Armagh ace compounds Donegal’s sending off misery

SO, this footballing season will end predictably for a change. The footballing folk of Armagh and Tyrone bringing their mutual antipathy to Dublin for an afternoon in late September.

All summer, there has been a feeling up North that this would come to pass. People felt that an Armagh-Tyrone All-Ireland final was somehow set in stone, since perhaps last winter when Mickey Harte began to insert the spine of steel Tyrone football lacks; or last May when the Paul Finlay show re-awakened Orchard desire; or maybe just since the 54th minute of yesterday’s game when StevenMcDonnell’s clinical finish heralded another Armagh come-back.

Whether by fate or circumstance, the cold fact remains. Armagh and Tyrone will contest the All-Ireland final on September 28, a situation that is certain to spawn many jokes outside Ulster such as it being the first All-Ireland final with crowd segregation; the first time the championship will be decided by Rugby League; or RTE will have to carry a parental guidance warning on their broadcast. There will be plenty more punch-lines between now and then, but there can be little argument that the two best sides in the country meet in this year’s final.

That is indisputable. However much the rest of the country bemoans the dominance of the Ulster blanket and is dreading this final, Kerry’s much-hyped attack has nobody of the calibre of Steven McDonnell. His goal, in a 2-10 to 1-9 victory in front of 76,321 fans, was a magnificent example of positioning and poise when team-mates were showing signs of panic. McDonnell was having a quiet enough game before the goal, but the greatest asset of this Armagh team is they can destroy teams in seconds.

The goal illustrated much of what is great about McDonnell’s game. His fielding ability, his feet, awareness and speed of thought. And of course, his finishing. “As a corner-forward, you have to take your chances when they come. And this chance just came my way, and I was able to take it.”

McDonnell’s strike, clinical though it was, had its roots in the 39th minute, the 4th of the second half. When Donegal’s full-back Raymond Sweeney was sent off for a second booking, the whole complexion of the game changed.

“Any time a man is sent off is a turning point,” McDonnell agreed. “It did have an effect on the game, but we went into the second half with our backs against the wall. That always seems to be the way with us, we play better in the second half.”

Or play better in the last 15 minutes. Again yesterday, the sheer will of Armagh drove them past Donegal and onto the finish line. From McDonnell’s goal came a scoring splurge. In the final 16 minutes, Armagh scored 2-3 to Donegal’s 0-2. It will be this point, more than any other, that will tax Tyrone minds for the next month.

Their grip on Sam has looked tenuous on occasions this season. Yet, like against Dublin and Laois, they answered each and every question when they needed to yesterday. Even with 21 wides and seeing shots bounce off the upright or land into the keeper’s arms, Armagh never stopped believing. Each time you watch the All-Ireland champions play, you are guaranteed money’s worth. With the grapes tasting so sour in the South last week, we had expected a dour, Ulster championship-style game. The first half was disappointing, but love or hate this Armagh team, you can’t deny the entertainment they always provide. For all the breast-beating and anxiety of the past week, it was hard not to get enveloped in the tension of the final 20 minutes. Armagh give football fans what they want, they have your heart beating fast as the clock winds down.

Still if they kick 21 wides in the All-Ireland final, they will be handing Sam Maguire to their bitter rivals. Something about Joe Kernan afterwards told you they wouldn’t.

“The lads worked hard for each other like they always do, but when you put in so much effort and then, fail in a simple thing like kicking the ball over the bar, well it is frustrating. And we were shooting with our backs to goal a couple of times, instead of doing the simple thing like passing to the man on the outside. At the end of the day, it was all about the result.”It was a tough way for Donegal’s wonderful summer to end, caught in the Armagh vice after another tremendous effort. However, it is one they can learn from. The team is young and this match against the most powerful force in the game will only bring them on. There is a lesson for every side in the grim determination Armagh show. But they will learn from these lessons without Brian McEniff at the helm.

“I have done my time. I have set out what I wanted to do. I have enjoyed the nine months, but I am a county chairman now and, in that role, I will hope to do the best possible job in getting the right man to manage this bunch of young lads.”

McEniff called his team a great bunch, a bunch he felt he could be leading to an All-Ireland final but for the red card. “The sending-off made the difference. We would have been very close. I don’t think we would have leaked the first goal if Raymond Sweeney had been on the edge of the square. That first goal changed the course of the game. It put us on the back-foot, we were chasing the game. It gave them confidence, we hadn’t afforded them any score inside until that.”

There were other subtle differences, too. In the last few moments, inexperience cost Donegal. Twice, players took the wrong option when an equalising score looked on. Experience is certain to come. Armagh had to lose two All-Ireland semi-finals before winning one. These days though, they give new definition to the term never beaten.

“We might have huffed and puffed a few times now, and got the rub of the green, but that goes with the territory, you can’t fault the effort the boys put in.

“This is going to be a special occasion, two Ulster teams in an All-Ireland final. We know plenty about them, they know plenty about us,” Kernan remarked, the manager who took a team to Croker for the tenth time yesterday and has yet to lose.

It’s a record he won’t want to break in the final that nobody outside Ulster seems to want. A report that a Kerry forward was bit on the hand in last week’s semi-final will only enhance paranoia that this final will be a travesty to the game of football. Hopefully, people will set their prejudices aside long enough to be enveloped in the occasion.

Because it is certain to be tense, it is certain to be intriguing, possibly even entertaining. And if you allow it, this final will get the pulse racing that little bit quicker. Games with Armagh always do. It seems to be the way they like it.