THE ARM WRESTLE
Orchard’s efficiency tilted final their way as Mcgeeney joins an exalted pantheon
BY PAT NOLAN
EFFICIENCY saw off flair as the Armagh machine rolled over Galway, bridging the gap to their only previous title in 2002.
This All-ireland final concluded Kieran Mcgeeney’s 16th season as an inter-county manager, the first six of them having been with Kildare, and he had no major trophy to show for it before this.
But he has now made a giant leap alongside some of the most storied names in the game’s history – Kevin Heffernan, Billy Morgan, Tony Hanahoe, Páidí Ó Sé and Brian Dooher – by both captaining and managing his county to an All-ireland title.
And this was a victory that owed so much to the coaching of Mcgeeney and those around him. They’ve now lost just one of their last 20 Championship games, outside of penalty shootouts.
Armagh may have been in Galway’s slipstream for much of the game, but their system and the stubbornness of their defensive unit made it very difficult for the Connacht champions to pull clear.
And their efficiency at the other end was ultimately what won it for them. It was widely felt that Galway carried the better individual players, particularly up front, but Armagh were far more clinical, both in terms of the quality of chances they engineered and then taking a high proportion of them.
They missed only three of their shots in the second half. Galway had 10 that didn’t come off, many of them very scoreable, with Shane Walsh accounting for three of those having missed two frees in the first half.
Walsh’s display mirrored that of David Clifford’s in last year’s final. Had he played to par, it’s likely that his team would have prevailed.
All year Galway had battled injury crises of varying degrees and this, perhaps, was the day it finally caught up with them.
Captain Sean Kelly was, unsurprisingly, withdrawn from the starting team after his recent issues and didn’t have a big impact after his introduction early in the second half.
Damien Comer had clearly been struggling for fitness in recent games but was still able to make a contribution. This time his input was minimal, with Aidan Forker marshalling him effectively, albeit with ample protection from the orange wall in front of him.
Barry Mccambridge, having shadowed Clifford well in the semi-final, picked up Walsh this time and conceded only a point from play.
Kelly, Comer and Walsh are arguably Galway’s three best players but the return they got from them in this final was, for various reasons, paltry.
With it being the first final not to feature at least one of Dublin, Kerry or Mayo for 14 years, the novelty was welcome, but it couldn’t disguise the paucity of the spectacle for long periods.
Rule changes are incoming for next year’s League and Championship which will hopefully spare us the sight of 29 players in one half of the field.
Indeed, a lame seagull on the pitch in the opening exchanges was the only company that Galway goalkeeper Connor Gleeson had in his half of the field for stretches.
Galway enjoyed more possession early on and were setting the agenda on the scoreboard, but their scores still didn’t come as easily as Armagh’s.
Paul Conroy kicked two exceptional points for Galway but by half-time, with the sides having been level five times, it was 0-6 each.
A similar pattern pertained early in the second half; Galway nosing ahead, Armagh replying, until the game-breaking score from Aaron Mckay in the 47th
minute. where Armagh did appear to have an advantage pre-match was with their bench and Stefan Campbell, straight after his introduction, was central to the game’s crucial moment.
It appeared as though he was trying to fist a point after a driving run from the left hand side but, regardless, it dropped in that no man’s land between the last attacker and goalkeeper. Mckay won the race ahead of Gleeson and Armagh were in front for the first time, 1-9 to 0-10.
Galway responded well initially, with Darcy pointing to reduce it to one but they then missed four opportunities to equalise, three wide and one short, and amid all that Niall Grimley doubled Armagh’s advantage with a booming effort, while Oisin O’neill, another sub, hooked one over from near the Cusack Stand sideline.
Galway finally ended a scoring drought at 14 minutes with Heaney and Cillian Mcdaid pointing but, again, Walsh missed a scoreable free to draw them level. Dylan Mchugh then hit the post amid near unbearable tension in injury time. Grimley did the same at the other end. Conroy had one last-ditch effort though Joe Mcelroy got a block in and Galway had run out of chances. They had plenty of them. Armagh didn’t, but took enough of them.