ARMAGH midfielder Niall Grimley believes that the ability to adapt that they showed on Saturday is “what good teams do”.
Kieran McGeeney’s side has struggled throughout his reign against teams that set up defensively, with their struggles last year with Fermanagh the ultimate case in point.
They scored just 0-7 against them in both their League meeting in 2018, and their subsequent Championship encounter. And while that tally wasn’t massively increased on Saturday when they hit 1-9, it was an entirely different Armagh display, one that led to a fully deserved six-point victory.
It secures their place in Division Two next season, but perhaps more significantly it seemed like a huge tactical step forward ahead of a summer meeting with Down.
The Mournemen are expected to go with a deep-lying, counter-attacking game, the kind that caught Armagh out in the second half of their championship meeting two years ago.
The way in which they mixed their long and short games, and the pace and precision with which they did things in attack when Fermanagh had bodies back, was a sign of an apparent adaptability that hasn’t always been evident.
“We had to adjust today compared to playing against other sides,” said Grimley afterwards.
“That was almost like a different team, the way we had to play today.
“We have been working on it all week in training, we knew what Fermanagh were going to bring, so what they bring, we had to match it, and more.
“It seemed to be in the second half we did match it and then we controlled it and kept the ball and then worked on our scores.
“Down will be definitely something similar and whatever they throw at us we will have to take it. Whatever it is, if it is 15 men behind the ball, 13 men behind the ball, we will adjust and that's what good teams do.
“You see the likes of the Kerrys and Mayos and Dublins, they are able to adjust and switch boys in and out, do whatever it takes to win.”
Fermanagh were one win away from an unprecedented step into Division One when they arrived in Crossmaglen, and many fancied them to continue getting under Armagh’s skin.
Grimley, who formed part of a hugely effective midfield trio alongside Jarlath Óg Burns and Charlie Vernon, said that he’d learned personally from those experiences last year.
“Myself personally, I learned a lot in terms of what happened last year in the Championship so coming here today, I knew just to play the game, get involved, try not to focus too much on what guys are doing to you, what guys are saying to you. Just get on with the game, get on the ball, next score, whatever it is.
“We learned a lot from last year, especially when we only scored seven points. We knew today was going to be a low-scoring game so just to get over the line I was happy.”
With a final day meeting with a Cork side frantically fighting for their own survival to come, Armagh didn’t want to be left in a win-or-bust situation.
That, said Grimley, brought an added pressure upon them.
“There definitely was a bit of pressure. But we knew we had home advantage and if you had a scoreline at half-time of 0-5 to 0-4…
“Everyone anticipated it was going to be low-scoring, the way the game is played and the way Fermanagh play it so we tried to play their game nearly.
“I know at the end we kicked on and we got a few scores, we were happy and then they were all-out attack at the end, lashing it in. We had boys back to cover, so we were happy with that.”
