Niall Grimley says there were three angels looking down on him as he helped Armagh to All-Ireland glory on Sunday afternoon.
The Armagh midfielder kicked a 61st minute score as his team defeated Galway by 1-11 to 0-13 to win their first All-Ireland since 2002 and only their second ever.
Galway stormed into a lead early on in the second half but Armagh fought back and ultimately Aaron McKay’s second half goal won the game for them.
Grimley has played a key role for Armagh throughout the championship having tragically lost his brother Patrick in a car accident last November. Patrick’s brother Ciera Grimley also died in the accident, as did Ciara McElvanna, the wife of Armagh 2002 All-Ireland winner Kevin McElvanna.
Madden club-man Grimley paid tribute to the three of them speaking on The Sunday Game from the Carrickdale Hotel in Dundalk, where Armagh held their winners’ banquet.
“There was three angels looking down on us today,” he told Marty Morrissey and The Sunday Game.
“When you lose someone so close to you, there’s not a minute goes by that you don’t think about them.
“It’s not about the medal or the cup for me – Patrick and Ciera have three beautiful kids and the motivation for me, night after night, was to put a smile on their faces because they’ve been through enough. They’ve been through enough and you know, maybe they helped me with my last score.”
“It’s not just my story, everyone else has a story, unfortunately, it’s part of life and you sorted have to just deal with it and move forward.”
Grimley said it was a ‘dream come through’ to win an All-Ireland for Armagh.
“It’s unbelievable, it’s everything you dream of as a young boy practicing,” the 29-year-old said.
“With my own club, Kevin McElvanna has an All-Ireland medal and I just looked up to him the whole time, and I just thought to myself, one day, I want my dream to come through.
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