St Patrick’s were the first team to book their place in the Armagh IFC final, and Jason Duffy played a huge part.
Duffy set up a first half Ross McQuillan goal and finished with 0-3 as they saw off Pearse Og by five-points.
“It’s great to be back, we love playing for the club,” the Cullyhanna midfielder told Armagh TV after the game.
“I suppose there’s just that different sort of buzz with boys you grew up with, it’s great to be back with them.
“They’re the boys we’ve been missing for the last three, four, five years. It’s great having them boys back because they’re a massive help, serious footballers and it’s great to see them back.”
Cullyhanna eased into the final four, but that Ogs test will stand to them. They looked to be cruising in the first half, but an Anto Duffy goal before half time made a real game of it.
“It really put the pressure on I suppose,” added Duffy. “It’s good and bad and there’s positives and negatives to it but we’re just glad we came through it, and it’ll stand to us looking forward.
“You don’t want to go in cold as such. We put up big scores and were clinical, but it is good to get proper tested against a very solid outfit like the Ogs, so it’ll definitely stand to us.”
Eyes on the prize
The easiest route back to senior football was through the league and Culloville were crowned Division 2A champions. But Duffy insists they always had their eyes on the championship.
“It definitely was disappointing (the league) but at the start of the year we targeted a championship win. That’s what we’re going for.
“I know we missed out on the league and missed out on the chance of straight promotion. But again, this is what we’re targeting, this is what we want.
“That’s what we were targeting at the start of the year so we’re happy to be. We knew coming in that we maybe hadn’t been tested as much as Ogs had.
“They came through three or four tough games. So, it was good to get a game against them and a good tight game going into the final.”
