Gráinne McElwain: Armagh rue bad luck but bad decision cost them more

Sport, like life at times, can be very cruel and Armagh, like Mayo before them, are finding out how cruel it can be.

My father texted me after the Ulster final suggesting that Kieran McGeeney must have run over a number of black cats in his younger days. It’s like the curse for Mayo.

No right-minded person believes it but you do question it. Luck has certainly not run with them when it was needed the most.

To be successful, we do need a bit of luck but if we reframe what luck is, it is seeing opportunities when they present themselves and making the best of situations when they arise.

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I am a strong believer in making your own luck, recognising the opportunities and seizing them.

Success rests on fine margins. A decision here or there changes your fortunes. Most successful people in life roll with whatever the dice throws and create the best situations out of this.

Both Donegal and Armagh desperately wanted to win the Anglo Celt. It looked set up for Armagh, with the 1999 Armagh Ulster-winning team presented to the crowd as the Jubilee team at half time. Jarlath Burns President of the GAA was the captain that day, his son Jarly Óg was now playing with the Orchard men.

Armagh lost last year but the narrative now was that they were back, more experienced and hardened. There was a feeling of hope, romance and symmetry to the occasion, but as Jim McGuinness correctly said to the BBC after the game: “There is no sentiment in sport”.

Penalty shoot-outs are going to be decided by an error or a save. That is what happened but Armagh should not have allowed it to get to that point.

The opportunity to win this game appeared for them in the last quarter of normal time and for me, that is where they lost this game.

The third quarter is deemed ‘the Championship quarter’ and it was here where Armagh thrived and were 0-15 to 0-11 ahead in the 53rd minute.

They did not score for the remainder of normal time. Why? Credit of course must be given to Donegal but what got them into this winning position suddenly deserted Armagh - going at Donegal and attacking them.

Instead, they retreated, became passive and allowed Donegal to come onto them.

The late great Dermot Earley said after Roscommon’s 1-9 to 1-6 loss to Kerry in the 1980 All-Ireland football final: “The fear of losing overcame the desire to win”.

None of us are sure if this was what was going through the Armagh players but they would not be human if the ghosts of last year and other penalty shoot outs did not enter their minds.

Armagh were superb when they drove at the Donegal defence with Stefan Campbell and Oísín Conaty’s runs in particular causing the Tír Chonaill men problems.

Decision-making is always cited when things don’t work out and Conor Turbitt’s point in the opening minutes of the second half, in hindsight, probably should have been a goal with both Jarly Óg and Stefan Campbell’s decision not to try for a score from the mark in the closing minutes of the second half representing other missed opportunities.

Tiernan Kelly, only on the field of play, took the mark but perhaps his decision to shoot instead of recycling the ball could have been different.

It is easy to pinpoint these decisions when looking back. We all make decisions in the moment and it is only afterwards, we realise if they were good or not.

It’s hard not to compare this decision-making of Armagh to what we saw between Cork and Limerick in round three of the Munster Senior Hurling Championship in Supervalu Páirc Uí Chaoimh last Saturday.

For those who have not been to this magnificent stadium, it feels like a Roman Colosseum. The atmosphere was incredible with over 41,000 people in attendance. The Rebel fans are passionate and you could feel the stadium metaphorically shake as the team made their way out onto the pitch.

Cork got off to a great start and were flying, attacking the Limerick defence from all angles and creating space and overloads that saw Cork’s excellent scoring efficiency paying dividends.

They were eight points up at half-time but slowly the All-Ireland champions came back into it and when Séamus Flanagan got his third goal going into the fourth quarter, all of us felt that this was it - Limerick are going to win and Cork are gone from this year’s All-Ireland series.

The Rebels needed to win, there were no second chances but what they did was what Armagh didn’t do.

They did not take a step back or retreat, they went for it. Shane Kingston came on as a sub and ran at the Limerick defence. His speed caused Kyle Hayes to pull him down earning Hayes a black card and a penalty for Cork.

Patrick Horgan buried the resulting shot and Cork won by two points 3-28 to 3-26. It was a game for the ages but when questions were asked about Cork and their desire and hurt and want to win, they answered them.

They didn’t doubt themselves and they lived up to what their jersey and name represents. They are the Rebels.

In the film series of Lord of the Rings, Gandalf the Wizard states “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”

This time is only split second decisions but it matters. Cork made the right decisions, unfortunately for Armagh, they did not.

The challenge now for the players is to try and get themselves re-energised and lift themselves up for a tough All-Ireland group campaign. It remains to be seen if they can do that in the time that is given to them.