Armagh may have lost their 100 per cent record in Division One, but they showed great resilience to ensure they remained unbeaten against Monaghan at the Athletic Grounds on Saturday night.
Tiernan Kelly may have had the number 12 jersey on his back and kicked a wonderful point to move his side a point ahead, yet it took every Armagh player to withstand a Farney siege at the end of the game.
Seamus McEnaney’s men owned possession during the closing stages and into the four minutes of injury-time.
However, despite getting their ‘shooters’ into position on more than one occasion, a swarm of orange shirts forced them to turn back and recycle possession before Barry Cassidy called a halt to proceedings with the sides level at 1-7 to 0-10.
Kelly said Kieran McGeeney’s men learned the lessons from their narrow Championship defeat to Monaghan last summer and were more disciplined in the final stages of Saturday’s entertaining draw.
“We learned from the Championship last year when they (Monaghan) did the exact same thing,” said Kelly.
“The game was level and they were trying to buy a free-kick in a scoring area or trying to get their scorers on the ball.
“Credit to the boys, we stayed disciplined, stood up and didn’t commit any fouls. If they were going to score, they were going to have to score from play.”
Last weekend’s game was more of a slog than Armagh’s opening two games when they shocked Dublin in Croke Park before following it up with a six-point win over All-Ireland champions Tyrone.
Monaghan looked poised to clinch their first win of their Division One campaign when they led 0-8 to 0-4 at the break, but the visitors kicked 10 wides in a wasteful opening half.
They then lost Conor McManus to a straight red card before centre-back Dessie Ward picked up a black card for hauling down Rory Grugan for a second half penalty.
Rian O’Neill’s subsequent effort was deemed not to have crossed the goal-line despite replay showing a goal should have been awarded.
Conor Turbitt managed to find the net moments later and Kelly’s point moved Armagh into a one-point lead eight minutes from time before Jack McCarron levelled the game with a late free
At half-time, Armagh fans might have gladly taken a share of the spoils, but it is perhaps a sign of the ambition of this team that Kelly bemoaned their failure to close the game out when they took the lead.
“We were in a good spot there, we were one-point up and they’d two men off,” reflected Kelly.
“You’d have liked to have kicked on, but a few decisions went against us and they got a bit of momentum back.
“You could see at the end, they were holding the ball and they were playing for a draw or trying to get the score for the win.
“A few silly mistakes on our behalf, fouling them when we didn’t need to be fouling them and giving the ball away cost us.”
The games don’t get any easier for the Orchard County this weekend as they travel to Dr Hyde Park to take on Mayo.
Having made his debut for Armagh last season, Kelly has only ever featured in Division One games and looks assured in the half-forward line.
His Clann Eireann colleague Turbitt plundered the game’s only goal off the bench while fellow substitutes Stefan Campbell and Oisin O’Neill also landed second half points and Kelly feels the competition for places is keeping everyone on their toes.
“It is high intensity stuff, there’s very little margin for error,” said Kelly.
“Every week you go out you’re playing against a top quality team and top quality players so you have to bring your best performance every single week or else you’ll get punished.
“I was lucky enough that my first year was in Division One, but I know the boys have been on a long journey, from Division Three a couple of years ago and that’s all down to the hard work the boys are putting in.
“You have to play at this level week in, week out if you want to do anything.
“At least you know you’ve to go out there and empty the tank because you could get called off after 20 minutes.
“You can’t insult the boys on the bench. They’re trying to get on and you’re trying to hold your place. It’s a great problem to have.”
