RORY Grugan imagined that he would have played in multiple Ulster finals at this stage of his career.
Just turned 32, the Ballymacnab clubman will make his first appearance in an Anglo-Celt decider against Derry on Sunday May 14 at Clones.
An All-Ireland minor champion in 2009, Grugan stepped into the senior ranks two years later – but the halcyon days turned out to be over for the Orchard County.
Armagh yo-yoed between Division Two and Three for most of the last decade with an Ulster final appearance never looking like a possibility for many of those summers.
Apart from one year spent on teaching practice abroad, Grugan has been one of the mainstays of Kieran McGeeney’s teams.
“You think when you’re starting off you’re going to be in plenty of Ulster finals as a young player and I’ve just turned 32 and I’m in my first one,” Grugan said.
“It’s been a long time coming. I started playing [for Armagh seniors] in 2011 and we left so many opportunities behind and we knew we’d a good chance to reach one.”
Grugan has been a steadying influence on this Armagh side who overcame Antrim, Cavan and Down to book the county’s first Ulster final date since 2008.
“You have to be ready to seize the chance,” he added, “because it’s not enough just to get there – you want to go on and try and win it.”
Armagh won their last provincial meeting with Derry at Celtic Park in 2020 – but both sides have improved since then.
“It’s hard not to be impressed with Derry with the way they’ve been playing the last 18 months or so,” Grugan said.
“You saw them against Monaghan [in the Ulster semi-finals], they’re a counter-attacking team, they get men behind the ball and they’re excellent at it. So it’s going to be a test again, a new level in terms of what we’ve faced so far.
“It is the ultimate test but it’s where you want to be – in an Ulster final, a packed Clones and plenty of colour and we’re looking forward to it.
“Obviously the way the provincials are being talked about, people say they don’t mean as much, but I think you can see over the last few weeks and the Ulster Championship matches themselves how much it means to all the teams.
“It certainly means a lot to us and it’s great for us to be in an Ulster final because it’s been far too long for Armagh not to be in one.”
Given their respective League positions, it was always going to be an uphill task for Down to upset Armagh in Sunday’s semi-final in Clones, particularly with the new-found defensive savvy.
“It was an up and down type of game. We knew the pace Down had and their counter-attack; we had to be prepared for that.
“It was going to be that type of game where it was important for us to get a lead so we could dictate the terms because as soon as you’re behind in games then you’re chasing it and they can sit in and hit you on the counter.
“So it was nip and tuck early on but once the two goals went in, it gave us a bit of breathing space and when you have that bit of a cushion it means you can play the game on your terms.
“We got a goal early enough in the second half and we knew we could see it out from there.”
