Armagh are priced at 4/1 to trump Tyrone on Saturday, so in order to win the battle of Ulster, they’ll need to be clever, they’ll need to be smart, they’ll need to surprise Mickey Harte.
Tyrone have swept all before them in Ulster this year – playing with a less defensive style than we are used to seeing from them.
Tiernan McCann claimed on The GAA Hour earlier in they year, however, that Tyrone alter their tactics, their use of defensive taggers on players based on their opposition.
For example if they are playing Derry, like they were in the first round of Ulster this year, the game plan will be focused on attacking. They will only have two taggers – players who are assigned to stay back to mark opposition forwards.
If they are playing Dublin, for example, they’ll have four.
Armagh will pose the biggest challenge Tyrone have faced this year when they meet on Saturday in the All-Ireland quarter final, and many suspect they will deploy a relatively defensive tactic.
Colm Parkinson spoke of a shooting tactic for Armagh on Thursday’s GAA Hour Show, which claims that they should shoot, and ensure the ball goes dead, when they are attacking, but are facing a full Tyrone defensive set-up of 13 or so players.
This would make it less perilous for the Orchard County, instead of losing posession to the ravenous Tyrone pressers, who are known for their counter-attacking pace.
“When Tyrone are back with their 13 men behind the ball, they’re statistically more likely to score than you are, even if you have the ball. Based on those statistics, if you have the ball out on the 45 right, and you’ve enough lads pushed up. Are as you well as off to drive that ball over the endline? Get it wide and then have yourself set up. I’m not saying ‘drive it over the sideline,’ but have a pot-shot at the goals. Take a shot, I don’t care where it’s from, I won’t give out to you if this goes wide, but it has to go wide, then you set up for the kickout.”
“Rather than taking that ball into contact, giving Tyrone what they want. Would the message to the Armagh players be, I will not criticise anyone for kicking a wide… They have to go dead.”
Obviously, it wouldn’t be a tactic that Armagh will employ religously throughout the game, but when other options are scarce, and the chances of cutting through that packed Tyrone defence are so slim – it could be more beneficial for them.
“I’m not saying here, Armagh have to live off this, that’s not where their scores are going to come from. Tyrone are pushing up on kickouts so if Armagh do well on their own kickouts, they’ve chances on one-on-ones if Tyrone push everybody up.
“They also have potential to score off their own turnovers, when Tyrone run out of ideas. I’m only saying this is an option when the thirteen men are set.”
Conan Doherty feels that Armagh wouldn’t have to always kick the ball wide, but could lump the ball into their full forward line, with the hope that a break might come the way of Jamie Clarke, Rory Grugan or Stefan Campbell, instead of trying to work it past the unflappable Tyrone backline.
“I think you’re on to something. It doesn’t have to be a pot-shot, but if you kick the ball into your full forward line and you lose it, you still have your defensive set up in place.”
It would be bizarre but it could work for them, and it could work for many teams facing blanket defences.
You can listen to the discussion here from 36″00′.
