For men who have taken so many hard knocks in recent years, losing matches that seemed won and getting on the wrong end of those dreadful penalty shootout affairs too often, this was a time for Armagh’s players to finally soak it all in. And, in truth, to find the joy in it all.
Tiernan Kelly may have worn the number six jersey but, in reality, performed the role far from your traditional centre-half-back and afterwards allowed his mind wander to thoughts of a “massive party” in Lurgan.
“It is great to get over the line and you see the emotions from the fans and the players and what it means to them. We were trying our hardest to bloody lose it at one point, we were giving balls away and we wouldn’t be happy with how we performed in the last five or six minutes but a couple of breaks went our way and you need that to get over the line. We have ticked that box that we wanted to for so long,” said Kelly. “It is one of those things that you dream of for a long time.”
“It’s hard to process at the minute and for a couple of boys later probably even harder to process, but hopefully over the next week or two you can take it all in and really soak it all up because it’s been a long time coming and you don’t know where the next one is going to come,” added the Clann Éireann defender.
Oisín O’Neill would likely start on many a top team in the country but, typical of how players have bought into the Armagh way of things in assuming the assigned role, he used his introduction as a substitute to make a telling impact and kicked what would be his team’s last score. That superbly taken point proved to be priceless.
“That’s one thing we were challenged on at the start of the year, the whole group, showing more maturity and being willing to sacrifice yourself no matter who you are or what you’re reputation is. It’s what you can do for the team and the group. There’s another seven, eight, nine boys who could have got on the pitch today. We’re just the lucky ones who have been chosen to come on and do that job,” said O’Neill.
“The boys who start the game try to make it as easy for you when you come on and the opposition is tired. We owe it to the [backroom team] behind us, they’re the ones who really won this All-Ireland for us. Every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday . . . Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday! They are the ones who drove this group and, without that, we couldn’t have done this and I really hope we can keep this group together.”
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