McShane wary as Armagh facing tough Red Hand challenge
Armagh claimed national honours for the first time in 60 years after a close final against Mayo at Croke Park last September and are desperate to achieve back-to-back success.
They beat Derry 2-9 to 2-8 in round one, Monaghan 1-13 to 1-8 in round two and Cavan 1-10 to 0-11 in the semi-final. However they were fortunate in that last game as a last-minute Conor Gough goal secured victory.
Armagh boss Paul McShane admitted: “It was one of our poorest performances and there’ll have to be a vast improvement to have any chance.
“We knew Cavan would be difficult to beat but we made life very difficult for ourselves with balls dropping short and we also kicked a lot of wides. Ironically it was from a ball dropping short we got the winning goal. Winning playing poorly is a bad thing.”
Tyrone have played a game less than their opponents in the Ulster championship, defeating Antrim 1-13 to 1-8 and Down 1-10 to 0-10 in the semi-final. Down were the side fancied to come out of the province but on the night they came up short against an impressing Red Hand outfit.
“We’ll be treating Armagh with the upmost respect,” said Tyrone selector Cathal McAnenely. “After all, they beat us in the opening round last year on their way to Ulster and All-Ireland honours, and won’t be giving up their titles easily. However at this stage of the championship, it’s a 50/50 game, and whoever plays well on the day and wants it most will come out on top.”
Tyrone are captained by Shane McGarrity and will also have Ronan O’Neill and Tomas Canavan (nephew of the legendary Peter) in their side, but will have to pull out all the stops to dethrone the champions.
TYRONE (MFC v Armagh): M. McReynolds; S. McGarrity, C. Clarke, HP McGeary; N. Sludden, M. Donaghy, E. Deeney; C. Grugan, H. Og Conlon; R. Donnelly, T. Canavan, R. Devlin; S. Tierney, J. McCullagh, R. O’Neill.
ARMAGH: TBC.
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