Éamonn Fitzmaurice: By any benchmark, McGeeney is a special one

They were so proud of their players. They have been on a great journey, for the past three seasons in particular, with great wins while also suffering some gut-wrenching losses along the way, but as a county they have in general stuck together.

Central to all of that is Mr Armagh, Kieran McGeeney. It is only the second time in their history that Armagh have beaten Kerry in championship. Last time he was captain, now he is the manager.

Despite numerous setbacks, the perseverance and single-mindedness that he has displayed over the past decade to build the powerful and robust squad now at his disposal speaks to his stubborn nature. There is more to him than that trademark stubbornness though. Much more. His vision in terms of what he expects from his group and the standards that he sets is clear.

The recruitment of outside help such as Kieran Donaghy and Conleith Gilligan to further push them and eke out those marginal gains that are the difference at this level of the game emphasises his lack of ego and his pragmatism.

His behind-the-scenes work on vital sponsorship acquisition shouldn’t be underestimated. The fact he has had no defections from a massive squad is an achievement in itself. The levels of dedication required from players and without a reward of regular football can be a tricky balance to achieve. He manages it. 

Many other counties must look on enviously, most notably Tyrone from across the county bounds. His nature and personality means he is hard to say no to, and hard to argue with.

Rian O’Neill has been one of his main on-field generals since he made his debut in 2019. Last time out against Roscommon, McGeeney took him off after 50 minutes. O’Neill wasn’t at his best and his manager wanted to make a point. 

He rarely engages with players as they leave the field but this time I spotted him making a beeline for O’Neill. An expert in body language wasn’t required to decipher the briefest of conversations. It was along the lines of “that was not nearly good enough, you need to be better, you have no choice but to be better or this will be your lot”. 

On Saturday, O’Neill was inspirational, the best version of himself in key moments in the game.

McGeeney knew his man and the reaction he would get. Man management 101. Someone else might need an arm around the shoulder. Similarly, Jarly Óg Burns was massive during extra time against Kerry, playing in his more natural midfield berth, fetching the throw-in, providing legs and energy and kicking a great score. 

He made a decision last year to go travelling for this season but somewhere along the way he did a volte face. He has seen precious little football in the meantime.

At the end of normal time McGeeney went after him in the team huddle. It looked as if he was laying it on the line for the Silverbridge man. Challenging him. He duly obliged. 

As delighted as he was afterwards, which was clear from his post-match utterances, McGeeney was already thinking of the All-Ireland final. As he hugged, high-fived and congratulated his players on the pitch, he was also holding up his index finger to their faces saying “one more, one more”.

All-Ireland winning players and managers are scarce, but All-Ireland winning captains and managers are an even rarer species. McGeeney is on the cusp of achieving this. One Pádraic Joyce may have something to say about that though.

Kerry kicking themselves

Yesterday morning, a Kerry person remarked to me that the assassination attempt on Donald Trump in Pennsylvania will take the heat off Jack O’Connor this week. 

While I laughed at the time, on reflection I realised that, even if Trump was assassinated, it would make little or no difference to the mood in Kerry.

There will be a typically stern review of Kerry’s season this week and long into the winter months. It comes with the territory and Jack knows that. There are a collection of All-Irelands that we group in the ‘one that got away’ category. There is now a 2024 addition to that particular compilation.

This didn’t seem likely in the first half as Kerry started so well and were playing with much more pace and bite than against Derry a fortnight ago. They were forcing turnovers all over the field with ferocious and disciplined tackling. By the interval, half of their 10 points came via this method. 

Their matchups were working and five of the starting six forwards had scored from play, with them leading by four and looking good. And then things went south. There were many similarities with the 2021 defeat to Tyrone. 

The missed goal chances were significant but Kerry’s shooting accuracy fell off a cliff from the second half on. That will hurt, as normally it is a strength. Their shooting accuracy from play was 38% over the duration of the contest. 

Sometimes they can be almost double that. Against Monaghan in Killarney, they were 71%, for example. On Saturday they had 14 wides and dropped a further four short. 

From half-time on, Armagh’s shooting accuracy was 62%, Kerry’s was 30%. From Paul Murphy’s goal in the 46th minute until the end of the match, including extra-time, Kerry scored a
mere five points, in contrast to Armagh’s 1-09 total. In a way, that tells the tale.

The other significant event in that second half was the concession of the Armagh goal. Shane Ryan has bailed out Kerry on numerous occasions over the past few seasons, including another excellent save from Andrew Murnin in the first half, but his untypical error gave life and belief to Armagh.

Up until that point, Kerry had been keeping them at arm’s length, and keeping the huge Armagh crowd quiet. From then on, momentum swung and the fanatical supporters roared their team home, coursing energy through their team, similar to what a packed Hill 16 can do for Dublin. 

Both goals came from point attempts dropped short (as did Paul Conroy’s major Sunday), once more outlining the danger of balls dropping inside around the square. It is surprising teams don’t actually kick the ball in there intentionally more often.

While a surface analysis would point to the match swinging on the missed goal chance at one end and Barry McCambridge’s green flag at the other, there is much more to it than that. For one thing, Kerry never really got going this year. They played in fits and starts but the rhythm and the purpose of All-Ireland champions-elect was conspicuous by its absence. 

They need to find the why and fix it. When Jack conducts their own frank self-evaluation, there are areas they will look at for 2025. Everything will be on the table. A defeat like that forces a complete rethink. 

From fitness levels to game plan and substitutions and panel personnel, everything will be up for grabs. This can be no bad thing. Short-term pain for long-term gain. Sometimes the darkest hour is before the dawn.

The Corofin connection

When Corofin were at the height of their powers winning All-Ireland club titles, we got an insight into their mindset and the way they develop their young players. Head up attacking football, game awareness and a bi-lateral skillset are some of the central tenets of their philosophy.

While the game at inter-county level is much more structured, Dylan McHugh has embodied these qualities over the past couple of seasons, this year in particular as he has gone to new levels of performance. His game awareness means he has the capacity to play a number of critical roles for Galway and Pádraic Joyce. 

He can man mark but most often he cheats in from his No. 5 slot and patrols and minds the “D’. He does this while still accounting cleverly for his own direct opponent. He knows when to go and when to sit. He is constantly scanning the pitch, he sniffs out danger, gets there and more often than not puts out the fire. This season he has also started to express himself more and drive up the pitch to get vital scores at pivotal times.

Alongside him in that half-back line is another Corofin man, Liam Silke. He has a similar style but is often given man-marking duties, as he was yesterday on Oisín Gallen. Silke’s Corofin schooling was clear again when it was most needed as he came forward and in the 69th minute kicked their final score with his weaker left foot to give Galway the two-point buffer they needed to see it out.

Donegal will be crestfallen having come so close to getting back to an All-Ireland final. They have had a great season but Jim McGuinness knows how hard it is to get to and win finals, especially in a year where both Dublin and Kerry are out of the equation.

I highlighted in Saturday’s paper that I felt Galway would protect their ‘D’ much better than recent opponents and Donegal would have to lean on their long-range shooting as they did in the Ulster Final once more. For three quarters of the game, it worked. Their shooting was a joy to behold. 

Michael Langan (outstanding throughout), Gallen, Ciarán Thompson and Caolan McConagle all kicked superb distance scores. By half-time, their shooting accuracy from play stood at 77%, which was remarkable considering where many of those shots were taken from. 

However, as fatigue and game-deciding tension crept in, they missed a few. That shooting accuracy eventually dropped to a more typical 58% by the end of the match. It is very difficult to win relying solely on distance accuracy.

Donegal have been outstanding this year. Achieving promotion, torpedoing Derry, winning Ulster and getting to an All-Ireland semi-final is remarkable progress by any yardstick. 

The marginal gains that will help them achieve that extra few percent to take them a step further are harder to find. No better man than McGuinness to eke them out though. Playing Division 1 football next season, for one, is a great starting point.

Credit to Johnny Bradley and RTÉ for the statistics.