Orchard stars Toal and O'Rourke retire

December 06, 2006

John Toal against Dublin
2002 Armagh All-Ireland winners John Toal and Aidan O'Rourke have taken the decision to retire from intercounty action. Both men were on the periphery of the Orchard County team in the year gone by, with Toal struggling to overcome the leg injury he sustained in the 2005 Ulster final against Tyrone. The midfielder was a key man in the 2002 All-Ireland final win over Kerry before injury saw him miss out on the following year's final loss to Tyrone. O'Rourke was an All Star winner in 2002 and earned a reputation as one of the outstanding wing backs of his generation. However, the emergence of a new half back line of Paul Duffy, Aaron Kernan and Ciaran McKeever saw O'Rourke fail to make the Armagh starting team in last year's championship, although he did make substitute appearances. Panellists Liam O'Hare and dual star Paul McCormack have also indicated that they will not be rejoining the senior football squad.

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