Kieran McGeeney reckons Armagh’s surprise victory over Dublin has “poked the bear” just days out from a crunch encounter with All-Ireland champions and fierce rivals Tyrone.
McGeeney believes Armagh’s Division One opponents will be out to take their scalp after a hard-fought five-point victory at Croke Park in Saturday night’s League opener.
It’s the first time Dublin have lost consecutive games at Croke Park since 2009 — the 2008 All-Ireland quarter-final against Tyrone and the 2009 League opener against the same opposition.
And it was their biggest defeat in League or Championship since the shock six-point defeat by Donegal in the 2014 All-Ireland quarter-final.
Dublin’s 13 wides were bad enough, but even more uncharacteristic was the five efforts dropped short.
Rory Grugan was excellent in conducting affairs, while Connaire and Ciaran Mackin brought serious energy and drive in the second half when it was needed to keep Dublin at bay.
It was a good night for Armagh, who recorded their first win over Dublin since 2008.
“It’s a great milestone for us,” said McGeeney.
“But we seen from the League last year, getting beaten by a big score doesn’t necessarily negate the quality of player you have (Tyrone’s hammering by Kerry)
“If anything, it just pokes the bear.
“So, we will enjoy it. It was a good victory. We are not taking away from a good performance by the lads.
“I am sure Dublin will look at it and look at some of the mistakes they made, and they will bounce back and they will be stronger come the summer because of it.
“Our job is to try and now focus on Tyrone.
“We have All-Ireland champions coming to us next week and they will be sore from the last time.
“Tyrone, loving Armagh like they do, will want to set that straight.”
Armagh had three wides, all from Rian O’Neill, who hit 1-3 from play in a 1-4 haul, while they also dropped three efforts short.
It was an impressive level of efficiency, but McGeeney revealed that in their team huddle at the end of the game, he demanded more, particularly in terms of converting goal chances.
By his count, Armagh missed three goal chances, and he noted that on other days that would cost them.
“They should have scored more,” he said. “They missed a lot I thought.
“They took some of the simple scores, but on a different day Dublin will make you pay for those. It’s just to try to get that right.
“I did say, ‘Well done,’ just before anybody knocks that. I think there is vast improvement in the squad.
“There is more to come from them, but I have also reminded them of the quality that’s in front of them over the next couple of weeks. All that’s going to do is poke the bear.
“People are going to want to take your scalp, so it’s a tough division, but it’s a great division.
“Where else would you want to be on Saturday night, lights on, Dublin open again. You’d love to be 25 again.”
McGeeney is double that at 50 and, in his eighth year as Armagh boss, has learned to take nothing for granted.
Asked was he happy with where Armagh were at, he said: “If I was talking to you here in August you could
answer that.
“We all know — I have done it before with teams — you have good starts to the League and in our sport we don’t count also-rans, people who do well and get to the top.
“We only count the All-Ireland champions, and that’s just the reality of the situation we are in.
“We have to deal in those sort of numbers, whether you are there in August or not.”
