McGeeney rues costly errors

By Shaun Casey

GIVING the ball away cheaply is not something associated with Armagh, but those “annoying” errors proved costly for the Orchard County against Louth, says manager Kieran McGeeney.

They came up short against their Leinster neighbours on Sunday afternoon in Inniskeen, a first ever championship encounter between the two counties.

Armagh had their noses ahead at the end but conceded a last second goal from Sam Mulroy, with his two-point effort sailing over Ethan Rafferty’s head and into the back of the net.

McGeeney doesn’t lay the blame at the feet of his goalkeeper, who was a late replacement for the injured Blaine Hughes, but reflects on those times his side coughed up possession, particularly late in the game.

“We had possessions at the end; we probably didn’t take a few shots that we could have towards the end too,” said the All-Ireland winning player and manager.

“A lot of things add up to bad last couple of minutes. It is very frustrating but as I say at this level that’s what happens. We gave the ball away a lot, and cheaply. It’s annoying; we should have ran out the game better than we did.

“You have to give credit to Louth, they kept hanging in there and they threw caution to the wind and it worked out for them. That’s sport, it can be cruel sometimes. But you have to keep your focus right until the end.”

It’s last chance saloon now for the 2024 All-Ireland champions and they make the daunting journey of travelling to Killarney this Saturday evening to face the current holders of the Sam Maguire Cup, Kerry.

Had Armagh beaten Louth, their next game was going to be knockout anyway, in the All-Ireland quarter-final, so having that pressure a week earlier is no big deal, according to McGeeney.

“It is the same if we had of won, it is still the knockout stage,” he added. “The reality is that it’s this round and next round, you are going to be playing teams of that calibre, it is just a week early.”