'I'm immensely proud' says Armagh Minor manager Aidan O'Rourke after All-Ireland final defeat

Although Armagh Minors didn’t get the result they wanted at Healy Park this afternoon – losing the All-Ireland final by three points against Derry – manager Aidan O’Rourke praised his team and spoke of his ‘immense pride’ in the journey they went to reach the decider this year.

“As I said to the lads, the overwhelming emotion from all of the backroom team is pride,” he said.

“There is no doubt that they are phenomenal footballers, but their ability to stick in there when things aren't going their way, to keep battling, those qualities are hard to find in teams.

“I'm immensely proud, it was a thoroughly enjoyable journey with the boys all year. They took us on a rollercoaster and I would be happy to stack them up against any team I have coached, in terms of being stand-up lads.

“They do things the right way, and I am confident that they will push on.”

O’Rourke conceded that the mood in the dressing room was low post-match, but he was gracious in defeat, hailing the Oak Leaf County as ‘the best team in the country’ s they won their second straight All-Ireland Minor title and third in the space of five years.

“They are devastated. There were small margins in the game.

“Derry are a superb football team - they are the best team in the country. That’s been demonstrated, not just today, but over the course of the season. They’ve been unbeaten so it was a big task to come here and win the game.

“We gave ourselves a great chance - with 10 minutes gone in the second half, but it came down to small things, we had turnovers and unforced errors. Tiny things.

“The effort of the boys and the character of the boys - they’ve been knocked down so many times, I don’t know where they get the resilience from. They’ve been phenomenal all year and, particularly today.

“You have to take your hat off to the opposition too, they were a very good minor team - as good a minor team as I’ve seen.”