Like his manager Kieran McGeeney, Burns was accentuating the positive of the Orchard men coming out on the right side of a close game after so many narrow defeats in big matches in recent years.
“It’s actually probably a good thing for us that we got a good tight game. We didn’t really perform. A few tough decisions against us too and we still managed to grind it out. That’s good for confidence.”
But Burns wasn’t sugar-coating the Armagh display as Down’s defensive shape and the Mourne men’s ability to attack at speed resulted in a difficult afternoon for the Orchard side.
The corner-back admitted a few video nasties could be coming the Armagh players’ way in the coming days.
“There will be plenty said I’m sure. That’s high level football. If you don’t play to your potential on a given day, any good team can beat you with the way they set up now.
“We’ve been beaten before by Down in the past when we were expected to win so we weren’t coming in expecting it to be an easy game or that losing was unthinkable.
“We were very much, ‘it’s a semi-final….if one team turns up and performs and the other team doesn’t, anything can happen’ and that’s almost what did happen and thankfully we just managed to grind it out.”
