IT’S over six weeks since Armagh exited the Ulster Championship to Fermanagh, but that unexpected defeat – and the criticism that followed it – is still driving the Orchardmen, according to Jemar Hall.
Kieran McGeeney’s men had gone into that game as strong favourites but could find no answer to the Erne County’s dogged defensive plan, with only two of their seven points coming from play on a forgettable evening at Brewster Park.
Players and management came in for serious scrutiny as a result before rebuilding successfully through the back door with straightforward wins over Westmeath and Sligo.
And on Saturday Armagh, looking dead and buried, produced a breathless late, late show to sink Clare at the Athletic Grounds.
Yesterday’s round four Qualifier draw leaves them facing their biggest challenge yet against defeated Connacht finalists Roscommon but, with momentum behind them and the fire still burning since leaving Fermanagh in May, anything is possible.
“It’s still fuelling us up in every game, all the abuse we got after Fermanagh,” said Hall, who was one of the few bright points to emerge from Enniskillen after coming on for the final 20 minutes.
“People said we didn’t want to play for the team, we didn’t want to play for the jersey, and that’s fuelling us every game. Kieran reminded us before we went out to have that wee bit of extra hunger and show that we actually are good enough to play for Armagh.
“People say this team isn’t good enough and we don’t have the players, but today we showed that bit of fight and we were able to stand up to it when it was put to us.
“In training we’re always working on being ready to fight and dig deep, we didn’t want to stop there and we showed a bit of grit and determination to pull it back.
“We’re taking simple steps, doing simple things and that’s going to push us on to the next game and we want to try and win that and push onto the Super 8s hopefully.”
Hall has started Armagh’s last three games, and caught the eye with several bursts from deep on Saturday before being withdrawn 50 minutes in, seven minutes after picking up a yellow card.
McGeeney admitted afterwards he couldn’t take the risk of losing anybody to a red, even though it was Hall who had been the receiving end of some rough treatment at times from a big, strong Clare side.
Ahead of the Ulster final Donegal boss Declan Bonner called for referees to offer more protection to Ryan McHugh but Hall, of similar stature to the Kilcar man, knows big hits come with the territory.
“You sort of have to expect them,” said the 25-year-old Forkhill ace.
“That’s Gaelic football, it’s a hard, aggressive sport and you’re going to expect them but you just have to try and avoid them as best you can and use your speed to get past them.
“When you’re smaller, it’s harder for the bigger lads to hit you, so you try to use it to your advantage. But look, it just feels good to be out there. I was only back a couple of months ago after a shoulder injury, but I’ve done a lot of training and got my fitness up.
“It’s good to finally get playing after three years on the team.”
