McGeeney on his sideline kick: 'I'll get fined, don't worry about that. They'll put me on the spot'
PLENTY TO SHOUT ABOUT: Armagh manager Kieran McGeeney. Pic: INPHO/John McVitty
A cracker. For Armagh, it was all about taking blows and responding to them. They booked their spot in the Ulster final with a deserved one-point win over Tyrone in front of a 21,288 Clones crowd.
“I thought we played well throughout the game,” said Armagh manager Kieran McGeeney post-match. “I thought the boys played really well to control the game, there were some things beyond our control. I thought they reacted really well to it, to finish out the game.
“I can't ask more than that.”
McGeeney was booked in the second half for dissent. On top of that, Tyrone took the free back outside the arc and converted it for a two-pointer. That saw the All-Ireland champions fall two behind but they responded impressively.
“I'll get fined for it, don't worry about that, they'll put me on the spot,” said McGeeney. A sideline flag was kicked onto the pitch during his protest.
“But considering, I thought my temper was pretty good on the line.” Referee David Gough was strict on steps throughout the tie. It comes after guidance on the new rules was published by the GAA in consultation with the Football Review Committee and National Referees Panel. They claimed there is evidence of overcarrying and issued a reminder that the rule is four steps.
“People like to be in the picture. You just have to roll with those things,” said McGeeney. Is it not better that they enforce the current rule?
“But referees don't call the rules, let's be honest. Four steps? If we counted out four steps every time, if we counted an open hand tackle… “This is what happens in these exchanges. Everybody goes back and says, ‘well they were technically right.’ Everything is a foul in Gaelic football, everything we do is a foul so the referees will always be right. You just have to take that on the chin and accept it and move on.”
Meanwhile, Tyrone boss Malachy O’Rourke had his own frustrations after the 0-23 to 0-22 result. He cited Ethan Rafferty’s tackle on Darragh Canavan in the second half.
“There was a couple of very strange ones there and I thought even the mark from the kick-out was dropped. And I thought after, that the mark from the kickout was dropped and I thought it would have been thrown up or something and, as you say, the one that I thought Ethan Rafferty seemed to roll, and that one on the ground, and touched it on the ground.
“So, there was a couple of controversial calls there, all right. But look, it's hard to say that, and I suppose it went for both teams. And we're not going to use that as an excuse.
“We got ourselves in a good position without playing our best and we're just disappointed we didn't finish it off.” Tyrone were six points down after 46 minutes and still fought back to lead. It wasn’t enough.
“We wanted the boys to go for it. You know, not to be passive and not to be sort of afraid to lose, if you like.
“We wanted to go and attack the game. Probably in the first half, we were a wee bit passive. I thought in the second half, at that period when we went behind, we did start to really go at Armagh.
“In fairness to them, they showed the quality. They showed why they're All-Ireland champions, the way they finished the game. We may be a wee bit disappointed in that. But, you know, at least that's the good thing – we live to fight another day.”
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