WITH the resumption of inter-county football just over three weeks’ away, Armagh look spoiled for choice when it comes to attacking options.
Aidan Forker and Stefan Campbell were outstanding for their clubs in the senior and intermediate finals respectively and, although Maghery’s Forker could be used in defence, the pair of them join Jamie Clarke, Rian O’Neill, Rory Grugan, Andrew Murnin, Ethan Rafferty, Jason Duffy, Conor Turbitt and Jemar Hall in a battle for starting spots when the Orchardmen resume their Division Two campaign against Roscommon next month.
Assistant-manager Jim McCorry watched Armagh skipper Campbell and Murnin in action when Clan na Gael met St Paul’s last Sunday and says the competition for places is “what every county team wants.”
“Isn’t it a great way to be that we have so many forwards who are equally good?” said McCorry.
“We’ve seen that with the Dubs and Kerry, who have so many attacking options, and we’ve seen it in our own province too with Tyrone and Donegal who have been dominating Ulster.
“They can take two or three players off and put in players who are equally as good and probably could have started.
''Now we have a group of talented players who are pushing the guys who were in the team so the competition is there and, for any manager, it’s great to see such a range of players coming through.”
Cullyhanna’s Aidan Nugent will not feature this season as he recovers from a cruciate operation but McCorry confirmed that former Crossmaglen star Jamie Clarke is “looking great in training” despite missing out on the club season.
Meanwhile, Ben Crealey made an unexpected return for Maghery in their senior championship final win over Crossmaglen and McCorry says the midfielder could feature for Armagh this year.
“Ben was away in London earlier this year, so he wasn’t in the squad but he’s back home now and coming back after his (collarbone) injury so he’s in the frame now,” he said.
“There are players we have seen in the championship who we are looking at. There are quite a few players out there who have tremendous potential. Our squad at the moment is the same (as it was before lockdown) but we’re looking at one or two more and we’ll see how they develop over the next couple of weeks.”
With two rounds of fixtures remaining, Armagh are in the box-seat for promotion to Division One. Kieran McGeeney’s side thumped Fermanagh by 13 points in their last game before lockdown and resume by hosting Roscommon before travelling to Clare.
The Roscommon game will be key to their promotion hopes. After five games, Armagh and the Rossies are level on seven points at the top of the table with Cavan just behind on six and Westmeath and Laois on five. With so much to play for, McCorry expects the action to be intense when the inter-county action resumes in mid-October.
“We have to get back to all the good work that was done up until March,” he said.
“Apart from maybe Meath in Division One, all the other teams have something to play for and they are all going to come back looking to stay out of relegation or give themselves a shout at promotion.
“Everybody will be coming back with that intensity and it’s a level playing field - we’ve all had the shutdown, we’ve all had the clubs running their championships and we’re all only getting the players back now.
“So we’re all starting from the same position and it’s about who comes out of the blocks quickest. “There is nothing resolved yet and Roscommon and Cavan are still in with a shout in Division Two. “Everybody will be fighting for the promotion places and we’re no different from anybody else, we’d love to get that spot and move up to Division One. That’s where we want to be and we’ll certainly give it everything we can to do that.”
