GAA

Cahair O’Kane: The real Rian O’Neill standing up a sign that Armagh are finally getting it right

When Kieran McGeeney took over, Armagh had neither the ingredients nor the recipe for success. They finally look to have both.

Armagh's Rian O'Neill and Down's Miceal Rooney in action during the Ulster GAA Senior Football Championship Semi- Final between Armagh and Down at St Tiernach's Park, Clones. Pic : Philip Walsh
Armagh's Rian O'Neill and Down's Miceal Rooney in action during the Ulster GAA Senior Football Championship Semi- Final between Armagh and Down at St Tiernach's Park, Clones on 04-27-2024. Pic Philip Walsh

IT is by going back to the dying moments of normal time in last year’s Ulster final that you are best able to see the change in Armagh since then.

A point down two minutes into the five added on, Rory Grugan comes down the right wing.

On the wrong side, on his weaker foot, his rash shot drops way short and is gathered by Odhran Lynch.

That could well have been the game gone there and then, but Derry gifted them an equaliser when Jarly Óg Burns read Padraig Cassidy’s loose handpass out of defence.

Brendan Rogers was black carded for his foul on Burns. Rian O’Neill taps over the free.

Ninety seconds left. One more play. Odhran Lynch is forced long.

Rian O’Neill gets the run on Conor Glass. Flying through the air, he wins the kickout.

The roar that went up from the Armagh people at that moment was a roar that said ‘we have it’.

But they didn’t have it.

Rory Grugan called the mark off Ethan Rafferty’s pass. But the distance always looked a big ask for the Ballymacnab man.

He couldn’t win. If he hadn’t taken the shot, he’d have been hounded for it.

In extra-time, they twice led by two points late on. But the indiscipline that has pockmarked their big moments reared its head again.

James Morgan fouled Shane McGuigan twice in the last four minutes.

On the second one, Rian O’Neill ploughed in to Shane McGuigan after the whistle.

The referee added 20 metres and a free in the middle of the field became an equaliser.



Saturday’s win over Down was an ugly spectacle.

But it had to be that way.

Conor Laverty’s entire gameplan was built around testing Armagh’s patience and discipline.

As well rehearsed as they were, Down couldn’t disguise that they hadn’t the kickers to shoot from outside.

Down wanted Armagh to be impatient, to get drawn out, so their runners could penetrate those spaces in behind.

On the couple of rare occasions they managed it, they scored goals. They needed goals.

But Armagh stayed cool, stayed disciplined, and backed themselves to have the quality to see it out.

They deserve far more credit for that win than they’ve been given.

Level moving into stoppage time, Armagh kept the ball for three minutes and 15 seconds before Jason Duffy’s winner.

No mad stuff. Worked it to the right man in the right place.

Their defensive discipline has improved greatly.

Armagh haven’t conceded more than four points from frees in any league or championship game this season.

Donegal in the league final, Fermanagh and Down in the championship have each scored just two frees against them.

There’s part of you feels it’s too early to judge because they haven’t faced a single Division One side yet. And that’s true.

It will only be then you can start to be definitive in saying that they’ve changed.

But this is Kieran McGeeney’s tenth season in charge of Armagh.

Saturday’s win was his 40th championship game as manager.

It was just the third time in those 40 games that he’s started an unchanged team from the previous game.

Armagh's Kieran McGeeney at the start of  the Ulster GAA Senior Football Championship Semi- Final between Armagh and Down  at St Tiernach's  Park, Clones on 04-27-2024. Pic Philip Walsh
Armagh's Kieran McGeeney at the start of the Ulster GAA Senior Football Championship Semi- Final between Armagh and Down at St Tiernach's Park, Clones on 04-27-2024. Pic Philip Walsh

They named their team just after 9.30pm on Thursday, early in comparison to almost everyone else. And they stuck with that fifteen, same as they had against Fermanagh.

There’s an element of positive psychology built into doing that.

It says to the world: Here we are. This is our team. We’ve nothing to hide. You know it. We know you know it. But it’s up to you to beat it.

For pretty much his entire career to date, Rian O’Neill has been encouraged to live in a state of wanderlust.

Too good to stay inside, too good not to throw inside the odd time. A wee bit at full-forward, a bit at centre-half, out to midfield for the odd kickout and the throw-ins. Everywhere and nowhere.

While he had produced moments of brilliance, there was so much more in him.

In the last two games, I think we’re finally seeing the real Rian O’Neill.

He’s been the best player on the pitch against both Fermanagh and Down.

It feels as though he’s benefitting hugely from being given an orthodox midfield position.

No more handing him the 14 jersey and letting on he’s a bit of this, a bit of that, trying to bamboozle the opposition analysts with what his role is.

The number eight on his back has been reflected in how and where he’s been playing the game for the last few weeks.

O’Neill at midfield is so hard for opposition defences to bottle up. He’s so good at coming on to the ball at pace, and he has that Michael Murphy kind of presence in possession, where he never looks ruffled or off-balance when he’s taking a shot.

Again, it says to the world, this man’s a midfielder, he’s damn good at it, it’s up to you how you deal with it.

Moving Aidan Forker permanently out again to the half-back line and having O’Neill at midfield is a lot of why Armagh’s attacking play, particularly on the break, has been slicker and more effective.

Aidan Forker's permanent move out into the half-back line has also helped Armagh's attacking play. Picture: Philip Walsh
Aidan Forker's permanent move out into the half-back line has also helped Armagh's attacking play. Picture: Philip Walsh

They’re the heads-up footballers that Armagh need and want on the ball.

Against the system Down employed at the weekend, they were the two best able to penetrate it.

Speaking at the Ulster Championship launch last month, Forker credited Conleith Gilligan’s introduction to the backroom in that respect.

He isn’t the only one benefitting from this Newfoundland of consistency.

Ben Crealey beside him has taken hold of the spot beside him in the last six weeks, giving Armagh a recognisable midfield pairing after years of chopping and changing in that area.



Blaine Hughes has done really well in goals.

His role is much more orthodox than Ethan Rafferty but as a team, Armagh had become far too reliant on their goalkeeper in an attacking sense. Hughes will keep his place unless something goes badly wrong.

An injury-free Paddy Burns has quickly established himself as their go-to man marker again.

Ciaran Mackin is an ideal six. Fast, strong, brave, a nose for danger.

Rory Grugan is playing outstanding stuff at 11.

Conor Turbitt’s role in the team is more settled, although he hasn’t quite come good on it yet.

But O’Neill dipping in and out of full-forward for years took away from Turbitt, forced him to live on scraps around the periphery.

They’ve gotten it right tactically on the line in their two games, in very different ways.

They suffocated Fermanagh with the high press and didn’t allow Down to bait them out of their shape.

Their high press against Derry in last year’s Ulster final was the most effective version of it any team has employed against the Oak Leafers in recent years.

Armagh can play it both ways.

When Kieran McGeeney took over, Armagh had neither the ingredients nor the recipe for success.

They finally look to have both.