All-Ireland winner Kieran McGeeney met his Kerry match yesterday in stunning bride Maura O’Rahilly.

WHAT is it about this generation of Kerry player that their All-Ireland final appearances tend to get twinned with another?

BENNY TIERNEY agrees. There might be something in the Mullaghbawn water. Kieran McGeeney a manager, Justin McNulty a manager, Margaret Byrne being named the chief executive of Sunderland AFC this week.

PUNDIT or inter-county coach — Oisín McConville could be forgiven for getting confused.

MEETING someone who clearly wants to knock your head off, but kindly refrains from doing so, can be an unsettling experience for most people.

KILDARE’S Padraig O’Neill admits the team jumped a mental hurdle in Sunday’s All-Ireland quarter-final win over Meath.

DARRAGH O SÉ believes that Kingdom supporters will not appreciate the current Kerry team until they’ve gone.

DARRAGH Ó SÉ played his 67th championship match for Kerry in last September’s All-Ireland final.

IN AN era of flagging midfield dynamism the retirement of Darragh Ó Sé has stripped Gaelic football of a priceless commodity and tradition.

KERRY and Tyrone may have stolen their thunder a bit by winning the last seven All-Ireland senior football championships between them, but the Armagh team that annexed the title in 2002 retains an aura that fascinates to this day.

NEWLY-APPOINTED Monaghan trainer Paul Grimley is not set to make a dramatic re-entry into the race for the vacant Armagh football manager’s post.

ARMAGH legend Joe Kernan has ruled out a return to county management following Peter McDonnell’s shock resignation for the post.

MOST of them are only players in our minds now. On DVDs, decaying VHS tapes and in old photos.

PERHAPS one of the greatest achievements of Armagh football since their reemergence as a force in Ulster football 10 years ago is that they have succeeded in imposing themselves on the public consciousness so effectively that even as they face the All Ireland champions in Clones tomorrow, many are reluctant to write them off.

THERE are so many questions about this game in Clones tomorrow, relating to the comparative strengths of a Tyrone team hoping to retain the All-Ireland football title at the third attempt and the short-term prospects for an Armagh outfit which has been weakened by a gradual drain of the best of their championship-winning side of 2002.

THEY have been judged by their failure to win more than one All-Ireland as much as they have their phenomenal record in Ulster but Armagh captain Ciaran McKeever is adamant that the thirst for provincial honours has not been quenched.

OWEN MULLIGAN has described the criticism of Sunday’s Ulster Championship tie between Derry and Monaghan as “over the top”.

BRIAN DOOHER cannot yet commit to lining out with All-Ireland champions Tyrone against Armagh on May 31, saying at yesterday’s launch of the football championship in Croke Park that while he was ‘not far away’, talk of him having a 50-50 chance of being fit might be optimistic.

SEÁN CAVANAGH described it as “the million dollar question” — and he wasn’t talking about Tyrone’s prospects of retaining their All-Ireland football title in September.

Armagh midfielder Paul McGrane is retiring from inter-county football, it has been revealed.

PETER McDONNELL, who had the unenviable task of trying to replace charismatic Joe Kernan as Armagh manager has refused to rule out current captain Paul McGrane and Oisin McConville being involved again next year.

ARMAGH 0-12 WEXFORD 1-14

WEXFORD fans will want to take more home from Croke Park this afternoon than the memory of a first ever championship meeting against Armagh.

LONG AFTER the invading orange masses had departed the St Tiernach’s Park pitch Armagh manager Peter McDonnell stood alone and surveyed the battleground, puffing on a cigar he’d saved for victory.

Armagh 1-11 Fermanagh 0-8

Armagh 2-8 Fermanagh 1-11

Cavan 0-13 Armagh 0-17

Cavan 0-13 Armagh 0-17

Armagh have received a major boost with the news that Francie Bellew will start for them in Sunday's NFL Division 2 league clash with Cork in Crossmaglen.

The size of the task interim manager Paul Earley and his successor face in ressurecting Roscommon football was plain to see at Parnell Park tonight as they were hammered 3-20 to 0-7 by an unforgiving Dublin side.

Monaghan 1-11 Armagh 1-10, Clones

2002 All-Ireland winner and All-Star Aidan O'Rourke is expected to see action for Armagh during the 2008 Gaelic Life Dr McKenna Cup.

Armagh's 2002 All-Ireland winning captain Kieran McGeeney has announced his retirement from inter-county football in the wake of Joe Kernan's decision to step down as manager of the Orchard county.

Armagh will have a blend of old and new on show when they begin their Ulster SFC title defence against league champions Donegal on Sunday at Ballybofey throw-in 4pm.

2007 may have provided contrasting fortunes to date for both Donegal and Armagh with the latter struggling in the National League while the Tir Chonaill men tasted a first ever success in that competition.

Laois 1-13 Armagh 0-8, O'Moore Park

FIRST Omagh and now Crossmaglen. For eight years, Armagh and Tyrone have held Ulster football in their vice-like grips but the twin towers of the northern game both came a cropper on home soil against their provincial brethren this weekend.

In a game of bizarre goals, Derry emerged as five-point victors as some excellent shooting from centre forward Conleth Gilligan propelled them past Armagh.

Armagh 1-09 Louth 0-11

It is likely to be a key match-up in Sunday's All-Ireland SFC final, but Mayo's Ronan McGarrity is playing down the importance of his midfield battle with Kerry kingpin Dara Ó Sé.