Armagh answered their critics in best possible way - Neil McGee

Neil McGee says that as familiar as Donegal are with Armagh, it’s now a very different Orchard test that stands in the reigning Ulster SFC title holders’ way on Saturday.

It’s easy to forget at this stage but Kieran McGeeney survived a showing of hands at an Armagh county board meeting in August 2023 as the clubs decided he deserved one last shot at leading his county to success.

What success represented to the Armagh county board in 2024 probably meant a provincial crown.

But when Shaun Patton denied Shane McPartlan in a sudden death penalty shootout duel in the 2024 Ulster decider, many of those same board members would surely have been sharpening the knives once more.

There’s a photograph of a broken-looking McGeeney, on Sportsfile, leaning against a darkened wall under the Gerry Arthur Stand, that appeared to suggest that same sentiment had also just dawned on him.

It was a serious blow for a group that also lost to Derry on penalties 12 months prior.

But Armagh were somehow able to suck those successive blows up and still mount an All-Ireland challenge that ended with Aidan Forker lifting Sam Maguire into the Croke Park air.

It was quite the turnaround and a triumph that permanently chases the wolves from McGeeney’s door.

Neil McGee says that it took something really special for Armagh to be able to scrape themselves off the Clones turf last summer and eventually go on to land Gaelic football’s Holy Grail.

“There really is nothing in it when it comes to Donegal and Armagh,” he told DonegalLive. “There hasn’t been for quite a while and it’ll be the exact same thing in the final.

“It’s a good rivalry and I’m sure the final will reflect that, it’ll be an occasion full of colour and noise.

“It’s an interesting dynamic. I’m sure they’ll have set out at the start of the year to really target an Ulster title.

“Winning the All-Ireland, they’ll have taken so much confidence from that. And you can see that now, I feel.

“They would have been questioned in the last few years, that they couldn’t see games out. But no one can question Armagh now”.

Donegal have had to deal with plenty of hype themselves since Jim McGuinness came back on board.

But they haven’t been entirely convincing to date in championship, with Monaghan and Down asking real questions of them in both their quarter-final and last-four outings.

It’s not a particular worry, you’d feel, and the hope and belief is that there are gears now to move through as the All-Ireland champions step up to the plate.

“We’re in a good place, it’s positive and everyone is in good form,” McGee added. “When you are getting through the work that just comes with it.

“We have nearly a fully fit squad at this stage. There is big competition and as a management, just sitting back and watching that in training, it’s healthy and it’s really encouraging.

“The hope now is that it all keeps pointing in the right direction now

“We were happy to get over the line against Down. It’s the way you want to go into a final - with plenty to work on.

“Down brought real aggression and directness to it. We kind of handled that okay. But under these new rules it’s very hard to put away teams.

“Sides know that a two-pointer here or there has the ability to reel leads back in. We are very aware of that. We seen that against Monaghan as well.

“It’s about looking to get control of the momentum. But we coughed up some possession on the turnover as well. That’s something we won’t get away with in the final.

“That was happening at the top of the D and that gave them energy. So that was avoidable and something that can be tidied up”.

McGee says he took in Armagh’s semi-final win over Tyrone and it was another example of the self-confidence they are now exuding.

That late Red Hand rally, where Malachy O’Rourke’s side took the lead, didn’t faze McGeeney’s men. And that know-how, that new winning mentality McGee insists, is what seen them over the line.

“I did watch it. I thought Armagh were the better side overall. I thought Ethan Rafferty’s kickouts were brilliant.

“He got all but one away. In the game now, under the new rules, that’s seriously impressive. They didn’t panic when they found themselves under pressure.

“They sussed it out and got over the line”.