Return of the men from La Manga

BACK to Clones for Armagh, tomorrow. The bottle-necked market town has become like a summer home for Armagh people over the past few years.

Well, until last year, when they came with the swagger of champions and found Clones can sometimes be an unforgiving place.

Monaghan’s victory over Joe Kernan’s team was not only a reminder of the unpredictable nature of the championship, but confined Armagh to the back-roads for a summer. Clones was off the itinerary, they arrived to the All-Ireland final via more obscure places like Mullingar and Roscommon.