THE THING THAT you notice at the Armagh press event is a number of people being referred to by nicknames you’ve never heard before.
A county board official talks about getting ‘Brookie’ down to speak to the media. Brookie turns out to be the selector Ciaran McKeever, given the name by his Cullyhanna club mates for his sporting moonlighting spell as a striker for Bessbrook United.
Bessbrook = Brookie. Get it?
Yet for all that soccer exposure, you still tread gingerly when you bring up the subject of penalty shoot outs. Long accepted and embraced by soccer, and detested by every Armagh fan.
Over the past three seasons they have lost penalty shoot outs in a Dr McKenna Cup semi final, All-Ireland quarter finals to Galway and Monaghan, and the last two Ulster finals to Derry and Donegal.
McKeever blows his cheeks out as if to say, ‘Don’t go there,’ and then explains how it feels to lose out in such circumstances.
“We practiced them. If you’re hitting them well in training and you’re in the position when they arise, you’re getting the nod,” he stars.
“It’s who blinks first and unfortunately we didn’t get across (the line) in them but we moved on very quickly from them and that’s the truth.
“Yes, we were obviously annoyed in all those occasions we were defeated in, especially after the Ulster final this year. We got together after in the changing rooms and said that wasn’t going to define our season. We still had that huge belief we could reach an All-Ireland final.”
To start the process of healing after the latest shootout agony in the Ulster final, manager Kieran McGeeney told the players and management to head off for the evening, and the day after.
So what did they choose to do with that time? Video analysis? Recovery sessions? Pass the protein?
“Drinking,” announces McKeever with a smile.
“We went and enjoyed each other’s company Sunday and Monday. We got together Tuesday night and we were ready to go again and this was the target, to see could we get to here.”
Hang on. Kieran McGeeney, out on the lash? This is the same McGeeney who told manager Joe Kernan that a warm weather training camp in 2002 would be pointless if there was even one beer sipped?
“Every away match, we stop the bus in some random pub and go in and have a pint together,” reveals McKeever.
“When we drew with Galway and coming out the road, we stopped the bus and had a pint in each other’s company, enjoyed each other’s time and were on the bus home again. People don’t see that side but he has a really good relationship with players. Look, that’s just the environment he has created.”
McKeever came onto the Armagh panel in 2003. As a young player he modelled himself on McGeeney and there was something of a master-pupil relationship. In his prime, McKeever was vice-captain on an International Rules Tour of Australia when Anthony Tohill was manager and McGeeney – by then the Kildare manager – a selector.
He retired from playing at the end of 2017 and the following year he was the Armagh minor manager, with specific instructions from McGeeney to unearth a few speedsters. Oisín Conaty and Peter McGrane are results of this process.
In 2020, McGeeney performed major surgery on the backroom and brought McKeever in, alongside Kieran Donaghy.
Last winter, there was a chance that all the work by that management could have amounted to nothing as the clubs had a vote on McGeeney’s future.
McKeever admits that it was an uncertain period. After all, Kildare had once gotten rid of McGeeney. And he had limited faith in some of the delegates tasked with the responsibility of a vote.
“You’re thinking the worse because you have helmets voting, and that’s just the truth.
“You’ve people that are in clubs that have agendas potentially, just don’t like his personality, that are going to have a say on what way the county team is going to go and what the players are going to get.
“Lucky enough, we have a really strong of players that weren’t willing to allow that to happen. A couple of strong clubs stood up and it is what it is, he got the vote, and we are where we are today and that’s probably no coincidence that he was kept on board.”
The high point has been beating Kerry in the semi final. The outside world saw it as a huge shock. Within the Armagh set up, they didn’t feel so daunted.
“The big thing is a lot of Kerry’s name at the minute is based on history,” says McKeever
“Yes, they won the All-Ireland two years but they’re not the force that their name carries anymore… a lot of the stuff is based on Kerry’s history and not relevant to now. We were trying to deliver that message a lot over the last fortnight and thankfully we went up the road and did the job because we had really good confidence that we could turn them over in Croke Park.”
With Galway awaiting in the final, many feel that Armagh will not be burdened by the hand of history. But as McKeever pointed out, reputations and history mean nothing to this group. Instead, they put Galway up as the top team in Ireland.
“They’re an exceptional team. If I’m putting my hand on my heart, they’re probably the best team we’ve played over the last four years and how they structurally set up, they set up like an Ulster team,” he says.
“They’re really athletic, I think their whole half-forward line is averaging 6ft2in. They’re big, they’re powerful and obviously they have the two boys inside, (Damien) Comer, Shane Walsh that are exceptional finishers.
“Joycer gets a lot of grief in Connacht as well after winning three Connacht titles in a row but that’s maybe just the nature of being a manager. I think what happened with all the injuries during the National League this year it has allowed them to build a squad and they have a really strong bench like ourselves and it’s going to be an interesting game.”
It’s little surprise that in the new, elongated championship, the two teams with the strongest benches have reached the final. The volume of games, the likelihood of injury has meant all teams have had to look about expanding training panels.
One thing the Armagh management are not shy about is sharing the kudos around. Armagh’s contributions from the bench has been outstanding.
Why?
“It’s no coincidence that whenever ‘Deets’ (Conleith Gilligan) came in, it was something he spoke about.
“Done all the numbers for the boys. Probably maybe a difference voice resets and reassures boys in different aspects. He just went through the games and says this is what we’re getting from our bench. We all agree that this is not going to get us to where we want to be.
“To be fair, the players have grasped that. We feel as a group now they are ready to do that and help us get across the line. We wouldn’t be here only for our bench, that’s just the harsh reality of it.”
There’s a Sisyphian quality to a lot of these Armagh characters. On Sunday, one more turn of the stone and it will rest on top of the mountain.
