By Shaun Casey

AARON Haughey knows exactly what his Armagh u-20 team can expect when they line out against Down in Páirc Esler on Wednesday evening in the first round of the Ulster Championship.

Having spent his school days at St Colman’s Newry, he has rubbed shoulders will plenty of the players that will be decked out in red and black.

The Crossmaglen clubman, who helped Ulster University win the Fresher Division One  League title back in November with a first half goal in their 2-13 to 1-15 win, has been named as Armagh’s joint captain alongside Granemore’s Ryan Nugent.

Managed by 2002 All-Ireland winner Barry O’Hagan, Armagh suffered a heavy first round defeat to Derry 12 months ago before bouncing back to draw with Cavan and beat Monaghan only to be knocked out by eventual Ulster and All-Ireland winners Tyrone.

“Down would be a good outfit and I played a lot of schools football with a lot of them so we know how good they are,” said Haughey, a nephew of Armagh All-Ireland winners John and Tony McEntee.

“Last year, we played Derry (in the first round) and we thought we were ready for that match. We ended up getting hammered so it’s all about getting a few points on the board early.”

The Orchard County squad will be backboned by Dromintee’s history-making minors that won the Ulster Championship at St Paul’s on New Year’s Day, along with the Abbey CBS crew that ended a 20-year wait for a MacRory Cup title.

The “winning mentality” those players bring to the panel has been a major boost to the team says Haughey as Armagh look to win a first Ulster Championship title at this grade since 2007.

“There are a lot of the boys from last year that are still part of the panel and there’s a lot of boys from the Abbey CBS MacRory Cup team and the Dromintee minor team that won Ulster so there’s a good bunch of lads,” Haughey continued.

“Those boys bring a real winning mentality to the team. The way they prepare for training, they go 100 per cent for every drill so they’re good lads.”

Armagh are looking forward to getting the ball rolling and Wednesday is the first of three group games O’Hagan’s men face over the next couple of weeks.

After travelling the short and familiar distance to Newry in round one, Armagh will enjoy home advantage at the BOX-IT Athletic Grounds against both Cavan and Tyrone in the following two Wednesday evenings.

“We can’t wait to get going now,” Haughey added ahead of the first game. “We had a few challenge matches against some of the better teams in Ireland during preseason and we were fit to hold our own so we can’t wait to get started.

“There were plenty of boys that put up their hands that maybe haven’t played county football at minor level (in those challenge games), so it was good to see that and everyone really put up their hand.”