'Not one for the purists' - Kieran McGeeney lauds Armagh players after comeback victory

Kieran McGeeney was delighted to see his team "win ugly" as they came out on the right side of a tactical battle with Down in the Ulster championship semi-final.

The Orchard County found themselves trailing in the closing stages of the game having conceded two goals to a well-organised Down outfit.

Armagh restored parity as the clock moved into injury time and they won it with the next point as Jason Duffy kept his composure to knock over a fine score as they beat Down 0-13 to 2-06.

The Armagh manager admitted that the game was lacking in quality and felt that it was a hard watch, even for those watching on from the sidelines.

However, he felt that it was a game that his side may have lost in the past, which made the result even more pleasing.

"Our boys were superb," said McGeeney, speaking to RTE Sport after the game.

"I thought they were under a lot of pressure, and in the past, when things aren't running freely for us, we haven’t been able to win ugly, and considering a lot of stuff was going against them, I thought they did excellent, and I was really happy with them."

Armagh were considered strong favourites going into the game against the team that topped the Division 3 table in the recent league campaign, however, McGeeney said that he got the game that he expected knowing that the Ulster championship will always provide competitive encounters.

"No, I wasn’t," said McGeeney, when asked was he surprised with the challenge that Down presented.

"Down-Armagh games, you’re always going to get that sort of stuff. In the Ulster championship anybody can beat you on any given day.

"It’s not one for the purists, not even for ones on the sidelines…but it turned into a very tactical game, a lot of things went wrong for them (his