Allianz HL Division 3A round two

Armagh v Longford

Sunday, Athletic Grounds, 1pm

ARMAGH narrowly missed out on a promotion berth last season, so they’ll be hopeful from the outset of going one step better this time around.

They lost the league final last year to Donegal on a scoreline of 1-18 to 0-19, and they’ll feel disappointed that they’ve slipped a little in the last couple of years after some really good seasons.

The main reason for that is that some veteran players have retired, and a chastening defeat to Donegal in the Nickey Rackard tournament only served to rub salt in the wounds after their league final defeat.

They’ve also suffered the loss of a few other big names, like Keady’s Stephen Reneghan and Middletown brothers Ryan and Dean Gaffney. Dylan McKenna and Kieran McKernan are other players not expected to be involved.

James King has returned though, while promising Craobh Rua player Tiernan O’Hare has linked up with the squad. Peter McKearney is also understood to be there, and the Derrynoose dual player is highly rated.

However, it’s a new season, and they’ll be confident of getting one over Longford this weekend. Their Leinster opponents played in the bottom ranked tier as recently as two years ago, and they were fairly middling last season, so if Armagh have any pretensions of success this year they’ll be looking to get an early win.

Orchard county boss Padraig O’Connor is steering the side through a period of transition at the moment, and the next few weeks should tell whether they are on the road back to relative success.

Verdict: Armagh