By Niall Gartland

ARMAGH are almost machine-like at this stage. Three gut-wrenching Ulster final defeats in as many years would knock the stuffing out of a lesser bunch of men, but here they are, braced for their latest shot at provincial honours. To be fair, it certainly helped matters that they got their hands on Sam in between times.

They’ve racked up ridiculous scores en route to Sunday’s big day out at Clones against Monaghan, but again, characteristically, it hasn’t all been plain sailing.

Rumours of serious injuries to Ben Crealey and Callum O’Neill soon became reality. They aren’t the only walking wounded, and the team was also hit by a glut of retirements during the off-season.

But still they keep coming. Coach Conleith Gilligan says that it’s no fluke that they can contend with the loss of personnel better than most. Better than nearly everyone, in fact.

“We’re used to injuries at this stage unfortunately. A couple of years ago Ciaran Mackin and Conor O’Neill took serious injuries in the week after the Ulster final before the Derry game.

“Niall Grimley came in and a couple of boys came in and never looked back, but I suppose it’s very disappointing for the players who get injured. They’ve given so much and obviously there’s nothing you can do.

“But look, there’s very much a philosophy of ‘next man up’. While it’s bad luck for some players, it’s an opportunity for people who maybe didn’t think it was going to come so quickly. In fairness, we’ve been lucky that the boys are well prepared and are able to step in very quickly.”

So what’s the secret? Is it the continuity in management ensuring that solid foundations remain in place come what may? Kieran McGeeney is now in his 12th consecutive season in charge and he’s nurtured an elite group of seasoned intercounty footballers.

“Yeah, I think that’s definitely part of it,” acknowledged Gilligan. “The two Kierans and Denis and Julie and Hugh have been there a long time.

“They’ve had an awful lot of the players, from Aidan Forker and Rory Grugan, who have been there 10, 11 or 12 years, right down to the likes of Callum O’Neill, who while he had a breakout year last year, this is probably his fourth or fifth year on the panel.

“Players have been there a long time honing their craft, trying to get themselves in the position to play physically as well as mentally and then, when their opportunity comes, they tend to be in a really good place.”

The big ambition is a second All-Ireland in three years, but there’s no real getting away from the fact that the Ulster Championship is the solitary box left unchecked. Gilligan says it doesn’t play on their minds but accepts that Sunday is still a special day in the calendar.

“I don’t really think it’s like that from a team perspective. It’s not something we’ve talked about hugely, but again it’s there in the supporters.

“It’s something they’ve great memories from whenever Kieran (McGeeney) was captaining the team and when Ciaran McKeever was captaining the team, and it seemed like they won an Ulster final every year.

“Obviously to go 17 or 18 years without one, it’s a long time for supporters, but you know, it’s just another game and we’ll try and play that down.

“But look, it’s an Ulster final and I suppose they’re so sought-after up here that you can’t take being in a final for granted, or the possibility of winning it. Ultimately you still have to perform and do all the bits to beat any team, and in Monaghan we have a seriously formidable team up against us.”

Most of the Monaghan team haven’t tasted success at this level, but there are a few survivors from the team that landed Ulster titles in 2013 and 2015. Then there’s the Scotstown factor – Rory Beggan, Jack McCarron and Conor McCarthy are among those who won the provincial prize on the club scene with victory over Kilcoo in December. There’s no shortage of leadership there, basically.

“That’s it. The likes of Beggan and Dessie Ward, some of those players who are a bit older, have Ulster titles and you can’t underestimate the power of the Scotstown boys coming back in on the back of winning an Ulster club and being very unlucky in that All-Ireland semi-final.

“They’ve been at the well a few times and to get over the line gives you a confidence in what you’re about. There’s no coincidence in the upsurge in Monaghan’s form coinciding with the Scotstown lads coming back.

“Obviously with McCarthy and Beggan and McCarron at the weekend, you could just tell they had an air of confidence in what they were doing and once they got that opportunity to shine, they took it in spades.”

Armagh ran riot in a demolition job of Down at the semi-final stage racking up an unprecedented total of 42 points (3-33) on the day, an Ulster Championship record. The previous record? Their 2-32 to 1-24 victory over Fermanagh just a week earlier. Another day out like that in front of the posts and it’s hard to make a case for anything other than an Armagh victory.

“Yeah, I suppose going into the Down game we were really well prepared because we had seen Down at their very best, and maybe that helped.

“You just don’t know from game to game. You want to win and if you can play well along the way, it’s a bonus, but with the extra scores it has definitely been helpful.

“At the start of the league we lost a few games where we didn’t score heavily enough, so it’s just trying to get a balance in the new format with two-pointers and arcs and goals – that’s just the nature of the game.”