McConville rues first-half goals

The Dublin side netted twice in the opening 14 minutes on their way to a 2-9 to 0-11 victory.

"Giving away the goals was the key - it was 14 points to four at half-time and the goals really killed us," he said.

"For us to come back we needed a goal early in the second half but the harm was already done."

The county forward was disappointed to miss out on a place in the decider but he took positives from the performance.

He added: "We expected to be playing on St Patrick's Day at Croke Park and it's not going to be the case.

"For all the good things we've done that's the second semi-final we've lost and that's disappointing for us.

"It's hard to accept defeat but I was proud of the boys and we kept going to the final whistle and the discipline was good - we came out of this game, in terms of the second-half, with a lot of credit.

"We got a few positives out of it. A few young lads have sampled championship football and it augurs well for the future.

"The key is to keep things going and win another Armagh championship."

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