A chance to lift the Gerry Fagan Cup in their history has provided a “deadly” build up to the final says Jason Duffy. The St Patrick’s men are competing in the decider for the first time since 2016.
Sunday will only be their third ever appearance on the biggest day of all. They’ve come up short on the previous two occasions, against Crossmaglen (2013) and Maghery (2016) and this time it’s Madden who stand in their way.
Jason Duffy has been one of the standout players of the club championship to date this season. He has been superb around the middle of the field, especially in the absence of captain Pearse Casey.
“It’s deadly, it’s so good,” the 2024 All-Ireland winner told Armagh TV of the build-up to the final. “We’re probably lucky to be there if you look at the last game and the last couple of games.
“We just can’t wait to get to Sunday and perform and maybe more than 10 or 15 minutes of a performance. We’re really looking forward to it and it’s great for the community and everyone around us.”
Cullyhanna just nipped past old rivals Crossmaglen in the semi-final, winning by the narrowest of margins. A late flurry of ten-points on the trot allowed Stephen Reel’s men to book their spot in the final.
Last four win
“It was crazy,” Duffy, who kicked 0-4 that day including a two-pointer with the first shot of the game, continued. “It was probably some of the best football Cross have played for 20, 30, 40 minutes in a long time.
“There were parts of that game where I didn’t know what we were going to do. It was just manic. They were kicking everything and between Oisin (O’Neill) and Cian (McConville) they were just so hard to stop.
“But we just never gave in and knew if we stuck around and put the pressure on, that maybe we could get something in the end. Thanks to (Aidan) Nugent kicking those two-point frees and the last score at the end, we just about got over the line.”
Madden and Cullyhanna locked horns in the opening round of the championship back in mid-August. Duffy missed out on that game, which Cullyhanna won by a point, but has been impressed with the Raparees.
“I was very impressed with them against Clann Eireann. I thought Clann Eireann would have pulled away but I was impressed with how aggressive they were in their press and how strong they looked around the middle.
“Obviously with Niall (Grimley) and Conor (Grimley) up top, they have boys that are very accurate and can score heavily. I was very impressed with how they played against Clann Eireann.”