Firstly, congratulations to Armagh players and management team on a massively important victory. I don't think anyone can stress enough how important it was to win today. It didn't matter how we won, we just had to win. Despite some set backs and adversity, we got over the line in the end and for that we should be thankful. Obviously there were big issues in the game today and I think that some can be explained, others not and some things just happen in a game and it can take on a life of it's own and all tactics and preparations can go out the window and before you know it, you're hanging on and looking like you are going to lose another Ulster Championship game.
I think there are many positives that can be taken from the game. There were a lot of fine performances, nor more so than from Rian O'Neill and Jarly Óg Burns, who were both outstanding. I questioned why Burns was starting today, mainly because he hadn't played that much in my memory, but after that performance you'd have to say he's a definite starter. O'Neill was incredible and for someone so young to put in a performance like that is very impressive. I'd also questioned the inclusion of Ryan Kennedy and Aidan Nugent, but both of them played very well. Nugent won a lot of break ball and Kennedy got through a lot of work and kicked two good points. Andrew Murnin's return was a desperate throw of the dice which paid off handsomely and it's great to see him back. Ben Crealy made some big catches when he came on and Stefan Campbell looked dangerous. Some of our play at times was very good, as it usually is, but we find it hard to keep it up. We showed some real character and guts to win that match, because you could see the confidence draining from the team as Down started their comeback. To get over the line could be a real physiological boost going forward.
There were plenty of negatives which will be a real worry for two weeks time. Our game management continues to be a major problem and our inability to see out games that we are comfortably winning makes me question about our mental strength again. While we showed bravery to win that match, the reality is that it should never have come to that. To be 6 points ahead, with 5 minutes to go, against 14 men, and blow it, simply isn't good enough at this level. I don't know how you solve this problem. Lots of players had poor games, which was frustrating. Grugan was as poor as I can remember and that missed free in front of the posts was ridiculous. Rafferty had a poor game. Clarke was pretty quiet through out. Donaghy blew hot and cold. Vernon was ineffective for the most part, but his pass into Murnin for his point was brilliant. Blaine Hughes's height and lack of authority is a major concern. We all know his kick outs are generally good, but his size was an issue for two of the three goals. Losing Burns and Sheridan to injury is a worry going forward.
Some of our tackling is crazy and just looks lazy and over zealous and leads to easy frees. Some of the decisions from the line were puzzling at times and still leaves a question mark over the management. I'm not trying to over think it, because sometimes in games, momentum shifts and key scores can change the balance of the game, which happened again today. Sometimes a big lumped ball into the square, when you have someone the size of Harrison in there, is all you need to create havoc. There's not a whole lot you can do about it and if you don't have players who can stand up to that size, these things happen. Yeah Hughes and Donaghy should have done better for the first goal and it is a frustrating (Cavan will be reigning high ball down on top of us for fun). Our lack of game management is what should really worry us going forward.
Hopefully we'll have Grimley back next time out and maybe see a bit more from Murnin. We are one game away from an Ulster final, so let's go into it in a positive frame of mind.
