‘The buzzer actually acts as a good thing’ – Armagh dig it out with late Grugan free
MATCH-WINNER: Rory Grugan scored three points for Armagh in victory over Tyrone, including a late winning free. Pic: ©INPHO/John McVitty
This was the sort of finale that serves as a reminder of why Armagh are All-Ireland champions. They delivered the final three points to defeat Tyrone and secure a spot in the Ulster final.
For Kieran McGeeney, it wasn’t necessarily easier to win because they were champions. They have produced last-gasp points before. The problem was that Galway in 2022 and Monaghan in 2023 had enough time to come back up and produce a leveller.
Somehow, having been 0-11 to 0-8 up at half-time and six clear with 45 minutes played, they found themselves two down with seven minutes left. Down the home straight in front of a 21,288 Clones crowd, they took control.
“I don't think it should have been as tight,” he said.
“You just have to react to whatever punches are thrown. I thought the boys did really well under the circumstances. Stayed really calm, I thought we played well and controlled most of the game.
“Tyrone were good too, we put ourselves in a good position with about 20 to go and then there was just the raft of frees but we kept calm near the end.”
There was plenty of controversy over the frees, including several incidents of over-carrying. McGeeney was booked and hit with a two-point free for kicking a sideline flag in frustration. Darren McCurry kicked that effort from outside the arc to land his tenth point of the afternoon and push Tyrone ahead.
Armagh hit back through Jarly Óg Burns, super-sub Stefan Campbell and a well-worked free. Conor Turbitt won it after Rory Grugan, the orchestra in chief, sent him away.
“The buzzer actually acts as a good thing,” explained McGeeney.
“We've done that three times before. People tend to let other teams have chances. You never know when it's going to be up. It's good to have a rule in Gaelic football that's definitive, whether we like it or not. It is definitive. It's very clear cut. There is no ambiguity about it. I've had these conversations before.
“People go back and say, if you look at the time it was stopped, and you look at this and you look at that, the referee was right again. I like it because it's one of the few rules we have that's not an opinion. It's a fact.”
Both benches made an enormous impact. Tyrone were second-best for much of the opening exchanges with both Canavans well-marshalled. U20 All-Ireland winner Eoin McElholm came in and kicked two points as well as winning a converted free. Peter Harte swung over a sensational two-pointer as Malachy O’Rourke’s side finished with four from seven orange flag attempts.
“Eoin made a big impact when he came in and he just brought that wee bit of injection at the right time, wee bit of injection of pace, and was able to take men on and create chances for himself,” said O’Rourke.
“But the most pleasing thing about it, was that at the time when we went five or six down, we didn't throw in the towel. There was a good fight there. There was good character shown and that's what our number one aim, is to have that, first of all – that we'll fight right to the final whistle.
“We got that but we're just obviously disappointed the quality of our play wasn't what we would have liked. We struggled on both kick-outs a lot of times. So, there's a lot of things that we need to get much better but at the same time, we got ourselves into a great position to win the game.” Armagh won an astonishing 96% of their kickouts, had nine more shots, 11 more attacks and forced more turnovers. They bested all of the highly-anticipated match-ups: the goalkeeper showdown, centerfield, the Canavans versus a terrific defence.
A lack of two-pointers and a discipline lapse could have cost them. Still, there were far more positives. Callum O’Neill was terrific in midfield. Conor Turbitt made his return. Niall Grimley was back in the matchday squad. McGeeney said they are hopeful they will see Aaron McKay and Joe McElroy back soon as well.
“As we all know, we're only as good as our next one,” said McGeeney.
“Boys pushing hard for places. Third Ulster final in a row is a great testament to the group of fellas that are there.”
D. McCurry 0-10 (4 frees, 1 tpf), D. Canavan 0-4 (2 frees), M. McKernan (1 tp), C. Kilpatrick (1 tp), P. Harte (1 tp), E. McElholm 0-2 each.
O. Conaty 0-4; O. O’Neill (1 tp), C. O’Neill, R. Grugan (2 frees) 0-3 each; A. Murnin, J. Burns, R. McQuillan 0-2 each; B. Crealey, E. Rafferty, C. Turbitt, S. Campbell 0-1 each.
N. Morgan; C. Quinn, P. Teague, N. Devlin; M. McKernan, R. Brennan, K. McGeary; B. Kennedy, C. Kilpatrick; A. Donaghy, J. Oguz, C. Daly; D. McCurry, D. Canavan, R. Canavan.
S. O’Donnell for Donaghy (42); B. McDonnell for Oguz, E. McElholm for R. Canavan (both 48); P. Harte for Daly (54), P. Hampsey for Quinn (59).
E. Rafferty; P. Burns, B. McCambridge, T. McCormack; R. McQuillan, G. McCabe, J. Burns; C. O’Neill, C. Mackin; D. McMullen, O. Conaty, P. McGrane; R. Grugan, A. Murnin, O. O’Neill.
C. Turbitt for O’Neill (52); J. Hall for Crealey (54), C. McConville for McMullan (62), S. Campbell for Murnin (63), S. McPartlan for McGrane (67).
D. Gough (Meath).
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
