Football

McGeeney rues missed chances as Armagh fall to Cavan

&nbsp;Armagh&rsquo;s Stefan Campbell sees his penalty saved by Cavan goalkeeper Raymond Galligan at Kingspan Breffni Park yesterday <br /> Picture by Colm O&rsquo;Reilly
 Armagh’s Stefan Campbell sees his penalty saved by Cavan goalkeeper Raymond Galligan at Kingspan Breffni Park yesterday
Picture by Colm O’Reilly
 Armagh’s Stefan Campbell sees his penalty saved by Cavan goalkeeper Raymond Galligan at Kingspan Breffni Park yesterday
Picture by Colm O’Reilly

Ulster Senior Football Championship: Cavan 2-16 Armagh 0-14

IT was the little things that niggled Kieran McGeeney after watching his Armagh side bow out of the Ulster Championship to hosts Cavan on Sunday afternoon.

Speaking in the tea-room beneath the main stand at Kingspan Breffni Park, the Armagh manager cut a dejected figure.

He rued the six or seven balls his side dropped short. He rued Stefan Campbell’s 57th minute penalty miss that would have cut Cavan’s lead to three points.

And he rued the fact not enough men wearing orange could put the ball over the bar.

But ‘Geezer’ still managed to strike the right balance between criticism and praise for his players after losing by eight points.

“For most of the game we were competitive,” he said.

“It’s been our Achilles’ heel for a while – scoring. You have to convert your chances. Fourteen scores out of 29 shots… We need another four or five points that would make a huge difference and that’s what we’ve to push towards. We can’t be missing easy scores.

“I don’t know how our 14-yard freekick was blocked in the first half, it was difficult to see. Wee things like that. [Missing] four or five points make a really big difference. We just have to get better at it.”

‘Soupy’ Campbell may have missed the crucial spot-kick and that closerange free in the first half – but he was still Armagh’s most dangerous attacker and showed admirable courage when it might have been easier to drift out of the game after those two glaring misses.

“After the penalty miss, he kept going,” said McGeeney.

“Soupy’s had a great year for us but we need more – we need more up front. There’s not much point saying anything different. Ethan [Rafferty] got three, Tony Kernan had a great game for us but we just didn’t get enough scores from everybody else. But you have to give credit to Cavan too.”

The 2002 All-Ireland winning captain acknowledged that confidence is an issue for some his side and that sometimes their shooters were trying to be “too precise” in front of Cavan’s posts.

“When you’re playing football you’re trying to take calculated risks against a counterattacking team.

But you never want them to be that paralysed by making a mistake that they don’t see those openings and gaps.

“The pass into ‘Soupy’ – Rory [Grugan] hit a beautiful pass into him – and he turned and took the score when we had a few runners off him. It’s those types of passes that open up defences and you’d love to see more of them.

“For that 10 or 12 minutes before the penalty we were really pushing hard. We were coming off the shoulder and making good choices, but then we miss the penalty and the air is taken out of the bag.

“They have to learn how to deal with those things. It [confidence] probably is short a wee bit but that comes with winning. But I think they’re good enough to get there. We’re not too far away.”

Asked about the difference between losing as manager compared to his playing days, he added: “I suppose I always have a huge emotional input into football and it’s tough to take but you’ll sit with your kids and you just have to regroup.” 

In a surprise move, the Armagh management team selected recognised outfield player Paul Courtney as goalkeeper yesterday as they didn’t want to risk Patrick Morrison, who had just recovered from a broken vertebrae seven days earlier.

“I thought Paul did well,” said manager Kieran McGeeney. “I thought his kick-outs were excellent for us. He’s played defence and he’s played goals too. Kick-outs are a big part of the game and in fairness his were spot on.”

The Orchardmen now have a few weeks to lick their wounds and prepare for the All-Ireland Qualifiers and despite yesterday’s provincial exit, McGeeney is “more encouraged” entering the back door this time than last season.

"We are more encouraged, but there are some big teams going to be in there too. We’re going to be down Ethan [broken hand], [Mark] Shields picked up an injury there, Charlie [Vernon] and you add that to Kevin [Dyas], Andrew [Murnin] and Jamie [Clarke].

“But I’m happy that the boys are pushing on and they’re trying. That’s the big thing. At times they could have rolled over today but they didn’t, they just kept pegging away. It would have done them a bit of justice if that penalty had gone in to see where we ended up.”