AFTERWARDS, WITH THE world outside going mad and a deep contentment settling into the Derry players gathered around the tunnel gassing to reporters, the conversation with captain Conor Glass turned to Shane McGuigan.
In normal time, he had already held his end up with four points. But as the game pushed into extra-time, he went bananas, bending the game to his will in the manner of Gearoid Hegarty in last year’s All-Ireland hurling final, or a LeBron James in one of his more dominant moods.
“He’s the best forward in the country at the minute,” beamed the captain.
“Between him and (David) Clifford and Con O’Callaghan. They’re just freaks of nature. Shane is just full of confidence. He said at half time, ‘Get the ball to me’, and we did and he came up with the big plays.
“That just shows the mental toughness he has and the resilience he has. And just the leadership to say, ‘I’m going to grab the game by the balls, I’m going to win it for us.’ That’s just Shane. He does that every night.”
Over the top?
Well, leave aside Clifford here for the moment. It’s commonly accepted that the ‘Fossa Freak’ is over and above any other mortal playing the game.
But it cannot be underestimated that Derry lean on McGuigan like Kerry lean on Clifford.
In last year’s championship, he was runner up to Shane Walsh as the top scorer in the All-Ireland. Walsh’s 1-36 was compiled over six matches, while McGuigan scored 2-25 in just four games.
In terms of a scoring average, McGuigan was worth 0-8 on any day. His nearest challenger was Dean Rock with 7.5. After that, it’s Con O’Callaghan with 6.3 points per game. For argument’s sake, Clifford was worth 6 points a game.
Let’s outline what he did in the Ulster final.
After the throw-up, Derry gained possession. They held the ball until 3 minutes 30 seconds during which time Niall Loughlin fisted the ball off Ciaran Mackin when he was hemmed into the sideline to get the award of a sideline kick, and passed the ball 47 times – yes, 47 times – to each other before McGuigan kicked over with his less-favoured right foot.
His next score came just before the half hour, spinning a looping run to connect Conor Glass’ pass inside to Benny Heron and the lay-off before handpassing over the bar.
On 50 minutes, he ran another loop and took possession with Jason Duffy nearby. When he made contact, it initially looked like it was a mis-hit and Armagh fans jeered. But it fell down just the far side of the crossbar with a helping hand from the breeze.
“The way he wrapped his foot around it as he was falling…” cooed co-commentator Enda McGinley on RTÉ duty.
“I kept looking at it wondering why there wasn’t someone tagging him, but he’s just so difficult to tag,” said Paul Flynn later that night on The Sunday Game.
Three minutes later he was in that pocket again, this time firing a pass across to Conor Glass and presenting him with a free shot to hammer over.
On the hour mark, James Morgan fouled Lachlan Murray and while it was on the easier side for a left-footed free-taker, the angle was acute. McGuigan made it.
Onto extra time. James Morgan had been moved onto McGuigan. This was to prove significant.
Morgan is renowned as an experienced man-marker, but he hasn’t been fully fit this year and playing a game that ebbs into extra-time carried a risk of fatigue.
In the past, his tendency to foul has harmed Armagh in the closing stages of games.
Let’s go back to their championship game against Monaghan in Newry, 2021. After building an early lead, Armagh had wiped it out and were leading going down the stretch before Conor McManus decided he was going to do it all by himself.
With six minutes left, Morgan fouled McManus, who dusted himself down and converted it. A minute into injury time and Morgan and Aidan Forker caught McManus in a sandwich. Foul. McManus converted.
With seconds left, McManus was fouled again, this time by Tiernan Kelly. You know the rest.
So when Morgan was moved onto McGuigan, Armagh were in bother.
As the first period was winding down, Morgan fouled McGuigan by tripping him with the hand. No card was produced but McGuigan levelled the game.
Armagh had their noses in front when McGuigan lopped around for another point midway through the second period of extra-time. It was answered by a low-flying rocket from Ethan Rafferty to restore Armagh’s two-point advantage.
A minute later, Morgan fouled McGuigan. Niall Toner stole several yards to narrow the angle of his free and squeezed it over.
From the next kickout from Armagh, Conor Glass caught. He played to McGuigan, again fouled by Morgan. Referee Gough moved the ball forward and McGuigan converted from serious distance.
And onto the next kickout, which McGuigan himself claimed. He was then fouled and from that free, they put together a move that brought a Lachlan Murray point that seemed to win it, before Rian O’Neill’s levelling free.
As a burst of work, it was mind-boggling.
“Shane, to be fair to him, it was total leadership. Demanded the ball, wanted it, put himself about to get it,” said Brendan Rogers afterwards.
“That’s what leaders do, they put themselves in the position to make big plays and so they did. They said they were going to do it, they delivered and that’s what big players do.”
All in, he had 31 possessions, 9 shots and 0-7 on the day.
Was there a bit of cute hoor about him? We can’t let it go unmentioned that at the start of the first period of extra-time, he was lying prone on the pitch with a number of medics around him. Coincidentally of course, Derry were down to 14 men at this point due to Brendan Rogers’ black card. Linesman Sean Hurson told referee David Gough that it was a bluff job.
Gough signalled to Odhran Lynch that it was time to kick the ball out, and McGuigan could lie there if he so desired. Instead, he just got straight up and – the neck on him – took the short kickout from Lynch!
What else could the crowd do, only laugh — until the Armagh support had a couple of seconds to process it and then gave him a good few boos.
The Ulster final produced 0-7 and Man of the Match. The semi-final victory over Monaghan brought 0-9 and Man of the Match. The quarter-final against Fermanagh yielded 2-5 and Man of the Match.
He keeps getting better, and this was, according to Lee Keegan, “one of the great all-time Ulster final performances”.
A high barometer indeed, when you consider Frank McGuigan’s 11 points from play in 1984, Oisin McConville’s 2-7 in 1999, and several deciders adorned with Peter Canavan.
