Stephen Rochford: Kerry and Armagh never imagined it coming to this

At the start of the year, Jack O’Connor and Kieran McGeeney would have had plans for this weekend – but none of those plans would have involved their teams playing knockout football. Yet that is where they find themselves, preparing for the third act of a trilogy. Armagh knocked Kerry out of the 2024 championship at the semi-final stage and Kerry returned the favour in the quarter-finals last year. Now, on the eve of the longest day of the year, one of the favourites for the All-Ireland will be packing up their tent for a shorter campaign than anybody envisaged. Reams of analysis can be done for this fixture, but one basic question keeps coming back to me. Kerry have lost two championship games in Killarney since 1995, so what are the chances of them losing two in four weeks? The Sam Maguire holders weren’t really tested by Kildare on Saturday and their balance sheet seems to be improving with the players they’ve got back off the treatment table. Armagh played okay against Louth but the cohesion that had been a hallmark of their play for most of the campaign was glaringly absent in Inniskeen. Following Armagh’s win over Derry in round one, Stefan Campbell and Jarly Óg Burns were having a bit of banter on GAA+ around who had been on the B team that week in training. They were joking that McGeeney wouldn’t be putting an arm around your shoulder and so on. Well, in the aftermath of the loss to Louth, I’d imagine there will be blood on the walls when the analysis is done. Kerry manager Jack O'Connor will be keen to make the most of home advantage against Armagh. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho I say this because they went away from so much of the team-focused play that made them such a formidable outfit – particularly in their Ulster wins over Down and Monaghan. Aidan Forker took on a shot late in the game which was never on, while Oisín Conaty should have flicked the ball over to one of the two unmarked Armagh players running with him after turning over the Louth kickout early in the second half. Conor Turbitt took a shot at one stage and you could see Jarly Óg fuming with him for not passing. These were all traits we hadn’t really seen from Armagh in recent games. The decision-making wasn’t on point, so there will be skin and hair flying in the analysis. Those analysis meetings can get hot and heavy – whenever criticism is flying around, players react differently. But the positive thing for Armagh is they are on the road long enough to deal with it. They can use their experience to learn for the next day rather than getting grumpy about internal criticism. And experience was the word that resonated most for me over the weekend – because seasoned players were central to so many of the wins. If the league and early stages of the championship allowed the stories of Darragh Heneghan and Kobe McDonald and Max Campbell to unfold, with the season now at the business end of things, it was interesting to see veteran performers reclaim centre stage last weekend. Niall Morgan and Darren McCurry really delivered for Tyrone against Mayo. Niall Morgan celebrates his point to draw Tyrone level against Mayo at Healy Park, Tyrone, on Sunday. Photograph: Tom O’Hanlon/Inpho Five years on from Tyrone’s All-Ireland triumph, there would have been some wondering if McCurry was gradually fading away from the top level. But he scored six points on Sunday, including three off his right foot which you were thinking he had no right to take on. But it was a testament to his confidence and willingness to be brave. His teammates fed off that. Morgan showed real fortitude to float over that match-winning two-pointer at the end because it was a very difficult kick – especially in the context of his missed effort against Armagh in the Ulster championship. Afterwards, he spoke about a chat they had with Johnny Sexton in April. The former Ireland captain talked to them about getting your mind clear, getting your breathing right and calmly going through your routine. Dan Carter and Jonny Wilkinson had their specific routines before kicking. All of that is based on the psychology of centring yourself and trying to exclude everything else. That takes experience. And in the big moments last weekend, if you look back across the games, it was the experienced players who stood up when matches were there to be won. It’s no coincidence Sam Mulroy was the player kicking in that final ball for Louth. And throughout that game it was the likes of Mulroy, Craig Lennon and Ciarán Downey carrying the fight to Armagh. Sam Mulroy celebrates Louth's winning goal with James Maguire at the end of last Sunday's All-Ireland Senior Football Championship round 2A match against Armagh at Páirc Grattan, Louth. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho Con O’Callaghan was back on the field driving Dublin forward against Cavan, Steven Sherlock and Ian Maguire were central to Cork’s win over Donegal in Ballybofey while in Clones it was the experienced cohort of Dessie Ward, Jack McCarron and Rory Beggan showing Monaghan the way to victory over Roscommon. When I was manager of Mayo, we brought in Mark Mellett, the former chief of staff of the Irish Defence Forces, for a chat one day. He left us with a quote from an American chief of staff and it always stuck with me: Opportunities pass, they don’t pause. At moments in every game there’s an opportunity. It’s about taking them. And the experienced players did that last weekend. You look at Meath – Donal Keogan was named man of the match while James Conlon produced an outstanding display up front. I can remember watching League Sunday six or seven years ago and noticing Conlon’s talent. But he has had some horrendous injury issues since and has not got as much game-time as he would have hoped for over the years. However, Meath lost Ruairí Kinsella to a cruciate injury in the build-up to the Derry game and Conlon stepped up to lead the attack, scoring 0-7. He might not have the amount of games you’d expect, but again he has the experience. Meath’s James Conlon evades the challenge of Derry’s Diarmuid Baker. Photograph: Lorcan Doherty/Inpho There is something for all teams in Monday’s draw. And for Mayo, the reality is it’s better the devil of Meath than the devil of Kerry. But a really interesting dynamic of the Castlebar fixture is the fact the counties played each other in a challenge match recently. Meath won the game but this is where the experienced players will prove invaluable for management now. They will be pointing out certain trends or tendencies they might have noticed in that challenge game. A mini-analysis will have taken place on Monday afternoon. For the teams coming out of last weekend on the back of a defeat, the experienced players will play a significant role in preparations over the next few days. You aren’t hoping one of the senior players is picking up the phone chatting with a less experienced player who might be lacking a bit of confidence or something. You are directing that, ensuring it’s happening because you don’t have time to “hope” these things are taking place. In these situations, peer-to-peer chats can be really useful for a group. I couldn’t help but notice in Keogan’s post-match interview on Saturday how, while repeatedly wishing Kinsella a speedy recovery, he was insistent that it was a case of next man up for Meath. The message: It’s all about the team. And that takes us back to the standout game of next weekend – because McGeeney will be drilling the team cohesion piece in that Armagh dressingroom this week. They must return to what has served them well up until this stage. Because the jeopardy of championship elimination has arrived for Kerry and Armagh earlier than anybody could realistically have expected. The longest day of the year will still be some hours away when the end of the season arrives for one of the Sam Maguire favourites. Judgement day in mid-June.