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Karl O'Kane

Armagh won't get carried away with Dublin wins says 'keeper Blaine Hughes

Blaine Hughes says Armagh have to prove they belong in Division One.

Kieran McGeeney’s men went a long way towards showing they’re a bona fide top League side by defeating Dublin at Croke Park in last Saturday night’s Division One opener.

Armagh emerged on a scoreline of 2-15 to 1-13 to beat Dublin for the first time since 2008, and inflict back-to-back Croke Park defeats on the capital side for the first time since early 2009.

McGeeney said it was a significant milestone for his side, as they begin their second year in Division One, but they still have plenty to do.

Next-up for Armagh are All-Ireland champions Tyrone, who drew with Monaghan at the weekend.

Goalkeeper Hughes, who has established himself as one of the best around in recent years, said: “It [Dublin] was a great win but it’s just two points at the end of the day.

“We’re just trying to be competitive in every game and we showed that. We want to put our best foot forward and we did. It was a good performance from the whole team.

“When you’re playing in Croke Park everyone has to stand up and we did that but we’ll not be resting on our laurels. We have another big game.

“They’re [Tyrone] the All-Ireland champions but we’ll try and do the same as we did against Dublin.

“Try and be as competitive as we can and hopefully we can get the win.”

Armagh still have plenty to work on and won’t be happy with the manner and timing of the goal they conceded against Dublin.

From being in total control of the game they let Dublin back into it after failing to deal with a hopeful ball in around their goals.

Dublin also had 13 wides and dropped five efforts short, some of them coming down to good defending, but others poor execution.

Speaking about his defence after the Dublin win, McGeeney said: “They (Monaghan) scored one more point than us (in the Ulster SFC game last season), but their defence is good and ours, you could drive a bus through.

Armagh manager Kieran McGeeney speaks to his players after the Dublin game (©INPHO/Ryan Byrne)

“But these are the things that will test you. We were missing players last year too.

"The way the game is played – the pace, the power of some of the player and obviously when you get inside the 50 you know that if you drive you are going to get the benefit of the doubt.

“So you just have to be aware you are not going to keep good forwards and good teams out. You are just looking to keep them out by one point.”

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