By Shaun Casey

CLANN Eireann ended a 58-year wait to capture their third ever Armagh crown in a dramatic two-point win over Crossmaglen. Captain Shea Heffron played a big role in securing the title and his side now prepare for the unknown of the Ulster Championship with Antrim side Creggan lying in wait.

“It’s been a great couple of weeks for ourselves and the community of Lurgan,” said the Clann Eireann defender. “But when you’re faced with another challenge you just have to refocus the mind and body and treat that challenge the way you would go into any Armagh Championship game. We’re grateful for the position we’re in as players but we don’t take the challenge lightly.”

The Lurgan men face Creggan in Sunday’s quarter final, another newbie to the competition. The Antrim champions saw off Aghagallon to win their first title since 1954.

“Creggan are a massive challenge and they’ve shown their worth in the last number of years in Antrim and obviously this year winning the title. It’s a cliché, but we’ll just focus on ourselves and let the rest pan out. Ulster is that unique competition where nobody’s really played against each other before and you’re going in and you’re bringing your A game.”

It’s been three weeks since Tommy Coleman’s side lifted the Gerry Fegan Cup, named after the last Clann Eireann captain to win the championship back in 1963, and Creggan have enjoyed the same break prior to Sunday’s encounter.

“The gap between the semi-final against Ballymacnab and the final against Crossmaglen, there was three weeks as well. That felt very long because obviously after Ballymacnab our focus shifted almost immediately towards Crossmaglen,” Heffron continued.

“It gave us that couple of days after the final to really enjoy the celebrations and enjoy it for what it was worth. It was 58 years in the making and it’s really important to enjoy the moment and enjoy bringing Gerry back home.

“After those couple of days our focus really changed. While we were very grateful to have the Armagh Championship in our hands, we are conscious that we really need to be ready for this coming Sunday.”

While all of Lurgan’s attention will be on Corrigan Park, there may be some divided loyalty in the Heffron household. Shea’s father Seamus originates from Glen, who take on Scotstown on Sunday afternoon as well, but he’ll be in Belfast cheering on his adopted club.

“He’s has definitely worn the orange and white this year! It’s been a great year for him in the fact that within a week he saw his home club and my club, his inherited club, take the two championships. One for the first time and one in a very long time so it was a special couple of days for him.”

A potential clash of Glen vs Clann Eireann can’t happen unless the pair meet in the final, but that’s not on the radar just yet. “We’ll look no further. Glen have a tough challenge and we have our own, so we’ll just be focused on those.”

WINNERS….Clann Eireann ended their long wait for an Armagh title last month