'I'll get fined, don't worry about that' - McGeeney on flag-kicking incident

McGeeney is hoping to land his first Ulster title as Armagh boss after reaching a third successive final

This time, Kieran McGeeney was in better form as he held court with reporters in the bowels of St Tiernach's Park after another emotionally draining couple of hours in the championship cauldron.

Last year, the Armagh boss cut a deeply crestfallen figure as he fielded questions about his side's gut-wrenching Ulster final penalty shootout loss to Donegal in Clones, his voice low, his eyes tinged with sadness.

But on Saturday, McGeeney had reason to be upbeat after Armagh's heart-stopping 0-23 to 0-22 win over Tyrone that nudges the Orchard men into a third successive provincial decider.

And upbeat he was, even after having been at the centre of the game's biggest flashpoint.

In the second half, McGeeney's fury on the sideline led to him booting a flag on to the field. He was yellow carded by referee David Gough, and from the resulting free, Darren McCurry moved the ball out to the two-point range and scored to put Tyrone two points clear.

"I'll get fined for it, don't worry about that, they'll put me on the spot," said McGeeney, whose side will face Donegal or Down in the final.

"But considering, I thought my temper was pretty good on the line."

What was undoubtedly beyond reproach was the All-Ireland champions' response. Trailing by two, they scored the last three points of the game - the last a post-hooter Rory Grugan free - to shatter Tyrone's ambitions and set up another golden opportunity to end their 17-year quest for a 15th Anglo-Celt Cup.

"I thought we played well throughout the game," added McGeeney.

"I thought the boys did well to control the game with some things beyond their control and I thought they reacted really well to it to finish out the game and I can't ask for more than that."

A feature of Armagh's win was Gough's strict appliance of the four-step rule on the back of new guidance published by the GAA which stated there is "evidence" of players overcarrying the ball.

"People like to be in the picture. You just have to roll with those things," observed McGeeney.

When asked is it not better for referees to be penalised such infractions, McGeeney responded: "But referees don't call the rules, let's be honest. Four steps? If we counted out four steps every time, if we counted an open-hand tackle...this is what happens in these exchanges.

"Everybody goes back and says, 'wel,l they were technically right.' Everything is a foul in Gaelic football, everything we do is a foul, so the referees will always be right.

"You just have to take that on the chin, accept it and move on."

Rory Grugan (left) scored the decisive free but was superb throughout Armagh's win

McGeeney, though, is clearly in favour of the hooter that now sounds at the end of each half. His side were in possession for both, and while Ethan Rafferty missed a shot just before half-time, Armagh kept the ball before winning a free - and the game - in the dying seconds.

"The buzzer is a good thing. We've done that three times before. People tend to let other teams have chances and stuff like that so you never know when it's going to be up.

"It's good to have a rule in Gaelic football that's definitive. Whether we like it or not, it is definitive. It is very clear-cut, there is no ambiguity about it.

"I've had these conversations before and people say 'if you look at the time that was stopped and you look at this and look at that'...the referee is right again. I like it because it's one of the few rules we have that's not an opinion, it's a fact."

Another fact is that Armagh have not lost a championship game in normal time since Tyrone beat them in the All-Ireland round-robin stages in 2023.

They have, of course, since suffered agonising penalty shootout defeats in the past two Ulster finals to Derry and Donegal, and to Monaghan in the 2023 All-Ireland quarter-finals.

When asked if the experience of winning last year's All-Ireland title after edging past Galway by a point helped them eke out a win in Saturday's nail-biter against their neighbours, McGeeney said it is "hard to tell".

"I don't think it should have been as tight. You just have to react to whatever punches are thrown.

"I thought the boys did really well under the circumstances. They stayed really calm, I thought we played well and controlled most of the game.

"Tyrone were good too, we put ourselves in a good position with about 20 to go and then there was just the raft of frees but we kept calm near the end and were able to take the shots."