​Armagh U17 and U20 hurling teams celebrate All-Ireland wins

​Captain Shea McNaughton and manager Leon Reynolds represented the U17s, who won the All-Ireland Celtic Challenge.

Captain Liam Farrell and coaches Daithi O’Brien and Damian Kirk present on behalf of the U20s, who won the All-Ireland C title.

‘It was unreal, the whole year’

Speaking at the event, Reynolds gave his thoughts on a memorable year for his Minor side.

“It's been a fantastic year for the Minors,” he said.

“Obviously coming home with the trophy was great, but we managed to get over 60 sessions this year, and the commitment from the players was marvellous.

“We had every one of them in the high 50s, so that gives you an idea of the commitment that we had from the players, and from the management team.

“And also, I'd like to thank the support that the County Board gave us this year, especially our trip down to Kilkenny was one of the highlights of the year. We got a training session with Tommy Walsh and met the Kilkenny County Chairman, JP Kenny. He opened up Nolan Park, we got a tour of it, got a training session, and then we got to play a game with Tommy refereeing it.

“So, it has just been a phenomenal year for us, and the culmination of winning this trophy has just been the icing on the cake.”

McNaughton spoke about how great it was to captain his side to glory.

“It was class, coming home after winning the trophy, it's just an experience I'll never forget,” he said, before also mentioning the trip to Kilkenny as a stand-out moment from the year.

“And Tommy Walsh, coaching you, you’ll never get that again. It was unreal, the whole year.”

‘We could play a good brand of hurling’

Damian Kirk is one of the coaches for the Armagh U20 squad, and reflecting upon the year as a whole, he referenced the work that the players put in during the winter months.

“It was an excellent year, really enjoyable, and we had a good culmination at the end, winning the Under-20 All-Ireland.

“The boys really got stuck in, it was a tough season, especially as winter training in Ireland is tough going, in the wet weather. But the boys put their heads down, there were some tough Sunday mornings in St. Patrick's Grammar School early in the season in around November, December time.

“But to be fair to them, that's when we were picking through the panel and boys really put their hands up and said we want to be part of this.

“We saw that very much against Louth at home here (The Box-It Athletic Grounds) in the semi-final and then against Monaghan in the final, we really showed that we could play hurling. We could play a good brand of hurling.

“We could mix it up. We could use short balls but we could also take long-range scores when we needed to. Really credit goes to the boys and fair play to them. We might do the training, but it's the boys really having to put the hard work in on the pitch and keep the heads down.”

‘Two All-Irelands is very, very positive’

Another coach, Daithi O’Brien mentioned how significant it is for Armagh to win All-Ireland titles at both U17 and U20 grade, as they are considered a ‘weaker’ county for hurling.

“It's great. And for the Minors too,” he said.

“In Armagh, we are a weaker county, but to win two All-Irelands in the space of a couple of weeks is very, very positive. It's the first time Armagh ever won an All-Ireland U20 hurling title.

“The fact that it was live on TG4 and in Breffni Park, it highlighted that it was a very significant game.

“And fair play to Liam as captain and the boys. What was great about this and also the County Minors team too, is that we have all the clubs represented.

“There were many very cold, dark nights earlier on in the year, but when you get over the line, those days are forgotten about. “

For Farrell, the team captain, he picked his highlight of the year as being the victory in the final, especially with the game played at Kingspan Breffni Park in Cavan.

“I suppose just playing in Breffni (was the highlight),” he said.

“It's a nice big pitch to play in. Probably playing in Breffni with all the boys was the best moment.”

For O’Brien, his moment of the season came when Armagh took down Leitrim en route to glory.

“For me, we were four points down against Leitrim.,” he reflected.

“We started slowly and then probably the smallest man on the panel with the biggest heart and biggest character, young Rory Grimes of Middletown, shouldered a player who was about 6’4 over the line and we won the ball, turned it over and got a score.

“And that showed great heart and commitment and from there we drove on in the game and then drove on in the season.”