Barry McCambridge was one of Armagh’s star performers on Saturday evening as they lost out to Kerry by a point.
The Clann Eireann clubman, who has started all six of Armagh’s games this season, has had a good campaign so far.
He moved to full back last weekend and picked up Player of the Year and Kerry’s key forward David Clifford.
McCambridge certainly came out on top of the dual, holding the four-time All-Star scoreless from play.
Armagh assistant manager Ciaran McKeever paid tribute to McCambridge, who got his “reward” for his hard work over the last number of months.
Rewards
“We all know Barry has been an excellent club player in Armagh for a number of years,” said McKeever. “He was probably a bit frustrated over the last 18 months that he hasn’t got a chance.
“We worked hard with him, and he worked hard over the pre-season because we probably felt that he wasn’t at the conditioning-level that he should have been at to play at this level.
“He has worked tremendously hard, and he is getting his rewards. He got a job tonight and he executed it well.
“I suppose that will give him confidence and hopefully he will kick on again,” added the former Armagh captain.
Defensive display
As an overall defensive unit, Armagh performed well, keeping the Clifford brothers David and Paudie along with Sean O’Shea to just one point from play.
McKeever pointed to a lapse of concentration in the last few minutes that ultimately went against Armagh and that’s something they’ll have to work on for future outings.
“We worked hard as a unit, it’s something that we pride ourselves on,” McKeever noted of Armagh’s defensive display.
“But we have to stay concentrated and engaged for the full 70-plus minutes. We lost a bit of concentration towards the end and that cost us.”
