Ulster Football Championship: Armagh expected – which made losing to Ballybofey even more painful

Many expected Kieran McGeeney’s side to win at Ballybofey, but it was another day of disappointment at the Ulster Championship for Armagh

If anything, the Armagh fans appeared to outnumber the home fans in Ballybofey, as Orchard County had expected after a promising league campaign that only compounded their disappointment when the result was decided well before the end.

What went wrong for Kieran McGeeney’s side when Donegal’s 1:16 to 0:12 triumph ignominiously burst their optimistic bubble?

Martin McHugh, speaking at ` Sport Northern Ireland’s MacCumhaill Park studios, said that “Armagh just doesn’t do well under pressure”.

Fellow ` pundit and 2002 Armagh All-Ireland winner Oisin McConville was even more scathing after his compatriots’ defeat

“If you can’t deal with pressure and you’re an Inter-County footballer then you’re in the wrong game. It’s all about pressure,” said the Armagh 2002 All-Ireland winner, who was visibly irritated after he won The games his beloved county had seen last dismal flop on the Ulster Championship stage.

Armagh’s Ulster Championship record over the past decade deserves to be repeated.

Since 2012, it has played 17, won four, drawn two and lost 11.

And the point is that while Armagh was under pressure to deliver at Ballybofey, Donegal felt the heat just as much entering the competition, having spent the last 18 months since his shock 2020 Ulster Final defeat to Cavan on the place.

Declan Bonner doesn’t like being reminded of that November day, but it will all resurface over the next two weeks as an Ulster semi-final against Mickey Graham’s side looms emerges.

However, he will do so after a win that has the potential to rejuvenate this Donegal side.

After overwhelming league and championship campaigns in 2021, Donegal has rarely looked convincing in recent months despite maintaining their Division 1 status, but Bonner insisted the squad’s faith has never wavered.

“Our league campaign has been up and down but our focus has been on April 24,” said the Donegal manager.

Disciplinary hearing in ruins – Bonner

McHugh inspired setting in Donegal

And while Bonner described the GAA’s disciplinary system as “in shambles” after Armagh’s successful appeals against three of their four suspensions following last month’s melee at Letterkenny, Bonner said the affair will never distract his squad from their preparations for Sunday’s sweepstakes.

“Right now I have no faith (in the disciplinary system). Absolutely not. But all we have to do now is prepare for the semi-finals.”

If Ryan McHugh continues to produce the form he showed at Ballybofey, Donegal could be in for a long summer.

When McHugh plays well, Donegal plays well. It’s as simple as that. His teammates respond to Kilcar’s energy and enterprising spirit, which invariably is the catalyst for the team’s ongoing play to run smoothly.

“Inevitably it was Ryan McHugh who got the ball, created space, not just for himself but for his team-mates and got so many players in the game,” noted Peter Canavan, the other ` Sport member The heavyweight studio Expert trio from NI.

Among those who responded to McHugh’s example were Michael Langan, who shot three points from the game, and Peadar Mogan, whose runs from full-back gave the Armagh defense a headache.

And if anything, Jason McGee’s first-half performance, as he rose to gain possession in midfield and successfully struggled for dirty balls, had likely made him the half-time man of the match in pole position before a knock forced him into the break about 15 minutes into the second half.

‘Back door could suit Armagh’ – McConville

As for Armagh, it was such a chastising reversal it was almost like going back to the drawing board.

Despite his apparent disappointment, Oisin McConville was bound to believe this narrative.

“I think Armagh is on the right track and the trajectory is good. And you know what? I think the back door could fit us to the bottom.”

But the Armagh fans who poured out of MacCumhaill Park didn’t seem to take the positives after seeing the Ulster Championship door slammed in their faces once again.

I later saw an Armagh supporter throw his game program into a dustbin on the main street as he was walking to his car. It was clearly not one for souvenir collection and top marks for litter awareness as well.

Highlights: Donegal defeats Armagh to reach semi-finals of Championship

Granted Armagh appeared to have been treated harshly immediately after the second-half throw-in, when an otherwise subdued Rian O’Neill bundled the ball into the net from close range, only for referee Maurice Deegan to disallow the attempt – apparently as a full striker’s verdict in doing so Shaun Patton fouled.

Moments later, Patton widened to thwart substitute Aidan Nugent’s close-range goal after an O’Neill try for a point came back off a post.

If any of those moments had resulted in a goal, Armagh would have been even.

Could that have changed the gameplay? Stranger things have happened.

But there’s an element of grasping at straws, as a rueful Oisin McConville was forced to admit.

“Today’s game was won by a better football team.”