byrne, C Kilkenny; K McGinnis, N Scully, C Basquel; P Small (0-4, 1 tp), C Costello (0-8, 1tp, 0-3f), L O'Dell (0-1) Subs: L Gannon (0-2) for Basquel 20, J Small for Gavin (ht), T Lahiff for McGinnis (48), L Breathnach for O'Dell (48), E O'Donnell for Scully (60).
Ref: J McQuillan (Cavan).
