JARLY og Burns will follow in the footsteps of his father Jarlath when he leads Armagh out at the Athletic Grounds for tonight’s friendly against Tyrone in aid of the #Time2Play charity.
Silverbridge Harps midfielder Burns, whose dad skippered Armagh to the Ulster Championship crown in 1999, is a clubmate of the late James Reel who sadly lost his life in April. Tonight’s game (throw-in 7.15pm) has been organised to raise funds to build the James Reel Playpark in honour of the father of three.
Burns is one of a number of first choice players in the Orchard county line-up and Armagh fans will be delighted to welcome back Cullyhanna forward Aidan Nugent tonight. Nugent suffered a cruciate ligament injury in July 2020 which meant that he missed two seasons of inter-county football but he returned to action in the club championship this year and has since been appointed joint-captain, along with Rian O’Neill, for next season.
“I was playing games at training and I had done all the rehab so the knee never crossed my mind twice when I went back,” he said.
“I was confident, I put the work in and I worked hard with the physio so I wasn’t stepping onto the pitch worrying about the knee which is probably a bonus because, if you’re trying to protect it, that’s probably when you would hurt it.”
A PE teacher by profession, Nugent also has a business selling and producing gym equipment and he got to know James Reel – a highly-regarded steel fabricator – through it.
“James did a lot of work for me carving out logos and things like that so I would have known him well,” he said.
“I would have been over with him a couple of times a week and what happened was an awful tragedy. Fair play to his family, they are showing some strength and raising funds for a good cause.
“I was over at the house when they had a vigil at his wake and I know the effect he had on the community, everybody would say the same thing about him and I know myself that he would never leave you stuck.
“I called over one day and he was mid-barbeque on a Saturday evening. I needed something done and he just dropped everything to help me. That was a reoccurring theme with him – he would never leave you stuck, so it’s great that we’re doing this in memory of him and it has got a lot of support.”
All-Ireland champions Tyrone are expected to have the Sam Maguire with them tonight and joint-managers Feargal Logan and Brian Dooher will field a mixture of tried-and-tested experience and eager youngsters at the Athletic Grounds.
“You see the GAA coming together and helping out,” said Nugent.
“Any tragedies there are, it’s always the GAA that comes and helps you out whether it’s organising the funeral, a guard of honour, opening up the club, or fundraising. This just shows the value of the GAA outside of the football side of things – there’s always a community you can fall back who will help you out.”
Armagh: S Magill; D Loye, C Mackin, R Finn; N Rowland, V Brady, J Og Burns; C Higgins, B Crealey; S Sheridan, C O’Neill, R McQuillan; A Nugent, J Grugan, J Duffy
Subs: P McAleer, J Sheridan, N Smyth, J Kieran, C Donaghy, C McConville, N McConville, E Woods
Tyrone: TBC
