Bewilderment in Armagh that McKay isn't in Player of the Year conversation
MISTER CONSISTENT: Aaron McKay of Armagh celebrates with Barry McCambridge, left, after scoring his side's goal in the All-Ireland final against Galway. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
As the county football season moves into the rear-view mirror, awards season is quickly moving into focus and the debate continues to rage over the All-Star and Player of the Year awards.
While the former will always cause arguments, supporters traditionally questioning how players have been left out of certain selections rather than offering their own alternative, the Player of the Year decision looks particularly perilous for 2024.
This will be the 30th time the award will be presented in its current guise – under the All-Star umbrella instead of the former Texaco Award that was part of an overall sporting recognition scheme.
In the previous 29 seasons, the All-Ireland champions have won the award on 23 occasions.
Of the six other times, forwards shooting the lights out – such as Tyrone’s Peter Canavan in 1995, Armagh’s Steven McDonnell in 2003, Mayo’s Andy Moran in 2017 and Kerry’s David Clifford in 2023 – have been enough to secure individual honours. Mayo’s Lee Keegan is the only non-forward to secure the accolade without a Celtic Cross following his stunning 2016 campaign.
Bernard Brogan, in 2010, also holds the distinction of being the only player to be named Player of the Year despite not playing in that season’s final.
There’s no chance of the award going outside finalists Armagh or Galway, although of the anticipated main candidates, there are question marks hanging over the perceived four leading runners.
For Galway, Paul Conroy has a chance of becoming the seventh non-winning representatives to lift the award after a series of stunning displays in midfield, including for 40 minutes of the final when he kicked three boomers, but when you’re on the losing side you’re always facing an uphill battle.
None of Armagh’s leading trio can claim to have had superstar seasons throughout the championship either.
Conor Turbitt started like a train but ran out of track in the latter stages of the championship while Rian O’Neill was the opposite, overcoming a slow start to the year with a thunderous semi-final performance against Kerry and a none too shabby 70 minutes against Galway.
Then there’s Barry McCambridge, the man who was picked as Player of the Year by The Sunday Game pundits on the night of Armagh’s All-Ireland triumph.
The Lurgan man had an incredible end to the season, man-marking beautifully at one end and contributing goals at the other – netting against both Roscommon and Kerry. Here’s the thing though, McCambridge didn’t start a game for Armagh in Ulster where they lost to Donegal on penalties. With All-Stars usually decided on the latter rounds, it may not prove such a factor.
Arguments for and against can be made for the quartet in a season where there was no true standout, but inside the Orchard County boundaries there has been some bewilderment that Aaron McKay’s name hasn’t been in the conversation.
The defender joins a small list of players to score a goal for Armagh in an All-Ireland final – Mal McEvoy in 1953, Joe Kernan (2) and Paddy Moriarty in 1977 and OisÃn McConville in 2002 the others.
McConville’s first impressions of McKay came whilst commentating for the BBC during the 2013 MacRory Cup final.
At midfield for St Paul’s, Bessbrook, McKay galloped forward for two fine points and McConville continually raved about his performance in what would prove to be a losing effort against Maghera.
By the time he was lifting the Sam Maguire, McKay was very much a different player to the one the Crossmaglen man had been drooling over.
His championship debut against Down in 2017 had suggested more of the same, as he strode forward and blazed over in Newry with the goal at his mercy, but that would be his last championship score until he palmed home Stefan Campbell’s pass for the decisive score of the 2024 championship.
Over time though, McKay has been moulded by manager Kieran McGeeney into perhaps his most important player on the park when it comes to setting up their defensive structure with the vice-captain the communicator at the back.
The tweaks to his role in recent seasons have been pivotal to Armagh’s delayed but ultimately euphoric success.
For a number of seasons, McKay and current captain Aidan Forker were like the Bash Brothers – the pair revelling in man-marking jobs on the opposition’s inside two and giving little change, even if their discipline could occasionally slip in a period where Armagh’s tackling proved just too robust for a number of match officials.
Such issues were virtually non-existent in this year’s championship with Armagh conceding just 0-26 from frees – some dubious enough - in nine games and two bouts of extra-time. They didn’t pick up a single black or red card.
McKay barely gave a foul away all season, but two that he did – both against Galway and both refereed by Sean Hurson – could have had huge implications. In the drawn group stage game, he was pinged late on and Shane Walsh scored what looked like the winner before Campbell fisted over for the draw that saw them top the group.
In the final, he was blown for a hit on Cillian McDaid as Galway chased an equaliser in the 71st minute. This time Walsh missed and Armagh held out.
Replays suggest that the first decision down in Sligo was an incorrect call by Hurson and the second one certainly looked dubious.
It would have been unfair on McKay if he’d presented Galway with the levelling score.
Much has been made of his brilliant sweeping roles against the Tribesmen and also in the semi-final against Kerry – where his one big mistake of the season came when he was turned over by Seanie O’Shea for a goal chance ultimately missed by Tom O’Sullivan.
What has been overlooked is his man-marking contribution in 2024. Westmeath’s John Heslin, Conor Cox of Roscommon, Rob Finnerty, for a half, in Sligo, Lachlann Murray up in Celtic Park in Derry – two points from play between them. All done with a vicious left hand injury that doesn’t allow one of his fingers to straighten after he ripped the tendon off his bone in the 2022 Galway penalty shoot-out loss.
Individual awards won’t register too much on his wavelength though.
Combative by nature, he took immense pleasure in McGeeney proving his many doubters wrong on All-Ireland final day, taking to social media with and posting #geezerout as the celebrations continued.
That and seeing his teammates get their rewards; playing with his daughter Nova in front of the Hill after the full-time whistle; running back onto Croke Park with a no. 6 jersey with ‘PH’ scrawled on it thanks to some help from physio Anthony ‘Barmby’ Fearon – a tribute to his best friend Peter Hughes who played centre half-back and was killed in a car crash at the age of just 19 back in 2015.
Those are the moments he cares about really. But for others, the lack of individual plaudits for Armagh’s most consistent player in 2024 is baffling. Award season should sort the first part out with an All-Star, even if he’s nothing but a whisper in the main conversation.
The current favourite. McCambridge took on Donie Smith, David Clifford and Shane Walsh in consecutive games in Croke Park and scored in every one of them. His championship total was 2-5.
McCambridge was Man of the Match against Roscommon in the All-Ireland quarter-final. He came on as a sub in the opening Ulster championship fixture and did not feature for the remainder of the provincial championship. His impact in the knockout stage was immense.
The 35-year-old midfielder enjoyed a sensational 2024 campaign. He was Galway’s top scorer from play with 2-16 including 0-3 in the All-Ireland final. He was tied as their third-highest assister and he won 14 of 19 long kickouts targeted at him.
The St James’ club man was Man of the Match against Derry and Monaghan. He had 30 possessions in the All-Ireland semi-final against Donegal and not one of his passes failed to find a man. He followed that up with 38 possessions in the decider.
A man for the big moments. His point in the All-Ireland final was spectacular. His kick from range against Kerry in the semi-final was even better. His goal against Derry was the final memorable play when their kickout press was completely demolished. He finished the season with 1-13. From play, he kicked 1-11 from 19 shots.
Before the final, there were two main contenders, Conor Turbitt and Dylan McHugh. Both are likely to suffer after underwhelming performances on the big day. Turbitt was one of the first players taken off by Kieran McGeeney with impact sub Stefan Campbell coming on in his place after 45 minutes.
He did, however, notch 3-22 (9 frees, 1 mark) over the course of the championship. He was awarded Man of the Match against Derry in a victory that ignited Armagh’s year.
Mister reliable. A key feature of Galway’s run to the final was their enormous middle third and Maher was the heart of that.
The Salthill-Knocknacarra midfielder emptied himself every single time he stepped out on the field in 2024. He earned plaudits for his man-marking performance against Brian Fenton in the All-Ireland quarter-final but contributed plenty in attack this year as well, scoring 0-5 from seven shots. He assisted 1-3 across the final three games of the championship.
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