Armagh face Monaghan tomorrow in their Ulster semi-final replay, and if history is anything to go by, the Orchardmen should prevail.
Of course, history means nothing, but since 1999 Armagh have been involved in ten championship replays – winning nine of those. The last replay they lost was in the 2000 All-Ireland semi-final to eventual champions Kerry and even then that went to extra-time.
Similarly to last weekend, Paul Grimley’s men go into this tie as underdogs, even with the return of Andy Mallon, Kieran Toner and Brendan Donaghy. The consensus tends to be that the big favourites don’t get caught out twice.
Former player, Oisin McConville, speaking to the Irish Independent, said: “I would have thought that sometimes we sort of built teams up for the sake of it,” McConville recalls.
“As I went on, one of the things I would have done at club level was try and keep it as real as possible. If a team was rated, I didn’t think they were great. I think we did that too many times, and that was proven in the replays.”
Meanwhile, Armagh legend Jimmy Smyth feels Kevin Dyas can be the difference between the two sides on Sunday.
“Kevin was the architect of much of Armagh’s attacking momentum in their quarter-final against Cavan and also showed against Monaghan last Saturday just what an invaluable player he is,” he told the Belfast telegraph
“I think if Armagh can get Kevin Dyas on the ball as often as they can, then they will be in with a tremendous chance of making it into the final.”
