Armagh searching for Ulster title while Tyrone hoping to upset the party

Of the 46 championship meeting before this one, Armagh lead on 22. Tyrone won 18 and there have been five draws. The first game, 1904, was abandoned due to a lack of light. It might take than 70 minutes to write this chapter Clones will deliver us a winner. It won’t lack any spark.

EPIC BATTLES: Whatever the debate over the Ulster final venue, for anyone who has never been in Clones, Saturday’s showdown of Armagh and Tyrone is made for the iconic Monaghan venue. Pic: Ben McShane/Sportsfile

CLONES or Croker. Whatever the debate over the Ulster final venue, for anyone who has never been in Clones, Saturday’s showdown of Armagh and Tyrone is made for the iconic Monaghan venue.

Yes, the stadium might be in need of a little love in places. There is a want for Casement, it’s a nightmare to get away from – especially after a painful defeat - but this is Ulster’s footballing mecca.

Players love it. They know they’ve arrived.

When Rory Gallagher was Derry manager, he’d tell the players how they’d be buzzing when the bus was snaking its through the fans and on the way up Church Hill. The Garda escort making them feel 10 feet tall. He was planting a seed.

If the sun peeks itself out, the rays ratchet the atmosphere up another notch. Hats and flags. The smell of fried onions. Revellers supping out of plastic glasses outside the Creighton Hotel.

The chatter is in full flow. Who is going to win? Is Darragh Canavan fit? Is there a full game in Ben Crealey? Will ‘Geezer’ send someone to tag Niall Morgan? Experts aplenty. One as convincing as the other.

Armagh and Tyrone will put any talk of Sam Maguire to one side. The six inches in front of their face are all the matters.

You have the local rivalry. Many back a fellow Ulster horse every time it trots into Croke Park but there will be Tyrone people who cringed at the fact Armagh took Sam home last July. Armagh fans will love the fact the haters hate. Welcome to sport. Parochialism is King.

In terms of the playing personnel, both teams will absolutely love another spin into Clones in two weeks’ time.

Armagh have that hurt from losing two Ulster finals on penalties. Two instalments in the hurt locker. Seeing crestfallen warriors in orange accept the handshakes of respect from Donegal players as they squeezed off the pitch after last year’s final spoke a thousand words. Their eyes etched a message of utter dejection.

They did leave Croke Park with Sam Maguire glistening from the bus dashboard, but there is an itch to scratch. Getting to another Ulster final offers a shot at provincial redemption.

Across the Blackwater River, in planet Tyrone, they have the hurt of being relegated on seven points. In Malachy O’Rourke, they got their man to steer them a layer deeper into the All-Ireland conversation.

When you have four stars on the sleeve of your jersey, there is always an expectation Clones is just an outpost on the way to Croke Park and the biggest of days.

For now, that will have to wait. Filed away under giddiness. Saturday and their date with Armagh is massive. Seismic even. The only show in town.

Who wants it more? The silliest of questions any week is even sillier today. While there is a footballing tomorrow, Tyrone and Armagh will treat it like there isn’t.

Both counties come from different sets of foundations. Let me explain. Tyrone are used to winning All-Irelands. Minor. U21. U20. Senior. School. Ulster finals are expected.

Mickey Harte polished his golden minor generation of 1997 and 1998 into one of the game’s greatest teams. They had a forward line that could genuinely stand toe to toe with anything the aristocrats in Kerry have offered.

Pinning their success on defensive brawn is lazy. They were dogged, like terriers. They played on the edge but they had panache.

Any young lad who has rocked up at a Tyrone minor trial since can realistically dream about walking behind the Artane Band on the biggest Sunday of the year.

Their U21 winning team of 2015 have come through the other side. Cathal McShane, Padraig Hampsey, Conor Meyler, Kieran McGeary, Mark Bradley and Rory Brennan.

Add in Ciarán Daly, Seanie O’Donnell, Ruairi Canavan and captain Niall Devlin from the 2022 crop and the pieces of the puzzle under your nose. Darragh Canavan was undone by Lorcan O’Dell, Lee Gannon and Ciaran Archer’s Dublin team in a semi-final two years earlier.

They are the current All-Ireland champions at U20 and face Donegal in Wednesday’s Ulster showdown. In Noah Grimes, Ruairi McCullagh and Eoin McElholm, they’ve a front three they target with heads up football. The cherished one bounce ball.

What about Armagh? What Kieran McGeeney has done has been nothing short of brilliant. If the Orchard County don’t get enough credit for winning the All-Ireland – like Tyrone in ’21 – then ‘Geezer’ is in a different category again.

The Armagh camp, in the aftermath of winning Sam, played the “we’re a small county” card. Why? Well, in footballing terms, they are.

Outside of last year’s run to the minor final, Cullyhanna’s All-Ireland and Tiernan Kelly winning a Hogan Cup on a St Ronan’s Lurgan team with a handful of Antrim players, McGeeney hasn’t had the luxury of what Tyrone have. Not even close. The Crossmaglen story isn’t what it was.

Just a decade ago, they were yo-yoing between divisions two and three. Michael Quinlivan hit 3-1 on the final day of 2017 league in the Athletic Grounds to promote Tipperary ahead of Armagh from the third tier.

Of the Armagh starting team that day, nine of them played in last season’s All-Ireland final. Nine.

In most other counties, the manager would’ve been roaded. By sticking around, on the backroads away from Division One, the players backed their manager. Amidst all their near misses, they stayed on board.

At committee level, McGeeney’s future went to the wire when he survived a club vote to keep him in the job for 2024. As Patrick McBrearty hoisted the Anglo Celt Cup into the air, the Armagh boss was a lonely figure in the Clones tunnel below. A penny for his thoughts.

Another crossroads, but the players again stood in the trenches. Men like Jemar Hall, who reportedly parked his own game to play the role of an Armagh opponent in a training game. Selfless. Another the inch in the search for Sam.

Of the 46 championship meeting before this one, Armagh lead on 22. Tyrone won 18 and there have been five draws. The first game, 1904, was abandoned due to a lack of light. It might take more than 70 minutes to write this chapter Clones will deliver us a winner. It won’t lack any spark.