In the summer of 1961, Down defeated Armagh by 2-10 to 1-10, winning their third consecutive Ulster title. Tomorrow, Armagh will begin their attempt to emulate that since unequalled feat with a tie against resurgent Tyrone. The management team, Brian McAlinden and Brian Canavan, named a side that corresponds almost exactly with the team that fell to Kerry in last year's All-Ireland semi-final epic. The reluctance to tinker with a unit that came within touching distance of the county's first All-Ireland final since 1977 carried a message. Go finish it, they seem to be saying.
"I think that there is that sense of unfinished business about the team this year," said Joe Kernan. "Winning back-to-back Ulster titles was a fine achievement but that can no longer be the summit. I think there is an All-Ireland in this particular side and that they will have learned from their last two All-Ireland semi-final experiences. I think they felt they left it there last time and that still hurts. There will be no problem with motivation because there is nothing as dangerous as a wounded team."
Although Kernan's All-Ireland success with Crossmaglen has made him a cult figure, he is not totally immune to the deep-rooted fear that Armagh folk carry when it comes to playing on big days down south. Kernan was an instrumental member of the fine 1977 side that fell to the celebrated Dublin team.
Armagh have not made it to that stage since. Football in the county was at midebb when its northern neighbours began a furious assault on the southern-based hegemony in the early 1990s. As the last decade faded, the power base moved intractably south again and for many Armagh followers, there is still an element of mystery as to how you take those last steps, how you actually win an All-Ireland.
"In 1991, we were motivated by the sense that we had undersold ourselves in the previous years," remembers Down's Liam Austin.
"We had the requisite qualities that All-Ireland winning sides invariably possess - a strong central spine and five, even six, scoring forwards. When it came to the actual games, that leap of faith towards the necessary self-belief, well, I think we were imbued with a resolve that went back to Down's All-Ireland victories in 1960 and '61. History had a positive effect on us and we felt we had a right to be there, that it was a natural habitat. Maybe there was an arrogance attached to that but it worked. Armagh have the ability, unquestionably and maybe now the experience also."
In 1994, that belief saw Down rush for glory again after two post All-Ireland seasons in mediocrity. That ability to turn it on with such devastating effect earned Peter McGrath's side the reputation as All-Ireland specialists.
"We got the hunger back," is the simple explanation from DJ Kane, who lifted the Sam Maguire in 1994. "The quality we had was ruthlessness. Maybe you are born with it . . . - ah no, I think it is a matter of being clinical, taking opportunities and being poised enough to put teams away."
And that is where Armagh have fallen in their last two great risings.
"The first year against Meath went disastrously for us in every sense and in a sense it was easier to accept because we were beaten by a better team," says Kernan.
"But against Kerry, we had a chance after half-time, when we were five points up, to put them on the rack and we sat back. We were too conservative and it allowed Kerry back into the game. The opening just disappeared." Liam Austin also believes those first minutes after the first half of the drawn game was where Armagh's title hopes evaporated.
"They could see the finishing line and while they didn't freeze, they tried to protect that lead too early and hoped that that line would come towards then. You have to keep striding. In the 1991 final, we knew Meath would come storming back at us - and they did - but even after half-time, we enhanced our lead to the extent that the gap was too great. If Armagh could have clipped three early points against Kerry, it would have been a steep task even for a team of their calibre."
Given Peter Canavan's lightness of step and the conveyor belt of under-age talent Tyrone has manufactured in recent years, talk of Armagh and All-Irelands may seem a little previous. But it is important, DJ Kane believes, to see beyond the parochial rivalry.
"Armagh's achievements over the past two years have been tremendous. But you have to see winning in Ulster as a stepping stone, to not be content with it, and when you go to play in Croke Park to have that real, deep down belief that this is the reason you have been training and working so hard." But still, the path ahead is strewn with danger for Armagh. No one would be that surprised if Tyrone were to hit the field at lightning speed in Clones, consigning Armagh to the lottery of the losers' group.
"I don't think so but it could happen. The worry I have about this new system - and I am not against the change in itself - is that it could remove the desperate, end-of-the-line will and hunger that can carry a team in the last five minutes of a match," points out Kernan. "Psychologically, you know you have an alternative route. I hope Armagh advance the straight-forward way but regardless, I think they will be in the last eight."
If Armagh find that their best is still that little bit short, well what then? The McAlinden-Canavan combination has overseen this slow-burning orange revolution since 1995. Patience has been the team's strongest virtue and their record shows they have imbibed the lectures from the previous year.
"It will be interesting to see what happens," says Austin. "Certainly some of the older players may question if they have the time and energy to face into another campaign. And even though quite a number of the players are relatively young, history has shown that domination in Ulster is a cyclical thing. But this is still Armagh's time."
