The way of the cross

The way he has Crossmaglen Rangers playing should surprise no one who has ever known him.

There’s always been something very direct about Tony McEntee, something very honest, very manly, very assured and very, very blunt.

Oisín McConville often tells the one about the time they were both only teenagers on the Armagh senior panel. Willie Anderson, the former rugby international, was brought in to oversee a team bonding exercise in which he broke the panel into smaller groups and asked each of them to tell the men around them about a signature strength they each brought to the group as well as a home truth they should work on. The usual platitudes and vague demands and commitments to “give more this year” were issued, except in young McEntee’s group.