Mulroy: “To play the way we do for the people of Louth is special”
Skipper Sam Mulroy praised his teammates for their gallant effort in win over Armagh
Louth GAA captain Sam Mulroy hailed his side's attitude after the Wee County secured a dramatic one-point victory over Armagh in the All-Ireland series clash at Inniskeen.
A last-gasp effort from distance by Mulroy found its way past goalkeeper Ethan Rafferty and into the net to seal a memorable win for Gavin Devlin's side.
Reflecting on the result, Mulroy admitted the scenes after the final whistle would live long in the memory.
He said: “Unbelievable, just the scenes at the end there is pretty special. Obviously, you're taking one of the recent All-Ireland winners.
“A team we have a lot of respect for, and beating them in Inniskeen is massive for this group's development.
“I suppose trying to progress where we're at. As we spoke about after last year, it was important that we got some big wins this year in the All-Ireland Series.
“Although today is special from the crowd are here, and everything's great once you win, but I thought our performance levels, to never shy away from it, is what I'm super proud of.”
Mulroy pointed to the resilience within the squad as the key factor behind another dramatic finish.
“When we had that chance, and then if you watch that back, as Armagh break up the pitch, you'll see our boys scramble after that ball, and that's what this team is built on.
“That honest work rate and a never-say-die attitude. We'll keep playing until we're done.
“Bar a few weeks ago when we probably gave up a little bit against Dublin and Portlaoise and it's something we addressed that we never wanted to be like that again.
“I suppose today was a testament to that. When people think we're dead and buried, there's always a chance.
“We scrambled, we turned up all over again, and we worked the shot, and that's what it was all about.
“Give ourselves a chance and, look, it's fortunate that it goes in like that. As I said, I didn't connect with it overly well, but you take your luck sometimes.”
Leinster lesson
The victory continued an impressive response to the disappointing Leinster semi-final defeat to Dublin earlier in the season.
Mulroy believes that the setback forced the group to reassess and refocus ahead of the All-Ireland campaign.
“Yeah, big time. As I said, we were seriously disappointed after that. We knew we were way, way better than what we showed that day.
“Maybe it was what we needed in a way to get back to the grind and really take stock of where we were at. We knew that we had a massive campaign ahead of us in the All-Ireland.
“That's what it was about, and we knuckled down and put two good performances back-to-back there.”
Going the distance
Despite Armagh arriving in excellent form, Louth never looked overawed by the challenge and matched Kieran McGeeney's side throughout.
“As I said, we have an awful lot of respect for Armagh, and we were super diligent in our work in the lead-up to this game.
“We know the threats they carry, the tactical awareness they have. They're really good at whatever keeper plays.
“They're good off their kick-out. They're a well-drilled team, and they're on the road a long time.
“When you're a team coming up like that, you have to put that fear to one side and put their reputation to one side and just try to go toe-to-toe for as long as you can and get it down to the home straight.
“That's what we've done, I thought, and again, it's just the lads and that never-say-die attitude.
“It's hard to get, but when you have it, then you just hold on to it for as long as you can.
“We know, we've spoken about the game ebbs and flows, and you've got to take the bad and just turn it into the positive straight away and get back on the horse and while we conceded that bad goal because we started the second half really well.
“Craig (Lennon) got a point to put us three up, and then you're in the ascendancy again, and it's just about controlling the game, then a bad mistake off our kick-out.
“It just hands the momentum back to them, but as we spoke about the game, it's going to come and go, it's going to ebb and flow that momentum and when it comes.
“If you can take a chance and stay in the game, some of the scores that the boys popped over there in the second half was just exceptional to keep us within touching distance at all times.
“So yeah, I think that's probably something we've spoken about and tried to work hard on is just staying in that game no matter where the momentum's at.”
Supporters
The final whistle sparked a pitch invasion as Louth supporters celebrated another famous result.
“Yeah, it's magic, like, and I suppose that's why it's just unreal to play and to play the way we do for the people of Louth is special.
“They back us to the hilt, we're always very disappointed when we don't perform for them, and we love it when we do perform for them because we know how much they enjoy that.
“It was special, and hopefully there's a few more days like it this year. The guys here (Inniskeen) are very, very good to us, and it's a lovely pitch to play on.
“It's our home until we get that stadium built in Dundalk, so we're happy about that.”
Quarter-final focus
Attention now turns to an All-Ireland quarter-final, with Louth just one step away from another major milestone.
“They're all going to be big ones now, so yeah, looking forward to it, get the bodies right and get the heads right and focus and prepare for it, whoever that is.”