It took extra time, but Cullyhanna eventually overcame the stiff challenge of St Peter’s to reach the semi-finals. There, they will face old rivals Crossmaglen, with both sides eyeing up a final spot.
Jason Duffy put in phenomenal performance for Cullyhanna, who won 3-17 to 0-19 in the end. Duffy’s first half goal gave them the initiative early on but they had to show all their battling qualities to get over the line.
St Peter’s deserve massive credit for their part in the game of the weekend. They asked Cullyhanna plenty of difficult questions, but in the end, Stephen Reel’s men were able to produce the goods.
Journey
“This team is on a journey the last three or four years and we’ve had games like that,” Duffy told Armagh TV after the game. “We can take huge confidence from that. We know going through the team that we have boys that’s going to win games and get us over the line.
“It’s just about scrapping it out and putting ourselves in that position and getting it to the likes of (Aidan) Nugent, Ross (McQuillan), Shea (Hoey) that’s going to execute.
“We touched on it last weekend as a group, we know how to win these tough games. There’s no substitute for that and we know that when we get there, we can execute it.”
The St Patrick’s men carried the momentum of normal time into extra time and sailed to a seven-point win. Duffy finished with 1-2 to his name while Neil McCreesh and Ross McQuillan also hit the net.
“It was just about keeping our foot on their throats you could say,” Duffy added of extra time. “That’s all it was about, to keep doing what we were doing, no rush of blood to the end, it was just about score for score and we knew we’d get over the line.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game and the form St Peter’s were in, we knew it was going to go to the line. I think were we seven down at one point so we’ll take massive confidence out of that.”