Mark Harte pays tribute to Madden’s resilience after “dark days” and hails rising Armagh star 

Madden won their first ever Armagh Senior title on Sunday with a resounding 11-point victory over Cullyhanna at the Box-It Athletic Grounds

As a player and as a manager, Mark Harte has experienced the joys of winning a senior county title with his native Errigal Ciaran.

On Sunday, he guided Madden to their first ever Armagh SFC title at the expense of Cullyhanna alongside his clubmate Adrian O’Donnell.

The duo have managed Madden for the last two seasons, during which time the club have suffered unimaginable loss with the tragic deaths of Patrick and Ciera Grimley and their friend Ciara McIlvenna following a car crash near Markethill.

Ciara’s husband, former Armagh player Kevin McElvanna, is part of Madden’s backroom team while Patrick is the brother of current Armagh star Niall.

While the Grimley and McElvanna families were uppermost in the minds of everyone at the Box-It Athletic Grounds on Sunday evening, Harte paid tribute, not just to the heroic player who defeated St Pat’s by 11 points, but to the entire community of Madden.

“You see the celebrations out here, to win a first county championship is something special,” said Harte.

“ I suppose the phrase coming to mind is a pitcher paints a thousand words and when you see the explosion of red and black onto that pitch in the Athletic Grounds at the end of that game – I don’t have the words in my vocabulary to sum up what that means to the people of Madden.

“They’ve had rough years, they’ve had years where it’s been very dark in the club on and off the pitch.

“They’ve had a dig out from junior to intermediate and now they have a bunch plying their trade at senior level. I just want to pay credit to everybody in the club.

“They get behind them in some tune, to all the coaches who have put in the work all at underage level and at senior level working with the boys as well.”

He added: “You can only ever be the first once and this will go down as a historic day. I’m just so proud of that bunch of players that when the questions were asked in that second half, particularly early in it, they had the answers. I’m delighted for each and every one of the families in Madden.”

Harte also insists he won’t “put the handbrake” on any celebrations despite an Ulster Club Championship clash looming in a fortnight with either Newbridge (Derry) or Dunloy (Antrim).

“What it means to the community, the club, the players, you can’t be putting a handbrake on them here – you have to allow them to enjoy it,” stated Harte afterwards.

“There’s enough dark days in football. There’s enough dark days in life. “This is a bright day for Madden and it’s going to be a bright future for the club. Far be it from me to put any clampers on them. They’re entitled to enjoy it. They’ve worked hard for it and I’m more proud of them for doing that.”

Armagh star Darragh McMullen was central to everything as Madden annexed the Gerry Fagan Cup for the first time with a dominant performance.

He scored 0-3 from play and, when his side were briefly under the cosh in the second half, he turned the tide and had a hand in four successive scores for the Raparees.

“I suppose the big question that was asked of Darragh was could he do it again because people were talking about what a good semi-final he had,” reflected Harte.

“Darragh is such a humble player. He just wants to be back with the boys. He’ll be looking forward to training during the week. That’s just the mentality he has.

I know a lot of his football is still to play but he has maturity beyond his years and he’s stepping into a leadership role in the team. He’s a crucial cog in our wheel. We’re just delighted to have the likes of Darragh to be part of that team.

“There were so many contributions right across the piece. Darragh will know that if it’s left to him alone, he’s going to be in trouble. For other boys to step up and give big performances was key to winning as well.”