Five players miss out but five players come in for Armagh
Armagh booked their spot in the Ulster Semi-final with minimal fuss against Fermanagh on Saturday evening.
The Orchard County led by as many as 19 points at one stage, and ultimately finished as 11-point winners.
Despite the good result, manager Kieran McGeeney said it was a ‘tough week’ for the team after they remarkably lost five players to injury at training.
The biggest loss is that 2024 All Star winner Ben Crealey will miss the remainder of the season with a broken ankle. Furthermore, Callum O’Neill, Greg McCabe, Gareth Murphy and Joe McElroy also picked up knocks.
“It was a decent performance. We did well in the first half, we pulled away and we had a good cushion,” said McGeeney post-match.
“But it was a tough week for us, we lost five players from our first team in training during the week – before anyone asks, nothing bad happened, it was just one of those nights. It seemed to be a freak night. It was a tough week.
“Then today with the (16-point) cushion, we tried a few things in the second half that didn’t really work that well and Fermanagh came back into it. But any day where you score 38 points in an Ulster Championship match, leave a good bit behind you and win by 11, is a decent day.”
The second half turned into an exhibition of shooting at times, with Fermanagh firing over 1-20 across the 35 minutes. However, it’s fair to say that Armagh weren’t going at it all guns blazing, considering they had a healthy lead throughout the half.
“Probably; it’s hard to know sometimes,” said McGeeney when asked whether it was hard for his team to stay fully switched on.
“At the same time, you have to give credit to [Darragh] McGurn, he was kicking them over from every angle and [Joe] McDade hit two unbelievable (two-pointers) as well. It’s unusual for a team to score seven two-pointers like that, outside of the Kerrys and the Donegals.“But we were able to try a few things and get a couple of players back on the pitch that we really needed to, so that was good.”
On those players they got back, Armagh were boosted by the return of Ciaran Mackin and Barry McCambridge off the bench, as well as Andrew Murnin returning to the starting line-up.
Mackin last played 12 months ago, having ruptured his ACL, whilst Barry McCambridge had been out since injuring his foot last September. Murnin’s last involvement for Armagh was 10 weeks ago, against Roscommon in the National League.
“It was a big thing to see Ciaran Mackin back on the pitch after a long time out,” said McGeeney.
“Barry McCambridge too, he had a big injury too. So, to get those two back on the pitch, and hopefully get another week under their belts is a big thing.
“Andrew [Murnin] coming back in is a great thing. He’s quality, but he was getting banged about a bit, so we said that we’d try to protect him a wee bit. But it was good for him to get 40 minutes.”
Furthermore, Daniel Magee and Ryan Duffy made their inter-county debuts, with Magee playing the full 70 minutes, whilst Duffy was introduced from the bench.
“Daniel put in a great effort for us and Ryan showed that he’s well capable at this level, he got straight into it,” said the Armagh boss.
“So, that was very good. I’m very happy with a lot of parts to it, but there is still a lot to work on.”