The last time that Armagh beat Donegal in the Championship, it actually heralded a new era for the team that was vanquished in Crossmaglen that day. Now it’s time they started one for themselves.
That fallout from that qualifier tie 12 years ago saw John Joe Doherty stepping down as manager and Jim McGuinness stepping in. A year later Donegal were Ulster champions. The following year they won the All-Ireland.
The 2-14 to 0-11 drubbing that they suffered that day was very much in keeping with the relationship between the counties over the previous decade and more. Granted, Donegal scored a one-point win in 2007 but it was due to a rather fortuitous late goal having struggled with the expectation that winning that year’s League brought for much of the afternoon.
