WATCH: Armagh’s strength in depth makes for tough calls says coach Conleith Gilligan

Having lost the last two Ulster Finals on penalties, Armagh are hoping that they can bring the Anglo Celt Cup back to the Orchard County for the first time since 2008 this Saturday, when they face Donegal.

Kieran McGeeney’s men needed all of their experience and composure to see off Tyrone by a point in the Semi-final, and one of his coaches Conleith Gilligan, agreed with the assessment that the win could kick Armagh’s season into life.

“Yeah, it can. Tyrone are a brilliant team, and under Malachy O'Rourke, they've got a new lease of life,” Gilligan told the Newry Reporter at the Ulster Final media event.

“They've got more players back, Darren McCurry and Darragh Canavan and players of that ilk, to win games like that against the quality of player they have, it does give you a bit of confidence.

“It was a brilliant win, but you have to put that to bed now and focus on the next thing, which is Donegal.”

Strength in depth makes for tough decisions

Armagh’s biggest strength on their march to winning the Sam Maguire last year was their squad depth, as their substitutes routinely made a massive difference.

That trend has continued this year – as shown in the win over Tyrone, with Stefan Campbell and Conor Turbitt making their mark with scores off the bench.

“Sometimes picking the 26 gives more difficulty than picking the starting 15,” Gilligan conceded.

“There are so many players, and they're so deserving, and they give up so much of their life, and that's the hardest part in that you have to disappoint someone. To be fair to the players, they understand that too, and they're brilliant whenever they do get the disappointments, but that's the hardest part, and I suppose that's probably the part that Geezer has worked so hard on and is so good with, and the players sort of react to that as well.”

Armagh have had their share of injury problems throughout the campaign, but with Niall Grimley returning to the 26 against Tyrone and Ciaran Mackin, Aaron McKay and Joe McElroy all understood to be close to returning, they’re starting to clear up.

However, when the more senior players were unavailable, some new faces stepped up, which adds to the management team’s dilemma of selecting a squad.

“We had Tomas McCormack, Callum O'Neill, and Darragh McMullen who had played a bit last year, and not having a McKenna Cup was a bit of a blow for those younger players, because that tended to be the competition where they'd get the shop window for three or four weeks, and they could really get their feet at that level.

“So it was hard, they had to come into the National League Division 1 in really tough games, and go to Tralee and go to Salthill, those are hard places to learn your craft.

“But to be fair, they did get their chance against Antrim, and they did really well, and they got their chance against Tyrone, and they didn't let anybody down. Yes, the injuries got them the opportunity, but they'd worked really hard, and they deserved that chance.”

‘You learn so much’

Gilligan continues to grow as a coach, having been a part of the Kilcoo management team which won the All-Ireland Club title in 2022, and he says that being a part of McGeeney’s coaching team – having come in at the start of the 2024 season - has been a massively enjoyable experience.

“It is (enjoyable). You have all the Kierans [Kieran McGeeney, Kieran Donaghy and Ciaran McKeever], you've Denis Hollywood, you've Julie [Davis], Hugh [Campbell], and Ciarán McKinney.

“They’re really brilliant coaches, really brilliant people, and you learn so much. It's only really when you're in that environment with those people, that you probably realise how little you knew yourself personally.

“It's brilliant, and they give you the time, and it's hard to believe how it went so well, so quick, but look, you'll take it and move on, and I hope for better days again.”

No secrets on Saturday

Saturday’s meeting with Donegal is a rematch of last year’s Ulster Final. The two teams have also met three times in the league since the beginning of 2024 and Gilligan concedes that there will be no secrets between the teams at St Tiernach’s Park.

“Not really, they know each other really well, and there's only been a kick of the ball in most of the games, and some of them were a draw, they've went to penalties, and it's nip and tuck.

“When you have teams at that level, there are very small things that separate them, and somebody has a brilliant day, and they've rub of the green, and last year, we'd done really good work to put ourselves in a position to win games, but look, we didn't see it out, and credit to Donegal.

“People maybe talked about how we lost the game, but that's very, very unfair. Donegal had to come back and had to show unbelievable composure to bring the game to extra-time, and then in extra-time, they had to do that again.

“Especially with the new rules now, there is no way the game can be predictable, with two-pointers, you could be in an ascendancy and get pulled back, or you could be behind and get pulled in, and as we've seen through the league, and through the Championship.

“That's probably what's made the game so exciting to date, and I don't expect the Ulster final to be any different.

“There'll be a huge crowd, Clones will be buzzing, and two teams going at it, and again, that's ultimately what supporters want.”

Armagh able to win the tight games

Armagh suffered four cruel penalty shootout losses in big games spread across three seasons, with two coming in the last two Ulster Finals.

Following those losses, a criticism levelled towards Armagh was their inability to close out tight games. However, having defeated Kerry in extra-time and Galway by a point last year en route to winning the Sam Maguire, alongside defeating Tyrone with the last kick of the game last week, Armagh seem to be growing in confidence in those tense moments.

“Yeah possibly, and I suppose when you've lost shoot-outs in finals and in big games, you probably learn more about yourself than in the victories.

“You take the learning from those situations, and you try and bring them to make sure they don't happen again, and maybe this team had to go through those really bad days to try and find that wee bit extra for the extra-time against Kerry, and maybe the Galway game, and maybe the Tyrone game at the weekend.

“So maybe it's in those bad times that you learn more about yourself as a group, and you develop and grow, and the hope is that is the case as time moves on.

“But it's a new day, a new game, a new final, you just can't predict, and I suppose that's the beauty of football.”