Ulster SFC quarter-final; Antrim v Armagh 

(Corrigan Park, Saturday, 12.30pm, live on BBC2 and iPlayer)

SHOCKS can and do happen in sport, but if Antrim were to ambush All-Ireland champions Armagh on Saturday at Corrigan Park, it would be veering into earthquake territory.

That’s the reality of the situation for Andy McEntee’s men who have done nothing so far in 2025 to suggest they are ready to turn the Ulster Championship on its head by taking down an Armagh team that won Sam Maguire last year and also reached back-to-back provincial finals, only to lose both on penalties.

Armagh may not have been many people’s pick to go all the way at the outset of 2024, but they were firmly in the ‘dark horse’ category and even having suffered a shootout heartbreak once again in Ulster, they dusted themselves off and went on a run which saw them scale the mountain.

Kieran McGeeney’s team is loaded with quality, power, precision and mental toughness - all the attributes required to get to the top - and they will arrive in West Belfast determined to get their Championship campaign off to a good start as they still harbour ambitions of getting their hands on the Anglo-Celt for the first time since 2008.

For Antrim, it’s about finding a way to deal with all of the above and that is not an easy task as they dust themselves off from their relegation to Division Four in the League.

That seven-game campaign saw the Saffrons produce good moments, but nowhere near enough as their Jekyll and Hyde form within games saw them produce good spells at times but not enough of them as they lost three games by one score, which proved fatal.

This is an area which requires major work and whether the three weeks since their final league game against Kildare was enough to do so is questionable, but if they are to give themselves a shot on Saturday, performing at a consistently high level from the first whistle to last is imperative.

“Yeah, that’s been the challenge,” manager, Andy McEntee said.

“It is hard to put your finger on it. I’m not a sports psychologist, but maybe you start thinking instead of doing, and you lose. In all the games we’ve played this year, there’s been moments.

“You better be ready for a performance against Armagh, otherwise, you’ll end up paying a heavy price.”

Back at the same stage in 2023, Armagh claimed a 0-20 to 1-8 win on their home patch as Antrim took far too long to settle and were eight down by the time they got their opening score.

That simply can’t be allowed to happen again as the Saffrons must attack this one from the off, get early scores to settle themselves and take every opportunity they get.

Again, that wasn’t the case two years ago as although Armagh seemed to take their foot off the gas in the second period, there were goal opportunities for the Saffrons that may have made things a little more interesting.

Armagh will certainly be keen on asserting themselves from the off and dampening any fire in Antrim’s bellies that may exist from the victory over the venue for this game.

And they have plenty of talent to do just that with Paddy Burns, Stefan Campbell, Rory Grugan and Barry McCambridge leading the charge.

However, there are notable absentees with Conor Turbitt, Niall Grimley, Ben Crealey and Oisin Conaty not in the 26-man panel, along with Rian O'Neill, who is unlikely to feature this year, while captain Aidan Forker will start on the bench as the Orchrd start with just six of the team that began last year's All-Ireland final.

Perhaps Armagh’s biggest threat this weekend could be complacency, but the mood music from the Orchard County suggests that will not be an issue.

“With all teams where you go in with a favourites tag, it’s trying to make sure that complacency doesn’t set in,” team coach, Conleith Gilligan. countered.

“Antrim have loads and loads of good players and even the club’s scene in Antrim now with what Cargin have been able to do in Ulster, it just shows that any team that comes out, they’re really, really good players.

“We’re normally used to having a big crowd and a big roar. We’ll maybe not have that so let’s get used to all those things. It’s the Ulster Championship and it’s a thing that every player looks forward to and Armagh will be no different.”

As for Antrim, Marc Jordan and Adam Loughran have been named among the subs as they build their way back to full fitness, but Peter Healy remains out.

But there is quality in the ranks in the form of Eoghan McCabe, Ruairi McCann and Dominic McEnhill with the leadership qualities of Paddy McBride and Dermot McAleese there to guide.

It will require at least a 9/10 from each of the starting 15 and five subs on Saturday to give themselves a shot down the stretch and concentrating on reaching that level is their only concern heading in.

“You can get bogged down in trying to look for weak points (in Armagh), but you won’t find too many of them,” he warned.

“The truth of the matter is we’ve got to focus on ourselves and see if we can get the best possible performance out of our group of lads and see where that takes us.”

ANTRIM: Michael Byrne; Eoghan McCabe, Eunan Walsh, Kavan Keenan; James McAuley, Jack Lenehan, Dermot McAleese; Conor Hand, Eunan Quinn; Patrick McBride, Niall Burns, Fionn Nagle; Ryan McQuillan, Ruairi McCann, Dominic McEnhill.

Subs: Luke Mulholland, Adam Loughran, Conhuir Johnston, Conor Stewart, James McDonnell, John Morgan, Marc Jordan, Patrick Finnegan, Peter King, Ronan Boyle, Ryan Murray.

ARMAGH: Ethan Rafferty; Paddy Burns, Barry McCambridge, Tomás McCormack; Ross McQuillan, Greg McCabe, Connaire Mackin; Callum O'Neill, Ciaran Mackin; Darragh McMullan, Rory Grugan, Peter McGrane; Tiernan Kelly, Andrew Murnin, Stefan Campbell.

Subs: Blaine Hughes, Gareth Murphy, Ciaran Higgins, Aidan Forker, Jarlath Óg Burns, Cian McConville, Jemar Hall, Shane McPartlan, Oisin O'Neill, Sean Conlon, Ciaron O'Hanlon.