‘The lads really stepped up’ says Armagh U20 manager Barry O’Hagan after comeback win

Having been heavily beaten by Derry in Round 1, before narrowly losing away to Cavan in Round 2, it was 'do-or-die' for Armagh, and they looked to be heading out of the Ulster Championship at the break. But they battled back to book their spot in the knock-out stages of the competition.

“We were disappointed in the first half to be honest. We were trying to build on how we went in Cavan last week,” O'Hagan reflected post-match.

“Look, it's been a tough two weeks for the lads. They've put in serious effort the last four or five months, and we were going really well in friendlies. I know we can't really count friendlies, but we were playing all the top teams around the country and were moving really well.

“And probably a wee bit of flatness and a bit of fatigue set in a couple of weeks before the Derry game from our last friendly. And we eased off the lads a wee bit, but we were very, very disappointed against Derry. Now, Derry are a top class outfit, but we were very flat that night, and they gave us a good beating and it was hard to get the lads lifted.

“But to be fair to them, they came out in Breffni Park last week and started really well. We were 10-8 up at half-time and really should have been about nine or ten points up and gave three bad goals away. So, the lads were very disappointed in that, but, they responded well back at training at the weekend. And we felt we were in a good enough place.

“We knew what we had to do to get a win at home. We started well in the first five or six minutes, but the middle period of the half and we were very, very flat and with no real bite at the back. Monaghan were just getting through us far too easily.

“Monaghan probably left a couple of chances behind him. Shea Murphy, our goalkeeper, made a couple of great saves and we took a few silly shots up top. We were lucky enough, probably, in the last four or five minutes, we pulled a few scores back. I think we came in at half-time four down.

Armagh were a completely different team after half-time, and O'Hagan singled out particular players who helped them turn the game on it's head.

“In the second half, the lads came out. We had to make a few changes after we lost a couple of lads,” he said.

“Ryan Nugent came off early with a hamstring issue and Michael McSorley at half-time. So we got Aaron O'Neill in there and Aaron Haughey.

“Aaron Haughey was absolutely superb the second half, along with a number of other lads. But he made a big difference when he came at centre-half back.”

“Ryan Duffy really stepped up in the second half in the middle of the field. I think Conall McGeough had two great halves. He had a few poor shots in the first half, but he was all over the field. He was really, really direct.

“Those lads really stepped up. And I think the rest of the defenders, to be fair to them, tightened up a good bit at the back, Eugene McEntee and Shea McCann in particular, in the second half, compared to the first-half performance.

“So we tightened it up a bit. We just felt we had to make changes at half-time. We had already made a substitution from injury in the first half, and we made three more changes at half-time. We just felt we had to get a bit of energy into the team and a bit of legs into the team. And it worked.

“I think, to be fair, we left a lot of chances behind us in the second half too. I don't think a 10 or 12-point victory would have flattered us there at the end.”

Armagh will meet fierce rivals Tyrone in the quarter-finals.