AFTER missing his side's previous two Nicky Rackard Cup games through injury, Armagh forward Declan Coulter made a welcome return in their quarter-final win over Longford last Saturday.
Coulter scored 1-5, all from play, as he showed no-ill effects from his injury: "It's nice for me to get back, 70 minutes under my belt, back up to Championship pace. We have two weeks now to focus on Fingal and that's what we are going to do," he said.
Armagh had been prepared for Longford's challenge and knew they'd provide stern opposition: "We knew Longford were going to be very physical and we were prepared for that. We knew Longford were going to be able to stay with us physically. We just had to match that," Coulter added.
Longford started the game brightly and were twice ahead in the opening quarter. Armagh though took the lead for the first time in the 15th minute and it was one they wouldn't relinquish: "Once you go in front, you never want to let your lead go. It was basically a case of keeping the scoreboard ticking over," Coulter said.
"We probably had a wee bit of nerves after last week and we didn't perform well. It took lads maybe 10-15 minutes to settle in. Once we got in front, we knew that our hurling could take care of things."
Armagh didn't take the trip to Longford too lightly and had done their homework on the midlanders, in particular their potent full-forward line: "We knew a lot about the three guys inside," corner-forward Coulter added.
"Obviously, they scored heavily last week. The lads had a tough challenge on their hands, but they did a good job. We are happy to come out with a win."
Eleven points was the difference in the end, but Coulter admitted it didn't give a true reflection on the game: "Probably, the scoreline flattered us a little bit at the end. There wasn't 11 points in the game. It was a lot closer than that, but we'll take it and go."
Fingal now await Armagh in the last-four and it's a chance for them to gain revenge on the Dubliners, who beat them twice in 2014: "We played Fingal in recent years and they've always given us a good game. In fact, they beat us two years ago. We'll knuckle down now for two weeks," Coulter said.
After the hurt of losing last year's final, Armagh have a chance of redemption - two wins and they're champions. Even though they try to forget that defeat, it does play on their minds: "I suppose it is at the back of your mind. We're just thinking about this year. I'm sure, as we get closer to the semi-final, it might be brought up," Coulter said.
"There are new lads on the panel that don't have that hurt of last year. You take experiences like that and you store them. It was a hard one to take."
It's not all about the here and now for Armagh. For Coulter, it's about planning for the future and helping raise the profile of Armagh hurling: "You want to raise the profile as much as possible because we are not going to be around forever.
"There is a new generation coming through. It's about leaving the state of hurling in a better place so they can take up the mantle in a couple of years' time."
