Armagh maintained their Division One status with a superb win over Roscommon, following a shaky opening 15 minutes.
The rest of the performance after the first water break was as close to perfection as we have seen from the Orchard County in recent years.
They outplayed the Rossie’s and hit an unanswered 1-5 during the third quarter, which helped sway the momentum in the home sides favour.
Forwards coach and four-time All-Ireland winner Kieran Donaghy told The Sideline Eye Podcast how Armagh will now look to build on their encouraging league campaign.
“There’s still loads for us to improve on. We’re going to be dissecting the game as if we lost the game because that’s the only way to dissect it.
And refocus the boys for Tuesday night and then go hard for the next three weeks and prepare for a tough task in taking on Antrim, who have won four games in a row. They’ll be full of confidence coming here”.
Armagh will enjoy home advantage for the fourth game in a row when they take on the Saffron’s in the opening round of the Ulster Championship.
Donaghy praised the influence of the crowd for Sunday’s win, pointing to their reaction to Oisin O’Neill’s first half major.
“That crowd were big today, we got that bit of momentum when Oisin (O’Neill) got the goal. It felt like championship, there might as well of been 40,000 inside here, it’s the way it felt.
You could see how passionate the crowd were,. How long they’ve been waiting to show this team some support and some love for the journey this team has been on under Kieran”.
It’s been a long voyage for Geezer and his men over the last number of years as they crawled their way up to the topflight.
The target of course was to stay there and with that goal now complete, it’s about making a real dent in the Ulster Championship, something Armagh have failed to do in recent times.
No doubt Donaghy and the backroom team won’t let the players rest on their laurels and all the focus will immediately turn to Antrim and the Ulster Championship.
“Getting up through the divisions, Division Three, Division Two, Division One. It’s been a hard road and they’re coming into their own now.
That will give them good confidence but don’t worry, we’ll bring them back down to ground on Tuesday evening, because we know it’s going to be a tough task to go and have a run in Ulster”.
