ORANGE STEEL
Mcgeeney says living the most painful moments led to Orchard bearing fruit
KIERAN MCGEENEY saw Armagh get over the line when it mattered most and declared: “Sometimes your strongest steel is forged in fire.”
It was a nice, to-the-point line and neatly bookended this particular 10-year mission to get his hands on Sam Maguire again, some 22 years after lifting it as captain.
Emotionally drained, slumped forward and speaking in a hush at the top table press conference in the bowels of Croke Park, he at times looked like the losing manager. A stranger to these parts might have assumed as much had they just wandered into the room, were it not for the happy heads of Tiernan Kelly and Oisin O’neill either side of him.
Their beaming faces told a different story – a winners’ tale.
Last year, the critics had their say about Mcgeeney and in August he survived a 46-16 vote in his favour on whether he should stay in charge.
“I suppose when you’re around football for a long time, it’s the people who know very little who make a lot of noise,” he told RTE in the moments after yesterday’s final whistle.
Fast forward to this year’s campaign and Armagh reached the final the hard way after losing the Ulster final on penalties, their fourth shootout loss in three seasons. The sheer agony of going through that on repeat might have broken the spirit of some other sides.
But, fuelled by their epic semi-final win over Kerry, the Orchard pulled out all the stops when needed.
Mcgeeney (right) honed in on and hailed his players’ strength of character for overcoming adversity – and in some instances personal tragedy – in order to make this their day.