Armagh 3-33 Down 0-14: Kieran McGeeney ‘won’t read much’ into dominant semi-final win

Armagh manager Kieran McGeeney insisted he would not read too much into his side’s emphatic Ulster semi-final win over Down, despite a dominant performance in Clones.

The Orchard County powered to a 3-33 to 0-14 victory, keeping Down to just seven scores in each half, to book their place in the Ulster final against Monaghan on Sunday, 17 May.

“It’s great to get into an Ulster final again,” McGeeney told BBC Sport NI.

“But in terms of the scoreline, I wouldn’t read that much into it. We knew it was going to go one way or the other with Down [after the Donegal game] last week, either it was going to give them a bit of energy or sap them and their performance last week probably paid its toll.”

Armagh built on their high-scoring quarter-final win over Fermanagh, but McGeeney was quick to stress how quickly momentum can shift.

“The score was good today, but so was Down’s last week; these things can come and go.

“Some days, things can run for you. Down was 5-2 up when Greg McCabe had a chance to score, and if that went in, the game could have taken a different trajectory altogether.”

He also pointed to the evolving nature of the modern game.

“You’ve seen for the last 10 days that 12 or 14 point leads aren’t what they were before.

“Teams can hit two-pointers now and turn things around very quickly, so you always have to stay switched on.”

The second half provided an opportunity to introduce fresh faces, with Aaron O’Neill and Tomas Galvin making their championship debuts.

“It was good to see lads like Aaron and Tomas on, I told [Aaron] when he came on to pull the trigger, and he did and got a two-pointer.”