TIERS FOR FEARS
Armagh boss McGeeney expects tough tests in Division 2
KIERAN McGeeney should have less to fear from Division 2 football than most. For more than two decades, the observation held that it was not possible — most notably articulated by Mickey Harte when he was the Tyrone supremo — to win an All-Ireland coming from Division 2 or below.
That held until last July when a Dublin group which has spent their time shattering every glass ceiling that has ever roofed the game, drove a sledgehammer through another by winning the Sam Maguire coming from the second tier.
It was the first time it had been accomplished in 22 years, when McGeeney captained Armagh to a historic first AllIreland title.
But McGeeney’s team were truly the original of the species in that they played what was then 16-team Division 1 — divided between two groups of 8 — which means that under the current streamlined four-division format which has been in place since 2008, they were effectively a Division 3/4 team at that time.
In truth, it was probably more a reflection of where the league was than Armagh were; played across two calendar years, league form tended to be about as revealing as the O’Byrne Cup formguide.
Proof of that was that Kerry, who they would beat in that 2002 September final, finished behind them in the Division 2A group, although the Kingdom would go on to win the second-tier trinket.
But what he defied as a player bears no resemblance to what he now faces as a manager.
Technically speaking, his Armagh team’s Championship starts tomorrow night thanks to the likelihood that two of the teams — unless they reach a provincial final — that start out will not be involved in the senior football championship come the summer.
However, Armagh need to be looking up and not down, having missed out on being a last-four team in the Sam Magurie for the past two summers only by losing in penalty shoot-outs, a lottery in which they also pulled the losing ticket when a first Ulster title since 2008 was the prize last summer.
So, is it possible that another team could follow Dublin out of Division 2 and up the Hogan Stand in July?
‘You’re looking to play at the top level because that makes you sharper.
‘The difference coming in now is that if you get into the “Super 16” group stage, you have three games at that level that can either make you or break you but if you get out of the group, you’re playing at that pace. You might have two seconds on the ball in Division 2 and one and-a-half in Division 1 but it still makes a big difference.
‘Dublin are the exception to the rule in terms of where they’ve been over the year plus they would find their provincial Championship not as taxing as others in the past, although Meath are coming up and Kildare are pushing again and they’ve had that ability to pace themselves through it,’ suggests McGeeney.
In reality, the conventional route of playing top-tier football in the spring still seems the most likely pathway for a team to truly contend for the All-Ireland, but getting there is never easy.
Armagh know that better than most having spent eight years trying to get back up into the top flight, before McGeeney led them back there in 2020.
And he expects — with Donegal, Cork, Kildare and Meath all having eyes on promotion — that it will be just as hard this time.
‘The hard thing about playing in Division 2 is that teams play a wee bit tighter, they don’t take as many risks and it’s hard to break them down. Last year, even Dublin were getting one or two-point wins and it’s important that you’re on the right side of those.
‘We have Louth first and then Meath — two big, aggressive teams that are going to be pushing hard. They’re hard to break down and they’re quick on the counter with two very talented forwards up front.
‘They’re going to be tough games and in those games, it’s the small things that matter. If you don’t take your goal chances in Division 2, you’re going to get punished because the games are tighter.
‘We have to get better at our shot-to-score ratio and make sure that the chances we have, we convert and that’s the whole thing about having competition and keeping fellas on their toes.’