KIERAN McGeeney stressed he wasn’t making excuses for Armagh’s loss to Donegal when he explained how not having a pitch to train on and a bug in the camp had contributed to a “flat” performance in the Division Two final.
Armagh misfired in the first half and went 19 minutes without a score in the second but an injection of energy from their star-studded bench meant they almost won it after a late rally saw them go from four points down to one in front with time almost up. Donegal, the better team for most of a slow-burner of a final, rallied and scored three of the last four points to take the title.
In the cold light of day, this was another coulda/shoulda defeat for McGeeney’s men who have lost nailbiters to Galway, Derry and Monaghan in recent seasons.
“We were a bit flat,” said McGeeney.
“We just had one of those weeks. No pitches to train on, a bug in the camp… We had (because of the wet weather) no pitch on Thursday, so we didn’t get the first team out at all this week.
“We were hoping that would make us fresh and have a wee bit of a bounce after going game-on-game, if you miss a session or two it can give you a bit of a bounce, but we just seemed to be very flat today for most of the game.
“Pitches are hard to get coming up to club season. I wouldn’t be using it an as an excuse. You were hoping when things like that happen, that you are going to get a bounce out of the bit of rest. I just felt we were very flat - we didn’t seem to get moving at all.”
The plus points for the Armagh manager included the form of the O’Neill brothers, Rian and Oisin, who added impetus to a flagging Orchard effort after they came off the bench. He also singled out Darragh McMullen – who made his senior debut in the final – for praise.
“I wouldn’t be too hard on the players - a lot of them had a tough week,” he said.
“The boys will be disappointed. They don’t like coming here (and losing). This is the first we got beat in a good while, between League and Championship - we try not to count penalties in our place!
“We’d be disappointed and they are a wee bit down in there. But we have two weeks to come back for Ulster championship. We have the Super 16s then so there is plenty there to keep your focus.”
Meanwhile, Donegal manager Jim McGuinness sat down to watch Ulster Championship opponents Derry take on Dublin in the Division One final delighted to have some silverware in the bag.
“We’d a lot of young lads on the bus today heading to Croke Park for the first time, getting game time in Croke Park for the first time as well,” he said.
“With the injury list that we had, trying to manage that, we’re delighted to get the result, first and foremost.
“I felt we controlled a lot of the game as well, at 0-12 to 0-8, it probably shouldn’t have been as tight as it was in the end. That being said, you always find out more about your team and from four points up to one point down we managed to go a point up and that’s a big positive for us - the young lads finding their feet and a bit of character and stuff like that.
“It’s been a very good League in that we’ve come together, tried to put a team together and are still very much in the process of doing that. Getting to Division One and now a trophy, that’s brilliant for the young lads, and now we’ve three weeks to focus on Derry.”
Injured skipper Paddy McBrearty accepted the winners’ trophy along with Ciaran Thompson, who marked his 100th appearance in county colours with four excellent points. McGuinness has his fingers crossed that McBrearty and Ryan McHugh will be fit to face Derry.
“Ah please God, please God like,” he said.
“It’s week-by-week with all of them. There’s probably six or seven that we just have to (hope for).”
