A Tale Of Two Counties and Capitals
When the Ecclesiastical Capital squares up against the Nation’s Capital, invariably there will always be something to talk about in the aftermath! The romanticised history between Armagh and Dublin includes the rise of the Orchard like a phoenix to reach the 1977 All-Ireland Final against the mighty Dubs inspired by Jimmy Keaveney and Armagh’s success against the Boys in Blue in the penultimate stage of the same competition in 2002 when Sam Maguire took up residence within the Northern County for the first time.
Behind these stories is a richly-woven rivalry between the Counties which started back in 1904 and has flourished to the current day, over 35 previous meetings.
The tale begins in Drogheda on 05/06/1904, when Dublin, represented by Bray Emmetts, defeated Armagh Harps 4-13 to 1-6, after a bright opening by the men wearing white. The game was brought to a premature end when an Armagh player was injured seven minutes from time and the supporters rushed the field, irate at some of the decisions made by the Dublin referee. It was not long before the counties were paired again in the Dr. Croke Cup of October that year. The Dr. Croke Cup originally involved the four provincial champions, though Armagh represented Ulster in 2012 as runners-up. A weaker Harps outfit succumbed to the Emmetts by 2-15 to 0-1 in that encounter. As stated, Armagh again participated in the Dr. Croke Cup in 2012 where Dublin proved to be difficult opponents. The Orchard County failed to register a score against the breeze in the opening half before fading in the final quarter, losing 4-9 to 2-1 at the final whistle.
The Counties have crossed swords on 28 previous occasions in the National Football League, starting in the second running of the competition. On 27/11/27, Armagh football was in a healthy state after capturing the All-Ireland Junior title the previous year. Minus some of their star names, they still travelled with purpose to meet Dublin at Croke Park for the first time at senior level. The visitors took well to the surroundings early on, registering four unanswered points and playing some delightful attacking football. However, three Jim Kirwan goals turned the game in favour of the home county, who had six points to spare at the end on a 3-5 to 0-8 scoreline.
Over a decade passed before Dublin’s initial visit to the Athletic Grounds on 13/05/38. After an early Dempsey goal for Armagh, Dublin set about their task, ending the half a point to the good. However, a downpour in the second period and a deluge of four Armagh goals ensured the Dublin returned home empty-handed, losing 2-6 to 5-5.
It was 1967 before the counties clashed in the National League again, one of three meetings in the next three years, when Dublin came out on top in each game. In the first match, a goal five minutes from time for Dublin proved decisive, despite a tremendous display of defending from Armagh full-back Danny Kelly. Jimmy Keaveney is best-known by Armagh fans for his 2-6 in the 1977 All-Ireland Final but he was breaking Armagh hearts long before then, playing a pivotal role in these three games, including a critical major score ten minutes into the second half in 1968. A year later, trailing by seven points at the break, Peter Loughran, with 0-4, brough Armagh to within one score of Dublin, before the winners pulled away in the final quarter.
The counties next met in the League in 1981, starting a period of 12 such meetings over the next decade. Dublin prevented Armagh progressing the knockout stages twice at Croke Park in 1981. In the League Division 1 game, Armagh led by a point at the break, but 12 wides over the hour proved costly, despite fine goals by Martin Murphy and Brian Hughes. Two weeks later, in a play-off, two penalty misses contributed to a narrow two point defeat. After Armagh exacted some level of revenge the following campaign, 1983 saw the counties end level in Headquarters. Whilst Dublin were happy to be only the second team that campaign to take a point off Armagh, the Orchard County collected their first point ever at the venue and were disappointed that it was not more, given Dublin were reduced to fourteen men in the final quarter and a penalty went abegging for the Ulster county.
A pulsating and extremely combative battle in Lurgan in February of 1984 saw Armagh enter the knockout phase whilst Dublin faced the drop to Division 2. On home soil, Barry McCabe hit two exquisite points to give Armagh a lead they held in the last quarter of a low-scoring encounter. Months later, Dublin assisted in the opening of the refurbished Athletic Grounds in a game which never reached the same intensity levels.
Chasing goals in 1986, Denis Sealey breathed life into Armagh’s challenge only for the men in orange to fall short. The following year, saw Armagh struggle to find any rhythm in attack until the 43rd minute when Neil Smyth saved the home teams blushes with their first score. Paul Grimley raised the hopes of the faithful at Davitt Park but Dublin held our for a deserved success. Armagh again had no answer to Dublin’s firepower in 1989.
A Declan Canavan major steered Armagh to victory in February 1990 but when faced with the same opposition at Drogheda just over a month later in a play-off, a Niall Clancy goal for Dublin stemmed a strong start by Armagh, ultimately providing the platform for Dublin to progress.
In the same calendar year, Dublin purple-patches in the first and third quarters proved too much for a Gerard Houlihan inspired Armagh. The Orchard hoodoo in Croke Park continued in 1991.
On 03/04/94, defending League Champions would have been confident of progression when facing Armagh at Breffni Park in last-eight
game. However, a well-drilled Orchard set-up had different ideas and completely dismantled the challenge of the Metropolitans, with Gerard Houlihan gaining most plaudits with 2-6. Kieran McGeeney was one of many stellar-performers that day. A year later, in a much tighter encounter, Houlihan and Barry Hughes shared the majority of the scores in a 0-8 to 0-6 success.
Current Dublin manager Dessie Farrell made headlines when the counties met in 1996, over a disputed Dublin goal where Armagh were up in arms and of the opinion that the cunning Farrell had fouled Colm Hanratty in the build-up, a score which helped secure a share of the spoils for the Dubs. In a series of three consecutive draws between the counties, A Declan Darcy point gave Dublin a point in Armagh in 1998. In the same campaign, the counties were paired in the semi-final of the competition and again nothing could separate the sides in an entertaining game at Croke Park, though a goal early in the second-half of the replay by Ciaran Whelan, saw Armagh lose out on a real opportunity to contest a National Final.
A visit to Parnell Park in the last NFL tie of 1999 saw a lack-lustre Armagh performance result in an eight-point defeat.
Armagh’s success over Dublin in the 2002 All-Ireland Semi-Final was an occasion that will live long in the memory of those who were present to witness the atmosphere and the emotion of reaching the decider for the first time in a generation. This also proved to be Armagh’s first ever win over Dublin in Croke Park. Buoyed by this success, Armagh’s first NFL game as All-Ireland champions saw a rematch of that fateful day. With Oisin McConville, Diarmaid Marsden and Stephen McDonnell showing early season form and the icing on the cake with a goal from Barry Duffy, Armagh secured their first and only NFL success to date over Dublin at Croke Park and biggest ever margin of victory also, before a crowd of 54, 432. Armagh made it three consecutive wins over their rivals in Croker in an All-Ireland Qualifier in July of 2003, which sadly represents their last success against Dublin at the venue.
Armagh did enjoy further League success though at Crossmaglen in 2008, giving Dublin what their then manager Paul Caffrey described as a footballing lesson, with Ronan Clarke and Stephen McDonnell linking up as only they could, sharing 2-7 in a 3-13 to 1-10 win.
Dublin gained revenge in the All-Ireland Qualifiers of 2010, before a strong performance saw them overcome Armagh, when the upgraded facilities of the Athletic Grounds were officially opened in the 2011 League tie. The following year, Dublin enjoyed a very comprehensive victory over the Orchard County in Croke Park, with Diarmaid Connolly registering 3-3.
Aidan Forker was the only-starter that day that remains in the current panel.
Overall, in all competitions, Dublin have enjoyed 21 wins over Armagh, who have won 10, with four games drawn. The NFL breakdown currently stands at Dublin on 16 wins, Armagh victorious on eight occasions and four ties. At Croke Park, Dublin have dominated over the years in the NFL, winning eleven, drawing two and Armagh have that solitary success in 2003.
In scoring terms, see below for the breakdown in competitions and overall:
Armagh Dublin
C’ship 5-52 10-63
League 22-240 27-273
Croke Cup 2-2 6-24
Totals 29-294 43-360
A mouthwatering prospect lies ahead on Saturday evening as Armagh test their Division 1 credentials against a Dublin team smarting from their All-Ireland Semi-Final loss to Mayo when last playing at Croke Park. This Armagh team has the opportunity to create new history for themselves in this game and the months ahead.
