Latest news with #AaronMcKay
RTÉ News
08-05-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Aaron McKay frustration grows as Armagh aim to end long wait
It's now 285 days since Aaron McKay has played a minute of football for Armagh and his frustration is ever growing. 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 — 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.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Armagh's McKay hoping it's third time lucky in Ulster
All-Ireland winning defender Aaron McKay believes it'll be "third time lucky" for Armagh when they face Donegal in Saturday's Ulster final. Despite winning their second All-Ireland title last year, the Orchard County have not lifted the Anglo Celt Cup since 2008, losing the 2023 final to Derry and last year's decider to Donegal in a penalty shootout. But McKay is hopeful that Armagh can turn the tide this year and finally get over the line. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "It's definitely been too long for us. I suppose growing up and as child I remember going to Clones nearly every year and watching us win it, even a couple of times in Croker," McKay told BBC Sport NI. "Even in those days throughout the mid 2000s we had great rivalries with Donegal, and you never thought at the time that it would end. It's unfortunate that they did and it's definitely went on for too long. "Getting to one final and not getting over the line is one thing, people might say 'well we'll be back next year and finally get over the hill' and we didn't, but hopefully it'll be third time lucky on Sunday, and we'll bring it back." The 29-year-old has not played since last year's All-Ireland final win over Galway at Croke Park - where he scored his county's only goal - because of an injury that required surgery. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement But the Dromintee man does feel that he is nearing a return with the All-Ireland SFC round-robin series games his target. "The plan was to be back for a championship because I knew I wasn't going to be back for the league even way back in say October, November time," he added. "I knew that because I couldn't even get playing for the club in August and then I kind of just came to the conclusion that steroids and stuff weren't working anymore and that I had to get the operation. "To be ready for the first group game in the All-Ireland series, anything earlier than that's a bonus, it's kind of where I'm still at. ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement "At the same time, one part of you is telling yourself that you are ready, but the head can sometimes be ignorant and stubborn enough and you want to plough ahead. If Geezer (Kieran McGeeney) would put the faith in me, I'd definitely throw myself in."
BBC News
08-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Ulster SFC: Armagh's Aaron McKay hoping to beat Donegal win the Ulster SFC
All-Ireland winning defender Aaron McKay believes it'll be "third time lucky" for Armagh when they face Donegal in Saturday's Ulster final. Despite winning their second All-Ireland title last year, the Orchard County have not lifted the Anglo Celt Cup since 2008, losing the 2023 final to Derry and last year's decider to Donegal in a penalty shootout. But McKay is hopeful that Armagh can turn the tide this year and finally get over the line. "It's definitely been too long for us. I suppose growing up and as child I remember going to Clones nearly every year and watching us win it, even a couple of times in Croker," McKay told BBC Sport NI. "Even in those days throughout the mid 2000s we had great rivalries with Donegal, and you never thought at the time that it would end. It's unfortunate that they did and it's definitely went on for too long. "Getting to one final and not getting over the line is one thing, people might say 'well we'll be back next year and finally get over the hill' and we didn't, but hopefully it'll be third time lucky on Sunday, and we'll bring it back." The 29-year-old has not played since last year's All-Ireland final win over Galway at Croke Park - where he scored his county's only goal - because of an injury that required surgery. But the Dromintee man does feel that he is nearing a return with the All-Ireland SFC round-robin series games his target. "The plan was to be back for a championship because I knew I wasn't going to be back for the league even way back in say October, November time," he added. "I knew that because I couldn't even get playing for the club in August and then I kind of just came to the conclusion that steroids and stuff weren't working anymore and that I had to get the operation. "To be ready for the first group game in the All-Ireland series, anything earlier than that's a bonus, it's kind of where I'm still at. "At the same time, one part of you is telling yourself that you are ready, but the head can sometimes be ignorant and stubborn enough and you want to plough ahead. If Geezer (Kieran McGeeney) would put the faith in me, I'd definitely throw myself in."
Belfast Telegraph
08-05-2025
- Sport
- Belfast Telegraph
Armagh wouldn't have won All-Ireland without the pain of Ulster Final agony, insists Aaron McKay
Armagh full-back Aaron McKay believes that his team would not have won the All-Ireland last year if they had lifted the Ulster Championship. The Orchard County lost last season's Ulster Final against Donegal on penalties but instead of breaking their spirits, it buoyed them and their dynamic defender is convinced that hurt was necessary to fuel their Sam Maguire triumph.
