Sport

Armagh are better than Donegal defeat fears Wicklow manager

Wicklow manager Johnny Magee is fearful of an Armagh backlash when the sides meet in the Qualifiers on June 27 
Wicklow manager Johnny Magee is fearful of an Armagh backlash when the sides meet in the Qualifiers on June 27  Wicklow manager Johnny Magee is fearful of an Armagh backlash when the sides meet in the Qualifiers on June 27 

WICKLOW manager Johnny Magee fears a backlash from a “wounded” Armagh in their All-Ireland Qualifier at the Athletic Grounds on June 27.

Former Dublin star Magee saw his Garden county side exit the Leinster Championship last Sunday after a four-point loss to Meath in Navan, the same day Kieran McGeeney’s Armagh were outplayed by reigning Ulster champions Donegal. Both sides will have to put their defeats behind them quickly when they meet in the first round of fixtures of the ‘back door’.

“There is nothing worse than a wounded Armagh team,” said Magee.

“There will be a sting in the tail. We’ll prepare as best as we can for it and we’ll go up and give it 110 per cent. If we play as well as we did yesterday, we’ll cause them problems. I think we’re good enough to really have a go at them, so it’s going to be an interesting battle, it’s going to be about how either side responds to a defeat. 

“I’d say they’ll be pretty deflated, but Kieran McGeeney is an experienced guy – a former player and obviously an experienced manager now as well – and he’d know what buttons to press with those guys. He’ll have them fired up pretty quickly. He’s very honest and straightforward and that’s the best policy with your players – at least they know where they stand and that’s how you get players buying into what you want them to do.”

Magee and McGeeney were opposing centre half-backs when Armagh beat Dublin in a nerve-jangling All-Ireland semi-final back in 2002, which the Orchard men won by a point. The former Kilmacud Croke’s star doesn’t think the Orchard men’s nine-point loss to Donegal is an accurate reflection of the quality in the side.

“I watched the game,” he said.

“I don’t think that performance is a true reflection of where Armagh are at.

“It’s going to be a big ask for us, going up to the Athletic Grounds is probably a bigger ask than going to Navan. We’ll prepare as best as we can for it and we’re looking forward to the challenge. The big thing for us is that we’ll play the best football that we can and we’ll go up there quietly confident that we’ll do our best.”

While Armagh went into last Sunday’s game against Donegal as underdogs, no-one wrote them off. Meanwhile, virtually nobody outside their camp gave Wicklow a prayer going up to Navan, but they pushed Meath all the way in a game that finished 2-19 to 3-12.

“It was a disappointing result,” Magee admitted.

“We missed 3-4 and, at this level, you can’t afford to miss that. I’m hugely proud of the lads for the performance they put in.

“I’ve been working with them since November, getting them right in preparation for the Meath game, but we’re here for three years so it’s a stepping stone in our first year and we’re getting a proper system in place for them strength and conditioning-wise.

“The big thing for us is that we build on it and get a bit of consistency in our performances.

“Our League results didn’t truly reflect where we are as a team. I felt we should have finished on at least eight points, but we weren’t taking them away from our gym programme because we knew what had to be done to get the lads up to the level that’s required to compete with the likes of Meath.

“We knew lads would be heavy-legged going into games but, for next year and the year after, it had to be done.”