'All or nothing' for Armagh in Kerry - Kernan

It wasn't their first championship meeting, but Armagh's All-Ireland final win over Kerry in 2002 was something of a line in the sand, spawning a new rivalry in Gaelic football.

Two years previous, the Kingdom prevailed in a semi-final replay on their way to a 32nd title, extending their perfect record over the Orchard County in championship football to three, having beaten them in the 1982 semi-final and 1953 final.

However, the arrival of Joe Kernan would prove to be the missing piece of the jigsaw for an Armagh side who had been threatening to make the big breakthrough as they reached the promised land for the first time.

Championship meetings between the counties have not been regular, with Kerry storming to a quarter-final win over Kernan's side in 2006 on their way to another Sam Maguire success.

In 2024, Armagh claimed a semi-final win in the fixture, with Kerry gaining revenge at the quarter-final stage last year.

Each time, the winner of this match-up has gone on to win the big prize, so Saturday's Round Three clash in Killarney [16:00 BST] between the past two winners of Sam Maguire needs little by way of added hype.

Under the new format, it's knockout action all the way, with Kernan agreeing it's "all or nothing" for his county who are bidding for their first championship win on Kerry soil.

"Every game from now until the final is a final and this is the biggest game of the year," said the former Armagh manager.

"It's in Killarney, [winning there is] something we've never done before I believe it can be done.

"Ever since we won the Sam Maguire in 2002, everybody has said you need to beat Kerry in Dublin and we did that.

"In 2024 the same thing was done, so this is even bigger as whoever wins this will fancy themselves going forward."

In last year's quarter-final at Croke Park, Kerry produced a stunning 15-minute spell in the second half with 14 unanswered points scoring that was the winning of the game.

That platform was built by Kerry dominating the middle third and restarts, allowing them to provide the ammunition for their marquee forwards to thrive.

Nullifying the threat of the Cliffords, David and Paudie, is crucial, but cutting the supply is the way to do that and Kernan feels his county must evoke the spirit of Jack Charlton's Republic of Ireland side from the 1980s and 90s.

"Kerry will try to take Armagh players out of the game, so we have to do the same thing," he stressed.

"We have to make sure every ball that goes into David Clifford, he has to fight for it and that means the people out the field have to work harder.

"Jack Charlton used to say, 'put em under pressure' and whoever is on the ball has to be put under pressure.

"With the extra space in there, there's room for three or four forwards to get in which is extra pressure for your defence, so we can't afford to give them easy shots."

While Kerry recovered from their Round One defeat by Donegal with victory over Kildare last week, Armagh suffered their first championship loss of the season when Sam Mulroy's last gasp effort for Louth ended up in the net to snatch a one-point win.

That loss meant the Wee County took the direct route to the quarter-finals with Armagh now tasked with the trip to Kerry, but Kernan has no concerns of a hangover from that game.

"When the draw was made and Kerry were pulled out, last week's defeat will have been forgotten very quickly," he said.

"I think they will be ready and champing at the bit. There's no need for motivation this week. This is a game they will want to be part of and everybody wants to play in."