Aaron McKay frustration grows as Armagh aim to end long wait
While Saturday's Ulster final against Donegal will come too soon for a player nursing a series of injuries, he is hoping the number doesn't stretch too far beyond the 300 mark with the All-Ireland group stage opener against to-be-determined opposition on the weekend of 24/25 May the key target.
A shock omission from last year's All-Star team, the teak-tough full-back was the hero for the Orchard County in last year's All-Ireland final as he palmed home the only goal of the game in the second half – only his second-ever championship score, with his first coming on debut against Down all the way back in 2017.
Since then, when not injured, he has been an automatic starter. Manager Kieran McGeeney is likely to be equally as impressed with how he read the last play of the final - when the tension was unbearable - to carry the ball out of danger following Joe McElroy's famous block as much as his green flag 20 minutes earlier.
That's his main brief in the team; shutting down opponents and sniffing out trouble, but he can't do that right now - and for the dramatic Ulster semi-final win over Tyrone, it was the Perspex dugout he was sitting behind in the stands that bore the brunt of his irritation.
"Slow, too slow," is how McKay described his recovery from cartilage damage in his hip, osteitis pubis issues as well as a contorted finger that has been strapped up ever since the 2022 All-Ireland quarter-final defeat to Galway.
"The plan was to be back for a championship because I knew the league, I wasn't going to be back for the league even way back in say October, November time.
"I knew that because I couldn't even get playing for the club (Dromintee) in August and then I kind of just came to the conclusion that I had to get the operation. So just to be ready for the first group game in the All-Ireland series, anything earlier than that's a bonus."
"Later in your career, you just care about winning rather than being selfish and looking to come back and playing kind of half-legged and costing the team more than you're giving," he added.
"So I think at this stage I'll be happy as long as we win rather than me being an idiot and trying to play and cost us."
Missing the Tyrone game was hard, not being out on the field this Saturday on Ulster final day will be torture.
He's not alone. Only six of the starting 15 from last year's Sam Maguire triumph started against the Red Hands, but those who have deputised have not only filled in, but for the likes of Callum O'Neill and Tomás McCormack, have ensured that the heroes of 2024 have a fight on to wrestle back their jersey.
It's those new faces who will be tasked with key roles in ending Armagh's 17-year wait for an Ulster title against Donegal this weekend – a unique quirk of the current squad with Celtic Crosses aplenty but no provincial medals in the dressing room.
#Geezerout pic.twitter.com/M1jyLrfYaf
— Aaron McKay (@AMcKay95) July 28, 2024
"It was funny, going to Clones last week, I was getting off the bus and I knew I wasn't playing or anything - I wasn't going to be contributing to the game but I'm shaking," he said of the Ulster semi-final and the team's pursuit of the Anglo Celt.
"But on the bus going to the final last July, I was so relaxed and chilled out. I'm like, how am I the polar opposite? I don't know."
McKay's been on the field of play for the last two Ulster finals though as penalties denied them against both Derry and Donegal.
Having also lost penalty shootouts to Galway and Monaghan in the previous two seasons at the All-Ireland quarter-final stage, that loss to the Tir Chonaill County 12 months ago would have been the death knell for most teams.
Not Armagh. They responded by topping their All-Ireland group before knockout wins over Roscommon, Kerry and Galway saw the county lift Sam for just the second time ever.
"Probably without the last two Ulster final defeats, I don't think we'd win the All-Ireland in 2024," McKay argued.
"When you lose something, you also experience loss and learning from it. And also success sometimes can breed complacency so I think if you achieve maybe an Ulster title last year, you can become a wee bit complacent.
"We wouldn't have approached the first group game (against Westmeath) last year (the same)...if we had won Ulster, then it all could have run differently. That's why I say again, if we had a won Ulster, we might not have won the All-Ireland."
The wait for an Ulster title is "unfinished business", according to McKay, and while he won't be able to influence things on the pitch at Clones, he's hoping he can still play a major albeit delayed role in what could end up being another special year for the Orchard County.
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Irish Examiner
39 minutes ago
- Irish Examiner
Camogie final highlights the tightrope referees are now expected to walk
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The Irish Sun
an hour ago
- The Irish Sun
Cathal Murray's ‘unfinished business' mission complete as Galway land third All-Ireland crown under his reign
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Murray revealed that he effectively called time on his tenure after losing last year's final to Cork, only to cite 'unfinished business' for his decision to remain at the helm. And forward Niamh Mallon reckons the gaffer deserves enormous credit for conducting the women in maroon to achieve another pitch-perfect performance at Croke Park. She said: 'I'm just delighted for the group and delighted for Cathal. They put a massive effort in. It's easy for people to have pops at management teams and the way they set teams up. 'But the time and effort that group has put into us has been massive since the turn of January. And they got their just rewards. I'm just delighted to be part of the group and very grateful." It took a controversial Katrina Mackey goal to decide the contest in Cork's favour when the teams clashed in the 2024 final. Nevertheless, Galway were depicted as rank outsiders to flip the script. Their determination to upset the odds was evident from the outset as Murray's side brought a level of energy and aggression that Cork failed to match throughout the first half. Mallon reflected: "It was fierce intense, to be honest. And we kind of knew that coming into the game. "If we were going to turn Cork over, it was going to be intensity that was going to take us there. We brought a massive intensity this time last year, we just didn't have the composure to see it out. Inside Sharlene Mawdsley's birthday celebrations as GAA star boyfriend treats her to athletics-themed cake 'I think the experience of last year really stood to us, particularly coming down the stretch. We managed the game a whole lot better than this time last year. We're just delighted to get over the line." Galway were full value for their five-point lead at the interval. Indeed, it resembled an unassailable deficit for Cork when coupled with the dismissal of Hannah Looney in first-half stoppage time. 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Cork manager Ger Manley fumed at referee Justin Heffernan after the game, accusing the Wexford whistler of a 'shocking' performance. But Mallon felt Heffernan played his part in facilitating a refreshing level of physicality that significantly boosted the entertainment value of the showpiece. PLAYER'S PERSPECTIVE Asked if the game was as taxing as it looked, she said: "I think so. And I think the referee really played into that. He let the game go and it really contributed to a really good game. 'There were a few questionable decisions last year coming down the stretch on both sides. I think he did a great job to let the game flow. You got a spectacle out of it." After just two seasons with Galway, Mallon has already experienced both the agony and ecstasy of the biggest day in the camogie calendar. The former Down forward has been based in Galway since 2018 through her job as a sports scientist at Orreco. She finally made the decision to switch inter-county allegiances last year. 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Irish Examiner
2 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Cathal Murray's Galway rebuild will go down as his greatest achievement
Heading into the 2018 championship, Galway were holding a loose membership of camogie's big three. It had been five years since they'd bettered either Cork or Kilkenny in a knockout championship fixture. The latter pair had lifted themselves and their levels of preparation, Galway had been caught standing still. In the days after Galway's 2018 League semi-final defeat to Kilkenny, the panel passed a motion of no confidence in a management team headed up by Tony O'Donovan. It was the opening sentence in Galway players rewriting the county's camogie story of heartbreak and hard luck. The new man in was to be Galway's fourth manager in less than two and a half years. The new man in was Cathal Murray, player-manager for Sarsfields' Galway SHC final win three years earlier. The new man in brought an end to western stagnation, he raised standards, and he grew belief. The foundation stones were laid during the rest of a 2018 season where Galway again fell at the semi-final hurdle and during the subsequent winter months. The physical approach that so spectacularly unnerved Cork on Sunday was a card first played by Cathal Murray six years ago in the 2019 semi-final. Galway set the terms by unflinchingly getting in Cork's face. That Cork class were also going for three-in-a-row. They too were outworked and outmuscled. The tactical acumen and match-up mastery that so disrupted Cork on Sunday was a card first played by Murray six years ago in the 2019 final. Caitriona Cormican, who struck two points in the semi-final, was redeployed at centre-back and performed a superb shadow job on Anne Dalton. Kilkenny's leading scorer from play coming into the final hardly touched the ball in the opening half. 'Just with the culture there and environment, I had a gut feeling we were going to win something under him,' Cormican said in an interview last year. 'I wouldn't have two All-Ireland medals only for him. [The set-up] was really enjoyable, really professional. It was definitely the most professional that I have ever played at.' He took a team with an inferiority complex of the red jersey and oversaw eight consecutive victories over them between the '19 semi-final and '23 championship opener. Sarah Dervan was Galway captain for the '19 and '21 final wins. Her verdict on the first half of Murray's tenure continues to ring true. 'He has brought Galway camogie way further than it ever was,' she said after 2021 glory at Cork's expense. 'We were always knocking around semi-final stages, struggling to get to the final. He came in and the people that he brought in around him, the likes of Robbie Lane (S&C) who has done a massive amount of work with us, have brought us so far. 'They have brought Galway camogie to elite level. Cathal always demands the best for us. We always get treated exactly the way any county hurling team would, and that's huge.' After two O'Duffy Cups in three years, equaling the county's haul of the previous 86 years, Murray's second chapter was one of renewal and reinvigoration. A period of transition threw in ahead of the 2023 season. From the 2022 campaign where their attempted title defence was comprehensively halted by Kilkenny at the semi-final stage, Heather Cooney, Cormican, and Niamh Kilkenny stepped away, Annmarie Starr was again absent, while goalkeeper Sarah Healy and half-forward Catherine Finnerty had gone travelling. Ciara Hickey was still a minor when a member of Cathal's All-Ireland intermediate winning side in 2022. Hickey was second only to Aoife Donohue on Sunday. Ally Hesnan and Jennifer Hughes were also members of that intermediate side. The pair were rolled off the bench against Cork. Sarah Healy, upon returning home, was enticed back into the set-up last year. Could you put a price on her penalty save from Katrina Mackey? Niamh Kilkenny was similarly enticed back last year after giving birth. Ditto Annmarie Starr. Shauna Healy returned this year after missing 2024 to start a family. He made sure they all returned. Would they have returned for anyone else? The latter Healy and Starr performed superb suffocating jobs on Orlaith Cahalane and Amy O'Connor. Seven of the 2021 All-Ireland winning team were absent on Sunday, including the McGrath sisters Orlaith and Siobhan. An eighth member of the 2021 starting team, Emma Helebert, didn't start. His success in rebuilding Galway and returning them to the summit when not everyone who could have been on board was on board will go down as his greatest achievement. He once again outsmarted Cork. He once again nullified key performers with spot-on match-up calls. Siobhan Gardiner didn't start the semi-final and yet she was entrusted to shadow Cork's semi-final player of the match Saoirse McCarthy. The Ardrahan woman relished the gig. The manager himself grew and learned. Too slow to make changes in last year's final, he did not repeat that mistake on Sunday. 'We were probably guilty ourselves last year of not using our bench enough. I thought the bench made a massive impact today,' he said. Three All-Irelands in seven seasons. Three Leagues in the same period. Six wins out of 11 final appearances. Add in the 2022 intermediate and the inaugural U23 All-Ireland of recent weeks. Murray almost walked 12 months ago. Should he go now, his latest act of service to Galway camogie has further cemented his legacy.
