ARMAGH may have finished as the top scorers in the top three divisions of the Allianz Football League but their manager Kieran McGeeney still wants more from their attack.
The Orchardmen scored the most goals across all four sections in their total of 15-103 and just one more major would have made all the difference on Sunday between losing to Tipperary and gaining promotion back to Division Two at the first attempt.
Instead, all the goals at the Athletic Grounds came from Tipp full-forward Mikey Quinlivan, who netted a hat-trick, including the last-gasp winner in a 3-8 to 0-16 victory, to secure elevation for the Premier County footballers.
While many observers might question Armagh's defending, McGeeney pointed in the other direction:
"I would probably go to the other end. Quality forwards like Quinlivan are going to get scores, but we probably had three or four goal chances ourselves.
"We dropped the ball a lot in the first half when we were running through them for fun, had loads of chances in the second half where we just didn't take the easy option. We maybe ran into trouble or were looking for the free and didn't get it.
"They took the right decisions most of the time – the goal chances that were coming, they dropped the ball."
As well as sloppy handling, Armagh were guilty of some wayward shooting, recalled McGeeney: "We played well for the most part of it, put 16 scores up, but I think 11 wides, was it? You know, we're definitely scoring more but we have to take those easy ones again…"
McGeeney did express one defensive regret, namely that he didn't bring Ciaran McKeever on sooner than the 49th minute, two minutes after Quinlivan netted his second goal.
The versatile former county captain helped prevent Tipp adding to their total until the 72nd minute, before their late flurry of 1-3 stole the points and the second promotion place. McKeever's display back in defence, having been deployed as a target man full-forward earlier in the League, did not surprise his manager:
"Ciaran's been playing well for us all year. We started Andrew [Murnin] up front and we hoped Ciaran would play well as a sweeper; maybe we should have got him on a wee bit earlier, but maybe we thought we had enough done at this stage…
"Getting 16 scores, with a few easy wides, shows your quality. If we had hit our scores it wouldn't have mattered down the other end. It's annoying but…It's hard to keep things quiet but that's what you have to do."
Those last comments were a hint at the frustration Armagh felt about some of referee Rory Hickey's decisions.
Their mood was surely not improved by finding out that their old rivals Down had avoided the drop down into Division Three thanks to one of the other crucial late scores that swung fates on Sunday.
The two neighbouring counties will, of course, meet in the city that straddles them, Newry, in an Ulster Senior Football Championship quarter-final on June 4.
McGeeney took no solace at the suggestion that the gut-wrenching way their League finished might make Armagh 'angry' in a positive way for that Championship derby clash, responding:
"You shouldn't have to have an 'angry' reaction: it's the Ulster Championship and stuff like that. They'll be disappointed with themselves. They're angry, yeah, but when they're playing long enough they'll get to realise that's the way it goes."
McGeeney concluded that Armagh must take responsibility and learn to close out games from winning positions:
"I still think when you look at all the games, it's our own fault. We were six, seven points ahead against Sligo and Laois [but drew and lost respectively].
"It's probably fair to say that in most games we were well in control, we've played some good football. We're getting back to where we'd like to go – but it's a results business and we didn't get the one that counts".
