By Michael McMullan

CONLEITH Gilligan was the last person to step onto the Armagh team bus before it nosed out of Croke Park on Sunday evening.

New to the management team this season, Gilligan paid tribute to those who had walked the hard yards before coming out the other side.

“It was very, very satisfying,” he said of the mood inside the Armagh dressing room behind him.

“As a group, they’ve been about a long time together. There were so many difficult days and days where they were very, very close but ultimately didn’t get over the line.”

After losing two Ulster finals on penalties, Armagh came back this season to win against Roscommon in Croke Park before seeing off Kerry after extra-time. Sunday’s win over Galway was the pinnacle. For Gilligan, the belief Kieran McGeeney instilled into the players was a key factor.

“I suppose all the Kierans (Kieran Donaghy, Ciaran McKeever, Ciaran McKinney) and Julie (Davis) and (Kieran McGeeney’s wife) Maura.

“They’ve been there such a long time and yet they still wanted to come back. To get the win today is just a savage reward for all those people.”

A hallmark of Armagh’s momentum in the latter stages of the championship was their impact off the bench. Stefan Campbell scored 0-5 after three appearances before the final after coming in at half-time.

Seconds after coming on Sunday he made the crucial goal for Aaron McKay. Ross McQuillan, Jarly Óg Burns, Jason Duffy, Aidan Nugent and Oisin O’Neill all nailed vital scores.

It was keeping all 42 players on board that allowed Armagh to create the depth that stood them apart when the tough questions were asked on their way to lifting Sam. Gilligan agrees.

“There’s times where you think that you’ve a big panel and you’ve a pile of players sitting out,” he said, “but then eventually what you have is a pile of injuries.

“Look, from that perspective, the impact of the bench all year has been the difference and you wouldn’t be there without Nugent’s points, Jarly Óg’s points and that’s been magic.

“I think you have to be able to change, you have to be able to adapt. Once you have that, then you’ve all the different moving parts and everybody can do something different and that’s the magic of it.”

Check out out Monday review show as we look back at Sunday’s historic win for Armagh, the key moments and the special atmosphere at the homecoming.