ETHAN Rafferty hopes to be back between the sticks for Armagh before the end of the National League.
The versatile Grange clubman broke his ankle while playing outfield for his club in July. Relegation was already certain by then but Grange were playing for pride and they were a couple of points down when Rafferty split the opposition defence. A goal chance opened up and then…
“A fella came across and he cleaned me, to be honest,” says Rafferty.
“I went down on my ankle and his weight came down on top of me and it popped the whole thing out. It was a rare oul sight when I looked at it. I haven’t heard from the fella since, I don’t think he meant to do what he did but he didn’t really put the near hand in.”
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Since the injury Rafferty has worked hard in the gym, rowing, cycling to maintain his strength and fitness and that he was able to go for an exploratory jog recently was another step in the right direction.
He was wearing the number 11 jersey at the recent McKenna Cup launch in the Armagh City Hote and says that, despite the injury, he has no intention of concentrating on being a goalkeeper from now on.
“I might wear this (number 11) for the rest of the year,” he says (half-joking?)
“No, I’ll be playing outfield for the Grange, I’ll see out my days playing there. All being well I have another two-three months to go with rehab and that’ll be me.
“It’s one of those injuries where you can sort of test the water and, if that goes well, then that’s great, you keep going. I’m hopeful I can try and get in for a League game or a few games and hopefully my performances in training will get me in there. Hopefully I can get a few games in before the Championship starts – that’s the goal. I’m hoping to be back to the second half of the League.”
By that stage he’ll hope Armagh are top of the table and looking good for promotion. Coming out on the wrong side of some close encounters meant the Orchardmen were relegated in the final round of fixtures last season and they aim to bounce straight back.
“We want to get back up,” says Rafferty.
“We fought so hard to get there and we had a good yar when we got there so it was disappointing to go down again. We’ll push to get back up again.”
As for the Championship. Armagh have come agonisingly close to a major breakthrough but deserves has got nothing to do with it in sport and they’ll start the 2024 season with a clean slate like every other county.
“You can come close but you still have to get over the line,” says Rafferty.
“We really want to get there – we were blessed as young lads watching Armagh get to Ulster finals and winning them and we have to get the county back to that and inspire the children now to feel like we felt back then.
“That’s the goal for us as a group of players and hopefully we get there.”
A quiz question some time in the future could be: Who was the losing goalkeeper in the first three Championship penalty shootouts? Ethan Rafferty is the answer and he says he “wouldn’t necessarily” wish for a fourth.
“It’s pot luck,” he says.
“You have one or two designated penalty-takers for games all season and then you go into a shootout and you’re asking five boys to take them at the end of a game. With the tight calendar now I suppose you have to finish games on the day – if the calendar wasn’t as tight we could have had a replay and it would have made for another great spectacle and another big gate for the GAA.
“I wouldn’t be a big fan of penalties but there’s not a whole pile of pressure on goalkeepers – you just have to try and guess right and do your best. It’s different for the boys who have to take them.”