ARMAGH have earned the favourites tag in Sunday’s Ulster Championship quarter-final, says Chrissy McKaigue, but the experienced Derry defender insists that the Oak Leafers can be “a match for most” on their day.
While it wasn’t mathematically confirmed, promotion from Division Three already looked beyond Derry when the lockdown curtain fell in March, but by the time it was raised again almost six months later, McKaigue says Rory Gallagher’s outfit had got their “house in order”. With back-to-back League wins behind them and home advantage too, they are now chomping at the bit for a cut at the newly-promoted top flight outfit.
“Armagh are on the crest of a wave but we know that, on our day, if we can get everybody out and fit and motoring well, we’re a match for most of them,” he said.
“We have home advantage. Will it decide the game? Definitely not, but any advantage you can get as an underdog, you’re naturally going to take it. Last year we played in Division Four and people were saying: ‘Derry are in for a hiding against Tyrone in Healy Park’ but the game was massively competitive. Sometimes League positions can be a bit misleading and we would like to think that on Sunday we’re going to be competitive at the very least.
“The last couple of years have been difficult but we are starting to turn the corner. We know Armagh are favourites and that’s grand, they have earned that right, so for us it’s about going out and being as competitive as possible.”
Derry manager Gallagher masterminded Fermanagh’s victory over a well-fancied Armagh side in 2018. Armagh have improved since then but in McKaigue, clubmate Brendan Rodgers, inside-forwards Shane McGuigan and Niall Loughlin and now Conor Glass in midfield, the Belleek native has a deeper pool of talent at his disposal.
“Rory has an unbelievable appetite for football and leaving no stone unturned for challenging and developing players and analysing opposition,” said McKaigue.
“He has brought a huge amount of energy to the set-up this year. In the League campaign at the start of the year we were playing with a vastly different team than we’re going to be playing with on Sunday.
“That’s not any guarantee of success but the lockdown probably came at a good time for Derry. We were nursing a lot of injuries and we were going through the motions in the League to a certain extent. We were able to get our house in order during the lockdown, the set-up has been greatly enhanced with the addition of a few backroom personnel. It’s been a chance for players to get revitalised, we’ve won the last two League games so I suppose we come into this game with some kind of momentum.”
Experienced to success with his club Slaughtneil, McKaigue will be a pivotal figure on Sunday as the Derry rearguard attempts to shut down in-form Armagh forwards Rory Grugan, Stefan Campbell and Rian O’Neill.
He agrees that the Armagh forward unit is “potent” but says the attention given to their attack does a disservice to the Orchard county’s midfield and defence.
“Oisin O’Neill is a serious threat from the middle of the pitch and they have a couple of really good man-markers,” he said.
“Aidan Forker has been one of the best in the country the last couple of years and they’ve got James Morgan who has been a stalwart for Crossmaglen.
“So they’re not in Division One for no reason and I have a huge amount of respect for Armagh. We want to go and be as competitive as possible and see where that takes us.
“Derry aren’t world-beaters but I feel that we are improving and we want to improve. With Rory in charge, the seeds are planted for real progression next year.”
