The Orchard is confident. That is the message from Armagh legend Oisin McConville ahead of Saturday night’s Ulster Championship clash between Fermanagh and Armagh.
“I think there is confidence within Armagh. We haven’t won a game in Ulster for going on four years now. Last year there was a huge degree of confidence going into the match with Down but we came up short. So I think that is making people a little cautious this year,” the All Ireland winner explained. But he was in no doubt that a victory is something that is expected within Armagh;
“Having seen the two Fermanagh games this year I think Armagh supporters will feel that Armagh have a great chance of breaking that duck in Ulster.”
The harsh truth for Fermanagh supporters is that in recent years Armagh have held the upperhand. The sides have met five times between league fixtures, league finals and once in the championship with Armagh winning three of those games and the other two ending in draws. The reality is that this particular group of Fermanagh players have not been able to get over the line against Armagh. Although McConville was quick to point out that there are pitfalls for his native county:
“I think there is an issue that Armagh might just get ahead of themselves a little if they look at those games too much. Anyone who watched them will know that the majority of those games could have gone either way.”
In terms of the Armagh team coming to Brewster Park, McConville accepts that the return of a few key attackers since the league final sees Kieran McGeeney hold a much stronger hand, and the Crossmaglen club man believes that there were hints in earlier league matches that Armagh have the ability in attack to cause real problems;
“The day Armagh played Offaly was as direct as I have seen them play in a long time. They played Ethan Rafferty and Andrew Murnin inside and Rory Grugan a little bit out in a sort of triangle up front, and they were direct, and the game was effectively over at half-time without Armagh playing particularly well but the threat was there.”
McConville also has an inclination that Fermanagh may just add a little more direct ball to their attacking play come Saturday night, pointing to the selection of Sean Quigley in the league final, to partner his brother Seamus in the full forward line, as evidence of this;
“I think in the league final Rory (Gallagher) may have been looking to play a different way, a little more direct with the two Quigley’s inside but Sean got black carded so early on that we didn’t get to see if that was the plan,” he said. “It will be interesting if that is the way Fermanagh go in this game. Rory never got to see if it would work that day but he may have found out since that it is a real option. Because the one thing about Armagh is that when they have faced a team who have been able to go direct and do it well, they have not fared too well.”
With so much recent head to head form between Armagh and Fermanagh it is certainly true that both teams know each other well at this stage, but despite their familiarity, McConville doesn’t rule out something away from the norm this Saturday evening;
“The strange thing is that these two teams have met twice over the past couple of months, but this game could turn out to be completely different because there is something about the Ulster championship. It seems to tighten managers and players up a little and we could see a different match completely because of that.”
Looking ahead to a potential Ulster semi-final few pundits give either team a chance of beating the winners of Tyrone and Monaghan. But the former Orchard ace isn’t so sure that it is as straightforward as that.
“I think both teams will see winning as getting a free shot at the likes of Tyrone or Monaghan and it will give them a better idea of where they are at. And to be honest I think whoever wins will have a chance of beating Tyrone or Monaghan. Because I don’t think Armagh and Fermanagh are that far away from those two teams,” McConville stated before concluding. “I think in an Ulster championship setting, in a provincial ground it just might be tight enough to get over Fermanagh or Armagh for either of those teams.” For now, though all attention is focused on Brewster Park and an intriguing clash between two sides who are hell bent on continuing down the road of improvement.