Steven McDonnell managed Armagh at Under 21 level.
By Cian O’Connell
Denied promotion by Michael Quinlivan’s daring brilliance for Tipperary a year ago, Armagh have responded impressively in the 2018 Allianz Football League.
Kieran McGeeney’s emerging outfit set the standard in Division Three and return to Croke Park for what should be a fiercely contested decider against Fermanagh on Saturday.
The 2017 All Ireland Qualifiers adventure ensured a budding Armagh outfit acquired some confidence before an ultimately disappointing Quarter-Final exit against Tyrone.
Former player Steven McDonnell, who managed several of the current squad at Under 21 level, remains adamant about their potential.
A return to GAA headquarters offers a real opportunity to shine ahead of the Ulster Championship according to McDonnell.
“Exactly, for Armagh to continue developing and improving it is good to get games in Croke Park,” McDonnell says.
“You'd have to be happy with them achieving their first aim of the year which was definitely getting out of Division Three, heading up a Division.
“The fact that they did that in a convincing manner is pleasing from a supporters point of view. Certainly the way they have been playing in the majority of their games has been a nice brand of football and it is an encouraging brand, a style that suits the players so we are happy.”
McDonnell believes that the work carried out at underage level in the county during the past decade is beginning to be demonstrated at senior level.
“There is a lot of young guys there,” McDonnell admits. “In one of the matches a few weeks ago I counted eight of the guys starting that would have played under me at Under 21 level which is a great achievement for those guys personally.
Progress is being made under Kieran McGeeney according to Steven McDonnell.
“You had a number of guys on the subs bench too and it is nice to see them come through the underage and development process. They are definitely playing with a lot of calmness and a maturity at the minute. They are playing with confidence which can only improve when you go to Croke Park as well.”
The footballing landscape has altered dramatically in the past couple of decades with McDonnell acknowledging the importance of being consistent at the top level if any significant Championship success is to be attained.
“Yeah, absolutely, to be at the top level and to be considered at the top level it is probably Division One you need to be aiming towards,” McDonnell states.
“That is where Armagh has to get to. If you look at the progress made by Galway having come out of Division Two last year, where they are sitting now, it is amazing how in such a short space of time where a team can improve and what confidence can do for a team.
“If Armagh can continue to go up the ranks, to get towards Division One, they are certainly going in the right direction - because I would say the players and the quality is there. It looks like they have all bought into Kieran McGeeney's style of management and there seems to be a great team spirit at the minute. So the future is definitely positive from an Armagh point of view.”
Down defeated Armagh in Ulster in 2017, but McGeeney’s charges stitched a four match winning sequence together beating Fermanagh, Westmeath, Tipperary, and Kildare before losing heavily to Tyrone.
“Yeah, there were definitely some really good victories,” McDonnell recalls. “They travelled to Westmeath, a difficult place to go and when things went against them towards the end of the game for such young players they managed to get through.
“Then the Kildare game was massive, to go to Croke Park and to get the victory as well. A lot of those boys will want to get back to Croke Park, even though it is a different competition and a different level of team they are playing against they will want to rectify what happened against Tyrone.
“It is important for them to go to do that. Looking back at that game I would say they played within themselves, they changed the style of play in a short space of time and they possibly shouldn't have done that.
“If they had went out playing the way they had played up until that game it probably would have been better suited, but definitely they have got back playing with confidence and it is important for them to be back at Croke Park and to get a good result, to try to get a victory.”
