KILLEAVY’S championship season threatened to crash and burn before it got up and running. They suffered a 14-point hammering at the hands of St Patrick’s Cullyhanna in their group opener.
Manager Niall McAleenan exited after the defeat, and it looked as though Killeavy would be a mere footnote in the Armagh SF Championship in 2024.
Stevie McDonnell took over, assembled a backroom team, featuring ex-Down ace Marty Clarke, and had a clear-the-air meeting with the players.
From that night around three weeks ago, Killeavy haven’t looked back.
They eased to a nine-point win over Culloville and beat Silverbridge by four points to finish second in their group behind Cullyhanna and qualify for the preliminary quarter-final stages where they face Stevie Cusack’s battle-hardened Granemore on Sunday (Silverbridge 5pm).
It’s not the circumstances the 2002 All-Ireland winning forward expected in resuming his coaching career – but patrolling the sideline for his own club was a straightforward decision.
“You’re not long getting back into it once you walk into a dressing room and you get that smell,” McDonnell said.
“It’s good. It’s the fact that it’s my own club I’m putting my heart and soul into it. That’s the honest truth of it.
“And the response we’ve got from the players has been excellent. They’re doing all that’s been asked of them – they’re doing everything to a high standard and are putting in maximum effort. We can’t fault them. We’re hitting 38 players at each training session.”
Alongside Paul McArdle, Chris Hickey, Barry Trainer and Kilcoo’s Stevie Kane, McDonnell managed to persuade Clarke to come in and lend a hand on the training field.
“Marty has been brilliant. He’s a top-class coach. I just rang him up and asked him would he help. I would have known Marty through International Rules trips, and I knew he’d be on the same wavelength as me in how the game is played.”
The vast majority of the Killeavy side would have played at some level for Armagh while McDonnell says the club are reaping the benefits of Ciaron O’Hanlon and Shea Magill being with the county panel all season.
O’Hanlon has been exceptional at centre-forward for his club while netminder Magill had an awesome game against Silverbridge.
“Shea scored two ‘45s, saved a penalty, saved a couple of one-on-ones, dealt with high balls coming into the square, his kick-outs outstanding,” McDonnell said.
“Shea is another player who we’ve benefited from this year for being with the county. It’s without doubt Shea’s best year at senior level.”
O’Hanlon, who recently married, was also part of Kieran McGeeney’s squad this year that claimed the Sam Maguire.
“Ciaron is going brilliant, he’s been exceptionally good all year. He’s just a fantastic athlete and footballer. He’s a big influence on all the younger players as we’ve a young enough side and he’s a great person for them to learn from.
“You can play Ciaron at full-forward, centre-forward or midfield – he’s that versatile. Maybe that has held him back because he can play multiple positions, but he’s been playing very well at 11 all season for us and I don’t see any reason to move him from there.”
Granemore beat Killeavy in a county semi-final two years ago, while the sides have one win each from their league meetings this year.
Ryan Rafferty, Brendan Boylan and Jason O’Neill are all key players for Granemore.
“Granemore are a big, physical team with a bit of flair about them up front,” McDonnell noted. “They’re a seasoned championship team and we know that they will bring their A game to this match on Sunday evening. They’re tough competitors.”