Armagh are hoping to gain promotion out of Division 3A at the fifth time of asking, when they take on Roscommon in the league final on Saturday.
Relegated from Division 2B in 2018, Armagh have been denied promotion in four consecutive years, as they lost league finals against Roscommon in 2019, Donegal in 2020, and Tyrone last year, as well as finishing as runners-up to Sligo in 2021.
This season, under the management of Antrim stalwart Karl McKeegan, Armagh have had an up and down year, winning three of their five league matches, before they triumphed over Monaghan in the semi-final, and forward Danny Magee, who has contributed 4-4 this year, agrees that Armagh have mixed the good with the bad to get to this point.
“Before the league even started, you could see from the quality of the teams that it was going to be fairly competitive,” he said.
“I suppose over the campaign, we had good days followed by bad days, but coming into the last few games of the league we had opportunities to write a few wrongs, and it was good to get the performance and the result that we wanted against Monaghan.
“But it was a wide open league, so we were just happy to come through it.”
Despite some blips, Armagh have progressed as the league has gone on, and a 2-23 to 0-16 win over the Farney last week showed their true potential.
“Throughout the league we had games where we would perform well for 40 or 50 minutes, so we wanted to go out and perform for the full 70 minutes,” said Magee.
“We came flying out of the blocks in the first 15 minutes and started really well, which we hadn’t been doing. We sort of left our best performance for last and it sets us up well now for the final.”
However, they will go into Saturday’s clash as underdogs against Roscommon, as the Connacht side obliterated the Orchard County 2-20 to 0-6 earlier in the league.
Despite that, Magee says Armagh aren’t afraid of the challenge, and instead are motivated to show what they’re all about.
“When we looked back on that match, the focus was on ourselves not Roscommon, because we know we didn’t reach the standards that we’re capable of,” he said.
“So, it’s an opportunity to go and redeem ourselves. There shouldn’t be a 20-point difference between Roscommon and ourselves.
“Preparations have been good and we’re really looking forward to the opportunity to get another chance to play Roscommon, and to show that we’re much better than we performed that day.”
Having been stuck in the third tier since 2019, Magee says now is the time for Armagh to get back to ‘where they belong’.
“We’ve been there or thereabouts for promotion for a few years now, and you look at the teams who have beaten us to promotion in days gone by and they’re thriving in Division Two,” he said.
“We do feel that we’re a Division Two hurling team, and for the young lads who have come in, that’s where they’re striving to be.
“We’ve got a good mixture of experience and youth at the moment, and the new faces have blooded in really well to the team.
“Ultimately, it’s about getting a win this weekend, and getting Armagh hurling back to where we should be. We’re under no illusions of how good Roscommon are, and the performance we need to put in to get that result.”
