ARMAGH minor boss Brendan Hughes feels that there is more to come from his team following their win over defending champions Derry.
The Orchard boys required a late Callum O’Neill point to shake off the Oak Leafers and they face a talented Donegal in Friday’s Ulster minor semi-final in Healy Park, Omagh, at 7.30pm.
Three of Armagh’s late scores came from the bench, with players such as Crossmaglen Rangers’ Bernard Cassidy and Clann Eireann’s Ethan McKenna impressing, and the Orchard manager hinted that they could start but admitted picking his team is difficult.
“We knew we had good subs and that was proven,” Hughes said.
“We have a squad of 40 and everybody in the squad is a good footballer. The 24 that is allowed to tog out on match day is virtually impossible and the 15 that start is very difficult to pick and I would think that the players who came in made a big difference, and they are going very well in training last week and this week, so you have to reward that.”
Hughes, who was assistant manager to Paul Grimley with the Armagh senior team praised the character of his side in their win over Derry but felt his side could have performed better.
“After a victory you always get a bit of momentum but in fairness, they are a very mature wee group, so they are focused on where they are headed, although the mood is good,” said Hughes.
“We have put in a fair bit of work on team preparation, and they are methodical in how they play so it was just a case of doing the same thing over and over and eventually they tired Derry out. We had a lot of possession and Derry’s resistance to that broke probably with about ten minutes to go and that is whenever scores started to flow.
“I didn’t feel earlier in the game that the score-line reflected the flow of the game. We had chances that we missed and having looked back on the game, we should have scored 16 points in that game, not 12.”
Donegal go into Friday’s game as favourites after ousting a much-fancied Monaghan and Hughes has been impressed with what they bring to the table.
“We have seen their game against Monaghan. Monaghan were strongly fancied as they had been in the All-Ireland division one under15 final two years ago, but I suppose like everything else, Covid may have changed things, whether there was any momentum from two years ago or any real consistent development. Donegal played with 14 men for large parts of the game, and they seemed to manage it ok. So, they took the opportunities when they presented themselves and they have a couple of very good players.”
The Armagh boss, who guided Pearse Og to that famous club title in 2009, which prevented Cross from making a new club record, wants his players to be more available for kick-outs and show more punch in attack.
Tadgh Grimley is son of Armagh legend Mark, Aaron O’Neill is the younger brother of Oisin and Rian O’Neill, while Michael Burnett and Fergal O’Brien are other key players and expectations within the county are quietly high.
Hughes was with this group of players at the Orchard Academy and while the long-term aim is for these lads to progress to the under20 set-up before graduating to the senior ranks, the Pearse Og man is looking at more of a short-term.
“The continuity at this stage is try to win on Friday and then get playing in the Ulster final the following weekend, I think that is the level of continuity at this stage,” Hughes said.
