By Shaun Casey

WELCOMING back five All-Ireland winners to the dressing room has been a major boost for Clann Éireann in their pursuit of a first Senior Championship final appearance since winning the competition in 2021, says goalkeeper Eoghan Mulholland.

Conor Turbitt (1-4) and Barry McCambridge (0-2) scored exactly half of Clann Éireann’s tally as they beat Armagh Harps 2-12 to 1-12 last Saturday evening to reach the last four of the championship.

They will now face Crossmaglen in a repeat of that 2021 championship decider and the back-to-back league champions will be hoping for a repeat result. “

The run those boys went on and the lift they gave to the county was unbelievable,” Mulholland said of the county boys.

“Getting them back in, I know ‘Turbo’ (Turbitt) had a few injuries and the red card too (against Maghery), so I think he was dying to get back out there.

“He showed his worth again and Barry, he’s up for Footballer of the Year and he’d definitely have my vote, but we’re a bit biased. They are serious, serious operators and you can only tip their hat to them.”

Tiernan Kelly was also central to Armagh’s All-Ireland winning run while Sean McCarthy and Daniel Magee were members of Kieran McGeeney’s wider Orchard panel.

Clann Éireann also welcomed their 2021 championship winner captain Shea Heffron back to the fold after he had missed a large portion of their campaign through injury.

“Shea is unbelievable, he follows everything to the letter of the law,” added Mulholland. “He’s such an athlete and with all the work that he does, it’s some lift for us to get back in as he was from Australia last year.

“Similar to ‘Turbo’, he was just dying to get back out on the pitch. He wasn’t ready for the Madden or the Ballymacnab games, but he was dying to get back out onto the pitch and again he showed his worth with that big catch at the end, so I think he’ll enjoy that one.”

Ruairi Lavery’s side have had to take the scenic route to reach the final four as they failed to top the group, sending them through to the playoffs. There, they proved too strong for Ballymacnab and last week’s win over the Harps is their fourth of the campaign.

“We knew out in Maghery, there was going to be no inches given and the same with Madden and even St. Peter’s with that local derby feeling of it. Then again, playing Ballymacnab in the playoffs, we had to take the scenic route.

“But we got through it and maybe it’ll stand to us. It was tough after that Maghery game, having to regroup and go again because you had Madden coming down the next week. There were tough, tough battles, but it was good to come through them.”