Instead, Tyrone took home the booty and their neighbours have waited 21 years to even get back to another final.
There’s a lesson there for Kieran McGeeney’s current crew, McDonnell reckons: seize the day because you don’t know when it will come around again.
Moreover, even as a trailblazing champion, he stresses that the pain of losing a final “never leaves you”.
McDonnell was named All-Stars Footballer of the Year in 2003, offering some individual consolation for the collective prize that got away.
“You wouldn’t have thought it would take that long to be back at it, particularly when we were so dominant within our province at that stage,” he admits, speaking as an Allianz ambassador ahead of Sunday’s Armagh/Galway showdown.
“We had one or two opportunities after that alright – 2005 more so than any other year – to reach the final again, but it’s been a long time coming. It’s something that the Armagh supporters are enjoying at the minute. With everything that’s going on within the camp, I’m sure the players are enjoying and embracing it as well. But 21 years is too long.”
The three-time All-Star then emphasises: “Once you’re in a final you have to try and grab it with both hands. I’ve been fortunate enough to play in a final that we won (against Kerry), but I’ve also experienced the pain of losing one. And that pain never leaves you.
“This Sunday, one of those teams is going to experience that level of pain as well and it’ll stick with them forever. Hopefully it’s not Armagh.
“It’s a long road to get to one, and in Armagh’s case it’s been 21 years. You have to try and capitalise on that. They’re there because they’re good enough. They beat a decent Kerry team the last day out – a Kerry team that was fancied to kick on and win the All-Ireland. Galway also deserve to be there. They knocked out the favourites in Dublin, so both teams are there on merit. But finals are all about winning.”
Armagh’s Kieran McGeeney (left) and Steven McDonnell celebrate after winning the Ulster SFC final against Derry in 2000. Photo: Damien Eagers/Sportsfile
McDonnell is not the only Armagh player of his generation to lament their failure to land a second Sam during that golden epoch.
“I’m always grateful that we won in 2002, absolutely … we’ve only won one in Armagh’s history to date,” he reminds.
“But for the team we had, there’s no doubt that we probably should have kicked on and won at least another All-Ireland. We had numerous opportunities but when you look back at the rivalry between ourselves and Tyrone in particular, it’s just unfortunate that Tyrone were so good at that time as well.
“I look back now and there’s a lot of regret. I don’t think we performed at our best level in that 2003 final. That’s probably more disappointing than anything else. We still had one or two opportunities towards the end of it, none more so than mine that was blocked.”
On that score, however, McDonnell has never beaten himself up over that late goal chance denied by Gormley’s flying intervention.
“I was at peace with that almost immediately,” he clarifies. “It’s one of those defining moments that can either inspire a team or put a team down. Conor Gormley made that block and you’d have to give him credit.
“If it was Enda McNulty or Francie Bellew at the other end of the field and Armagh came out on the right side of it, I would have loved that. So I parked that straight away and moved on. You can’t mull over single moments like that from your career. If I thought and dwelled on that, I probably wouldn’t have been able to play on for another eight years.”
It has taken his former captain, McGeeney, ten years of incremental and often painful progress to steer the county back to this ultimate stage.
The Armagh of today are infinitely harder to beat than the side inherited by McGeeney ten seasons ago. Asked to pinpoint what has made the difference, McDonnell cites the “quality of defenders” they now possess.
“It’s taken the guts of a decade to get those boys to the level that they’re at. Obviously the attacking flair has always been there. It’s been no secret during Geezer’s reign that you had the likes of Jamie Clarke, obviously now with Rian O’Neill, ‘Soupy’ Campbell and boys like that,” he reflects.
“At the other end of the field, defensively we probably needed a bit more structure. And I think the work that Ciarán McKeever has done since he came in as team coach has definitely added a lot of value and tightened things up at the back.
“It’s all well and good going gung-ho and playing attacking football but, if you’re leaking scores at the other end and making life easy for your opponents, you’ll go nowhere fast. It probably took Armagh a wee bit longer to get things tightened up at the back. But now you’d have to say that they’re in a good place and a lot of that comes down to the work that Ciarán McKeever has done.”
As for Sunday, he compares the current Armagh/Galway rivalry to Armagh/Tyrone in the noughties.
“There was an intense rivalry built up over the course of multiple games and we knew each other’s game inside out. But each and every time we played each other, there was only a point or two in it,” the Killeavy man points out.
“I can’t see it being any different on Sunday. I really think that Galway have a really good opportunity to beat Armagh and Armagh have a really good opportunity to beat Galway.
“For me, it will come down to the last 20 minutes and the impact that the subs have. If it’s based on the performances over the last couple of games, Armagh are probably slightly edging that because the subs have come in and maybe scored five or six points on each occasion. If they can do that and have that type of impact on the scoreboard, that could be telling towards the end.”
