Armagh star Rian O’Neill says while the Orchard men have regrets about how this past season ended for them he still feels they’ve progressed overall.

Kieran McGeeney’s side reached the All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals in late June when Cillian McDaid’s point in extra time denied them a place against Derry in the last four, as Galway advanced in a penalty shootout instead.

Speaking on BBC Sport NI’s ‘The GAA Social’, O’Neill said it was “a bitter pill to swallow” especially after seeing how close the Tribesmen ran Kerry in the final.

"You look back at Galway with regrets coming from that game, the way we lost the penalty shootout," said the Crossmaglen sharpshooter.

"We didn't really perform in the second half. We had it won in extra-time, lost it again, got back into it.

"There are regrets but we feel we've progressed through the year. We let ourselves down in the first game against Donegal but we came back against Tyrone and Donegal (in the qualifiers) and made a bit of a statement.

"We were hoping to push on against Galway and get to that semi-final where we felt we'd have a chance coming up against Derry or Clare, it turned out to be Derry.

"Then you see how close Galway ran Kerry in the final and it just enters your head 'what if' we did get over the Galway game and the circumstances we did lose, it's a bitter pill to swallow but we've got to put that to the back of the head and go again next year."

Tweet

Most Read Stories