Canavan talks up a good match

And we thought they didn't care. In the Armagh dressingroom, joint manager Brian Canavan welcomes his inquisitors genially, beaming like a host who has just uncorked a treasured vintage.

"Whoever says the National League is dead must be livin' in cloud cuckoo land," he opens.

"It certainly was a great game of football, I thought, from both sides. Very committed. Brilliant second half. As good a half of football as I've seen this long time. I thought we started very nervously, their midfield was very dominant and we sat down at half-time and had a good chat about that and I thought our midfield pair came much more into it in the second half.

"Our forward line played pretty well throughout the game but, fair play to Dublin, I thought that we had them beaten after going two up but they came back at us, they went in front, we equalised, they hit one again, we equalised . . . it certainly was a terrific game of football," he asserts.

Yet when all the happy talk about the league is done, Canavan and his co-conspirator Brian McAlinden have to sit back and consider the potential of another two league games before the summer stuff begins in Ballybofey on June 6th. Enough to force upon them a few fitful nights?

"Ah , we're delighted, delighted to have another game," declares Canavan. Mmmm.

Oisin McConville, who seems to love kicking points in the capital, eagerly agrees. "This is as close to championship games as you can get. Any Gaelic footballer will tell you they like playing. The more games you get the better. Coming down here to play football is definitely better than running around playing a challenge match in some back pitch in Co Tyrone or somewhere."

The slim star from Crossmaglen only rejoined the panel in recent weeks but already the odds on his claiming a permanent role have been slashed.

"This is my first time all year playing with these lads and it'll take a while before it gels together but the forward line did okay.

"But that's the second time I've played against Dublin and it's been close run both times, so it should be good again the next time as well. It took us a while to come into it but we were playing with one man up in the second half. Peter Loughran was up there alone and we got a wee bit of success in the end."

Afterwards, all proclaimed their contentment and the only issue of note seemed to be the replay, which, it was generally asserted, was a positive development.

Dublin full forward Dessie Farrell said: "Today we were a little bit nervous at first, there was a bit more expected from us but when we take stock and watch the video, we can improve upon this the next day. We are still learning but the lads deserved what they got out of today." Before the match, the Dublin team trotted out on to the field only to find the team in orange raining shots down on the Hill.

Undaunted they too pushed on down in front of the faithful and vied with their opponents for elbow room as both sides warmed up in the same half of the ground.

"I don't know about that, I think the lads went down there out of habit. They've been doing it for about 50 years," laughs Tommy Carr.

The incident stoked the sentimentalist in John O'Leary. "I remember that happened in 1984, we were playing Tyrone (in the All-Ireland semi-final) but we knew that time that Tyrone were there and we came out from the tunnel at the far end and went up there. But this was different, the lads actually ran up the steps near the Hill end and when they came out, it was a question of turning back or to keep going."

No one, though, was too fussed. "Sure, isn't it great to see players mixing before the game as well as after it?," suggests Brian Canavan when asked about the cosy warm-up.

Dublin's Jim Gavin, again lethal in dead-ball situations, pauses for breath before making a helter-skelter tear to the airport for a return flight to Paris, where he is temporarily based.

"I missed one or two earlier on until I got the wind direction right but it was bit easier in the second half. I missed one out of three so I'm happy enough. Ah, the next day, they'll fall on Declan's (Darcy) side and he'll pop them over, so that's the way it goes. We're happy, still in the league, and to be honest, we just want to win the bloody thing now."

Fond words of sorts for this peculiar competition which holds an uncertain place in our hearts.