IT was the surprise result of the early stages of the Armagh SFC, and boss Finnian Moriarty admits his side’s opening night defeat to Madden was “a reality check”.
They have bounced back impressively with victories over Annaghmore, Dromintee and Cullyhanna to book their place in the last four of the county championship.
Reigning champions Crossmaglen stand between them and a place in the final, with a battle royale expected at the Athletic Grounds on Saturday night.
That early setback in the group stages wasn’t the ideal start to their campaign, but proved a pivotal moment as Maghery’s backs were instantly against the wall.
“It just shows you that on any day, if you’re not on it, you can get caught,” said Moriarty.
“We just weren’t at the races, we made a few mistakes in the second half playing against the breeze and that was us beat - Madden saw the game out and it was well deserved.
“The benefit of that was it meant every other game from there on was nearly knock-out. You’re in a group stage but if we had lost out second match, we weren’t going to qualify.
“It’s never far away from your mind – it was a reality check. We’d had a good league, but we just got caught and got our arse handed to us.”
This is Moriarty’s first championship in charge of the Loughshore men, who have come through some major tests to reach the last four – not least their narrow quarter-final victory over Cullyhanna.
The former Armagh star is keen not to dwell on previous results and performances though, and insists this weekend will let the Maghery players know exactly where they stand.
“We’ll only know at half eight on Saturday night where we’re at,” he said.
“But if you take Maghery over the last number of seasons, they’ve always been there or thereabouts. They’re a good bunch of players, a lot of humble guys who just love their football.
“In the Cullyhanna match we were four points up at a stage, Cullyhanna hadn’t scored for 21 minutes in the second half, then the next thing you know we’re taking a kick-out to stay in the championship.
“There’s good character in the team - they realise that the last day they were very lucky to win the match in the end.”
