Armagh can thank Big Joe

Armagh celebrate their Ulster Championship success

By Jerome Quinn BBC Sport

A few words of advice for Armagh fans - never mind the referee, never mind the Anglo Celt Cup.

Just thank your lucky stars for Big Joe Kernan.

Yes, the referee was poor, and you have indeed become the first team since the sixties to win three Ulsters in four years (Down, 1965-68), but none of that matters now.

The important thing is that Armagh have been revitalised under the Crossmaglen man who knows about winning All-Ireland titles.

Before you get carried away with your success over Donegal, pause for a moment to remember where you were this time last year.

On the very same weekend, Armagh lost to Galway in Croke Park, and a dream appeared to have ended. All looked lost for the Orchard Boys - beaten for the third year in-a-row at headquarters and labelled the 'Nearly Men'.

Big Joe with the Anglo Celt Cup

One year on, however, Big Joe has brought fresh optimism and things look to have changed for the better.

Oisin McConville is playing better than ever, Benny Tierney has come back as first choice keeper, and Paul McGrane is a consistent force at midfield.

They were all part of the team that won back-to-back Ulster titles, and crucially Kernan has spiced up the team with new players.

John Toal and Aidan O'Rourke have taken their chances, and Ronan Clarke has been a revelation.

His point at the end of the Ulster Final was, for me, the score of the Championship.

Barry O'Hagan collected the kick-out from Tierney, Marsden picked out Clarke, and he stroked it over the bar - as easy as that.

The Armagh supporters went wild and fair play to them too.

Look at the attendances at their four games - over 30,000 on three occasions and 20,000 for the semi-final with Fermanagh.

But back to my advice for the Armagh fans - put the Anglo Celt to one side, because there's the matter of the Sam Maguire.

Do not forget you are only in the All-Ireland quarter-finals, and take it from a Tyrone man, there's no ''back door'' for losers.

Armagh will need all of the experience they have gained, and the extra steel that Kernan has added.

Concerns

When they hit you now, boy you feel it.

Inspirational skipper Kieran McGeeney deserves a plethora of plaudits.

Player of the Championship, probably a third All Star. He has made history as the first Armagh man to lift the Anglo Celt on two occasions.

However, there are still concerns about the Armagh full-back line.

The McNultys and Kieran Hughes further out were exposed at times by the pacey Donegal forwards - something for Kernan to work on.

And what about that referee from Meath? He infuriated Armagh before half-time and he infuriated Donegal fans after half-time.

We had numerous complaints to our television programme, summed up in two very different ways.

Kieran McGeeney was the star of the show

One came from an irate youth officer from Tyrone.

"How do you teach lads to tackle when the referee blows up perfect examples of tackling from both teams," he said. The other was from Pat in Derrynoose: "That referee was as useful as a handbrake in a helicopter!"

What I couldn't understand was how the best referee in Ulster (Pat McEneaney) was running the line at Casement Park on Saturday evening, instead of handling the final on Sunday at Clones.

Martin Smith sent in another complaint about ticket prices at the qualifiers which has been a common theme over the last few months.

He was charged £10 to see Derry-Tyrone, but suggests that the crowd would have been bigger if the admission fee was £5.

Finally, commiserations to Donegal. You gave everything but failed to become the first team to win Ulster from the preliminary round.

And, I'm afraid, you will find it hard to reach the same performance level in less than a fortnight (remember Cavan last year?).

Ulster SFC top scorers

Rory Gallagher (Fermanagh) 4-12 (24)
Adrian Sweeney (Donegal) 2-17 (23)
Oisin McConville (Armagh) 0-19
Brendan Devenney (Donegal) 1-15
Stephen McDonnell (Armagh) 1-9

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