IT was the kind of devastating moment that would have broken many a man – but Callum Cumiskey insists he is determined to bounce back bigger and better from last month’s penalty shoot-out heartache with Armagh.
The Crossmaglen man saw two penalties saved by Rory Beggan as Monaghan sent the Orchard crashing out at the All-Ireland quarter-final stage after a tense tussle at Croke Park.
It was the third Championship game in a year that Armagh had lost on spot kicks, having bowed out to Galway in 2022 before a devastating Ulster final defeat to Derry this year.
Cumiskey was the only Orchard player to convert his penalty that day in Clones, but it was a different story against the Farney as, after seeing his initial kick saved, Beggan palmed away the 29-year-old’s effort to send Monaghan into a semi-final showdown with eventual champions Dublin.
However, Cumiskey is made of stern stuff. Despite the initial disappointment, he returned to club training the following Tuesday night – “there was no other place I’d rather be than back up there in Cross colours” – and would have no qualms about putting himself in that position again.
“Definitely not,” he said.
“Listen, they’re the sort of situations that you want to be in, that you want to be testing yourself in. The whole way up through the age groups, when you’re only a young lad, you’re dreaming of stepping out onto Croke Park, or an Ulster final in Clones, and being in them sort of moments.
“They’re the things you think about, and that’s what drives you on the whole way through your career. That’s only my second time ever playing in Croke Park, so you’re never going to turn down an opportunity like that there.
“I was heartbroken after it, obviously… you couldn’t get in off the field quick enough. But it’s a part of football and sport, there’s highs and lows. The way I operate is you can’t get too high with the highs or too low with the lows.
“And what I will say is that a lot of people reached out, and their support was unbelievable. The people you would have out after you win a Championship game, it was the same people sending a text message, just trying to lift me. It was something I really appreciated.
“The players and management were brilliant too, every man put their arm around me and told me I’d nothing to worry about and not to be getting too upset about it, there’ll be bigger days down the line.
“I definitely won’t let the likes of that deter me from stepping up to the plate again.”
The moment was relived in a few times in the days after, but Cumiskey is philosophical about how an evening of high drama panned out.
“I was trying not to think about it too much, trying to stay in the moment,” he said about the walk up to take his second penalty against Monaghan.
“I naturally would have my side to hit penalties to, and that would be to the keeper’s left. Rory saved the first one and I was just thinking to myself ‘surely he’s not going to go the same way again…’
“So I stuck to my side, stuck to what I know best… in hindsight maybe I should’ve changed it up. I just walked up to it, concentrated on getting a good strike on the ball and I was hoping the rest would take care of itself, but he made a good save and that turned out to be the winning of the game for them.
“Look, myself and my partner Aimee had a tough five weeks there, she lost her dad Pearse McConville, who was a big figure in the Cross community. I suppose when you look at things, between sport and life, you really do see what the priorities are and what’s important.
“That really hit home when comparing what I felt in Croke Park to actually losing a loved one.”
And far from being sickened with the inter-county scene, what transpired on July 1 has only strengthened Cumiskey’s resolve to return to the Armagh set-up should the opportunity come along.
“Ah listen, my mind was made up maybe a week after, once the dust had settled... I can’t finish on that. I’ll go back, I’m mad to get back.
“It’s only when you don’t have something that you actually miss it. It’s hard at times maybe travelling down on a Tuesday night after a hard day’s work, and you’re maybe questioning yourself, but you see the week after the Monaghan game when you didn’t have that? It’s then you really do miss it.
“I’m chomping at the bit to get back next year, I really am.”
