By Michael McMullan

IT’S Conleith Gilligan’s second season in Kieran McGeeney’s management team and he hails what went before as the reason for Armagh’s strength in depth.

Gilligan, an All-Ireland winning player with Ballinderry, coached Kilcoo to the same title before being asked on board with McGeeney in Armagh.

One of the key ingredients to their All-Ireland win was the impact from the bench. Stefan Campbell kicked some vital scores and made Aaron McKay’s crucial goal in the final win over Galway.

Ross McQuillan made a serious imprint and is now pushed into a regular berth with Barry McCambridge forcing his way in and went on to become a contender for player of the year.

When Armagh took the field against Antrim earlier in the Ulster Championship, they were without nine players who started the All-Ireland final.

As well as that, Armagh are now making a name for winning tight games after having the tag of the nearly men with their four penalty shootout defeats in crunch championship games.

That’s what could tip the scales when Saturday’s decider heads for the final bend in the road. Donegal are the same. They’re no stranger to the pressure cooker either.

“You probably do learn more about yourself and the group within those periods, and perhaps maybe it takes those defeats to realise how to see out the games,” Gilligan said of Armagh’s progression.

“Maybe that’s just the experience we have down the line and you don’t want that to happen. It’s a hard place to be, but maybe that’s where the growth and the learning comes to a degree.”

The fact they have progressed to another Ulster final is more noteworthy with Callum O’Neill kicking seven points in two games. Tomás McCormack’s goal broke the Antrim resistance and Darragh McMullen has been a regular.

Most recently in the memory bank is Ross McQuillan’s tackle on Darragh Canavan. A game changer. On this week’s Gaelic Lives podcast, former Armagh Ulster winner Charlie Vernon noted how McQuillan has tidied up his tackling. Another sign of the Orhcard harvest.

It’s been gradual, but the Orchard County have got there. From the outside, McGeeney has built a culture of keeping everyone on board. It says a lot about the players’ persistence.

“They’ve served two or three years and they’ve had to go through the tough days where they didn’t make the squads and they didn’t make the subs,” Gilligan said.

“There were days they made the subs they didn’t get on but they’ve done all the work. They’ve had all the learning.

“They’ve had all the disappointments. So, even though they maybe haven’t played in those games, they’ve shared in all those things, and I think that shapes those players a lot.”

Gilligan points to the loss of the McKenna Cup, often a breeding ground for young players to dip their toes into county senior football.

With injuries, any newcomers have had to sink or swim in the choppy waters of Division One football. It’s not the same in all counties. When players often leave squads due to lack of games, the Armagh panellists have stuck around. Gilligan puts that at the door of the management team over the last decade.

“I think it’s definitely testament to the Ciarans (McGeeney and McKeever), Denis (Hollywood) and Julie (Davis),” Gilligan said.

“They’ve been there ten years, and then Star (Kieran Donaghy) has been there maybe three or four.

“Those players have stayed throughout that spell. I wouldn’t just put it down to the players, but the journey that the management have kept them on.

“It would have been easy to walk away, but the things that have been going on in camp meant that it was a squad worth staying for and hanging about for.

“The management could paint the picture that there’s maybe better days around the corner.”

Check this week’s preview show as former county stars Charlie Vernon and Rory Kavanagh look ahead to Saturday’s Ulster final showdown in Clones.