Key players close to return for Armagh who hope to keep their winning record intact

Armagh will be hoping to keep their perfect winning start to the league intact when they travel to Carlow to take on Kildare this Sunday.

In Round 1, Armagh were heavily favoured against Louth, and whilst they got the job done, it was a bit close of comfort at 0-12 to 0-11.

Last time out, the win was more straightforward, as goals either side of half-time helped them on their way to a resounding 2-16 to 0-10 win over Meath.

Sunday’s opponents Kildare have had a completely different start to their league campaign, as they suffered defeats against the two teams who came up from Division 3 last year: Cavan and Fermanagh.

With development work ongoing on their usual home stadium St Conleth’s Park, Kildare will play all four of their ‘home’ league games at Netwatch Dr Cullen Park.

Speaking after Armagh’s win over Meath, manager Kieran McGeeney reminded that whilst things have been going well for his side and not so great for the county he used to manage, it’s early days yet and things can change quickly in the league.

“I was just reminding the players in there, one time Kildare went up to Division 1, I was with them, we lost our first two league games, then won the next five, won Division 2 and went up.

“You have these two games and that’s all you have. We’re delighted to have them but it would be very early in the year to be thinking anything other than its four points.”

Players close to return

The Orchard County had last weekend off to recuperate and get the bodies right for three games in as many weeks.

The break would have been a welcome one for McGeeney, especially with so many important players rehabbing from injury, and the Armagh boss gave a status update on several of those players.

“Andrew [Murnin] and Rian [O’Neill] are back training, back playing football, so it’s just a matter of getting them up to speed,” he said.

“[Aidan] Nugent’s back in, he had a good week this week, Jason [Duffy] and Ross [McQuillan] are back in as well. It is a different level from club up to county so it’s just getting them back up. But they’re all pushing very hard and itching. That’s what you want.

“Ethan [Rafferty] would be a week or two behind the others but he’s back running so hopefully we’ll see him soon too.”

NOTE: Since the article originally appeared in Wednesday’s Newry Reporter, Andrew Murnin, Jason Duffy and Ross McQuillan have been confirmed as part of Armagh’s 26-man panel for Sunday’s game. All three are listed on the substitutes bench.

Armagh have done well without those players, but with their return will come extra competition for places, which leads their current top scorer Conor Turbitt to believe that the team will only get stronger.

“The quality we have at training is excellent,” he said.

“We are only going to get stronger. We are seeing the Cullyhanna boys coming back and a few boys coming back from injury.

“We had a good pre-season and, closer to game-time, we picked up a few niggles. They’ll come back, so it is only going to get tougher and tougher (to keep your place in the team).”