WITH the halfway point of the National League approaching, the loser at the Box-IT Athletic Grounds on Saturday evening will find themselves in the relegation mire with games running out.
Armagh versus Mayo is a clash of two counties that have struggled to find form so far this season and both have managed one win out of three in Division One.
Armagh’s victory was an impressive win against Tyrone on home soil but, last weekend, they were well beaten by Donegal and lost skipper Aidan Forker to a red card into the bargain.
Meanwhile, Mayo lost to Dublin and then Galway but did at least bounce back albeit with an unconvincing win in a drab encounter against Tyrone last Sunday.
But points are all that matter at this stage and as the National League reaches a potentially pivotal stage, both counties will be desperate for two of them to take the pressure off typically treacherous run-ins.
Armagh have Dublin (home) and Kerry (away) to face before they host Derry in the final round and former Armagh defender Paul Hughes says Gaelic Football’s new rules have added a twist of free-scoring mayhem to the League this year.
“With the new rules it seems that – apart from Donegal - there isn’t a lot of consistency with any of the teams,” said the Crossmaglen clubman.
“You’re seeing all the teams beating each other and a lot of that is about teams getting to grips with the new rules and working out the best way to use them.”
After the euphoria of last season’s Sam Maguire, off-the-field issues mean that the last few months may rank among the most challenging of Kieran McGeeney’s time as manager of Armagh.
Now in his 11th season as Orchard County bainisteoir, McGeeney has had to deal with the well-publicised fallout stemming from Armagh’s trip to the USA during the summer and the exit of versatile forward/midfielder Rian O’Neill before this campaign started.
McGeeney has also been without a host of the players who featured last year including Paddy Burns, Joe McIlroy, Aidan Nugent, Oisin O’Neill, Aaron McKay, Conor O’Neill, Peter McGrane, Rory Grugan and Ciaran and Connaire Mackin.
There have been defeats in Galway and Donegal and lapses in discipline which resulted in red cards for Niall Grimley and, last Sunday, skipper Forker after he locked horns for Michael Murphy at Ballybofey.
“There was only three points in it when Aidan got sent off and he’s obviously going to be disappointed about,” said Hughes.
“He’ll miss out on Saturday and there’s never anything easy against Mayo. Mayo haven’t had the start that they’d want either although they beat Tyrone at the weekend.
“With the new rules it seems to be all about what happens on the day - even if you’re 10 points down, you’re still in the game and we saw that in the Kerry-Dublin game last Saturday.
“It sounds a bit mad when Kerry were 11 points up, but they had a strong breeze and maybe they should have kicked on more. They were against the breeze in the second half and Dublin caught them.”
Armagh hope to have Burns and McIlroy available for the visit of Mayo and Grugan should be fit to face the Dubs. According to McGeeney most of the others will be back “within the next month”.
If Armagh can produce the free-flowing football they played against Tyrone in round two they will certainly fancy their chances against Kevin McStay’s Mayo side. However it comes, the Orchardmen need a win to get back on track and Hughes hopes to see them come out on the right side on Saturday.
“I was very impressed with Armagh at home against Tyrone,” said Hughes.
“It didn’t go well against Donegal and the sending-off didn’t help but Donegal are going very well at the minute so I think it’ll be an even contest between Armagh and Mayo.
“It should be a good game because both teams will be looking over their shoulders now.”
