Hurling & Camogie

Meath native Paddy Kelly the new Armagh hurling manager

Artie McGuinness will be an important player for Armagh next year under new manager Paddy Kelly
Artie McGuinness will be an important player for Armagh next year under new manager Paddy Kelly Artie McGuinness will be an important player for Armagh next year under new manager Paddy Kelly

PADDY Kelly has been confirmed as the new Armagh hurling manager.

The Meath native – a former player with the Royals and Leinster who had a two-year stint as manager of Louth – has set promotion to Division 2A and a prolonged run in the Christy Ring Cup (now the third tier of hurling competition) as the targets for the Orchardmen next season.

Kelly succeeds Sylvester McConnell at the Armagh helm. McConnell guided Armagh to promotion in 2016 and back-to-back Nicky Rackard Cup finals but stepped down at the end of last season with the side back in Division 2B.

Kelly, a Railway Cup winner with Leinster back in 1993, fielded an experimental Armagh side for a challenge match against Roscommon last week and is looking forward to the NHL programme which begins with a trip to Wicklow on January 28.

“These boys are good boys,” he said of the Armagh panel.

“They are tough and they give it all.”

Armagh also trips to Derry and Down in Division 2A as well as winnable home games against Mayo and Donegal.

“Armagh have done very well before now and they are in a good position,” said Kiltale clubman Kelly.

“They’re at a level where they’re well able to compete so I wouldn’t have any worries about them from that point of view. They went up to 2A but they came down last year and that could be an issue – it’s so hard to get up there and they would have been hoping to stay there for a year or two.

“They’d be well capable of getting together and making an effort to get back up this year but you wonder if the same drive is there and whether the lads have the same interest. I’m hoping that they have.

“There’s a good group of players there anyway.”