"Is that the boy who scores all the goals, Da?" "Aye, that's him son." The full back smiles as he scribbles autographs in the fading light. "I wish," he grins, bending to pen his name on the youngster's shirt.

There is a fairground buzz about the Athletics Grounds in Armagh City. Across the pitch, camera lights loom like beacons through the dusk and with the cluster of people gathered around, it is impossible to tell which of the players is talking. Earlier, the Armagh boys had arrived to find themselves swarmed by kids, dressed in replica orange and giddy. McConville, Marsden, the McEntees; all are pin-ups for a summer.

Almost two hours later and still the night is alive with excitement. Most folk are here with children, although some have been drawn by sheer curiosity, seduced by the small-town glamour of the spectacle as lights from the neighbouring estate twinkle into being. They say the crowd was bigger back in 1977, but who's counting? The nice thing about the evening is that this Armagh team aren't disguising what all of this means to them. Seventeen years is a hellish wait for an All-Ireland semi-final appearance and damned if they aren't going to drink it in a little.

Ger Reid, though, he stands close to the clubhouse door for most of the evening, chatting to friends as the star-struck children seek the banner names. His relationship with the Armagh public has, after all, endured some fraught times of late. Before the outset of the championship there were whispers around the homeland that Reid was potentially the ruination of Armagh's high summer aspirations; that he simply hadn't the speed for full back. Word was that Tony Boyle would run him up a stick in the first match against Donegal.

"I think a lot of it stemmed from the league semi-final match against Dublin. It was a bad day for us and the ones who were looking then probably didn't see the games against Cork and Galway when the defence did quite well. But in the latter stages of the league, support built up and I mean, yeah, I got a lot of stick after that Dublin match," he reflects.

The Armagh fans retreated from the capital that evening in black mood. Diarmuid Marsden's hamstring had given again and doubts were vented about Reid. Ballybofey on June 6th was humid and overcast and they travelled west in pensive mood. Uncertainty about Reid grew into outright hostility after the nightmarish opening sequence. Noel Hegarty pumped a long ball in, Boyle ghosted behind Reid and the full back could but stare as the Donegalman slipped his shot beneath Benny Tierney.

"I was looking a few times at the sideline as soon as that went in. I didn't think he was as close to the ball as he was and once he got it, well, it was a good goal - to watch. I wouldn't have been surprised if they took me off. I'm sure the management could sense immediately that the supporters didn't want me there."

But they persisted with him and despite being left reeling from another goal by John Duffy minutes later, the Armagh defence regrouped and grew steadier, Reid in particular.

"Overall, I was disappointed with the way I performed that day," recalls Tony Boyle. "Even for the first goal, I don't think it's fair to single out Ger because the whole Armagh defence got off to a shaky start".

Reid maintains he prefers life as a centre back. Eire Og, his club in Lurgan, always used him there and he believes the position suits his attributes better. Since joining the Armagh panel in the winter of 1991, he has seen life from all angles. His star rose steadily in the early years, but the 1994 league final against Meath was a chastening experience. Scorched by Tommy Dowd.

"I think I was moved off him after 20 minutes but he was in form that day, hard to hold. It still rates as a huge disappointment because it was a big occasion for Armagh. There was always a wonder of what might have been had we won," he says now.

There was a sense that Armagh had somehow been eclipsed during Ulster's rebirth. Each summer spawned new stories and Armagh somehow got trampled in the rush. Last year came promises that they could deliver. Reid found himself watching from the bench as his county crashed again, this time to Derry.

"Well, we opted for Tony McEntee at full back last year and Ger Reid has proved us wrong and I have no hesitation in saying that," declared Brian McAlinden last week.

"This year, he came in for some criticism which was harsh. Ger has always worked hard and he has really sharpened up, which was a weakness with him. And he really has done well throughout the summer on some very gifted forwards."

For Reid, the issue was simple.

"It was tough not playing last year and I knew that I was favourite to get a crack at full back in the summer. I told myself to wise up and forget it. So I just set about playing full back. And having the McNulty lads on either side of me has been a great help."

Since the traumatic opening chapter in Donegal, Reid has been doggedly effective, an instrumental element to an historic year. His background didn't exactly leave him steeped in GAA lore - he was born in Cork, but his folks, both from Warrenpoint, settled in Lurgan while he was still a toddler. By the time he was a teenager, he was Eire Og's hottest property.

"There were times when you'd walk around Lurgan in an Armagh top and people would wonder what soccer team you supported. The support base was very small. Even my folks were more Down-orientated when I was a kid. But I was lucky enough to make the Armagh minor side and they soon converted."

Often times the grind got him down, as he commuted from Belfast, where he puts the hours in as a civil servant, for training with Armagh.

"You're lifestyle is affected, unquestionably. There is simply less of it. Like, Orla, my girlfriend, misses the nights out. But she sits in with me. And playing makes it easier of course. That makes it worthwhile, all right."

And so on Sunday, this sometimes painful, sometimes glorious season continues for Reid. With each passing hour, he has quietly set about restoring his reputation and the mutterings from behind the wire were all but silenced after the Ulster final. A clean day on Graham Geraghty would finish them off.

"Geraghty tends to blow hot and cold but he's a fine player," says Tony Boyle. "Ger will stay tight to him, but much depends on the kind of ball that comes in from midfield. If Meath are giving good ball, you could be the best full back in the world and not be able to do anything about it."

The only certainty is that Reid will ready himself as usual and then trot onto the turf, solemn-eyed and cutting a distinctive figure. "You see Ger in the dressingroom and he is this quiet individual who has his own ideas about preparing for a game," comments McAlinden. "But once he crosses the line, he is extremely focused, has an animal intensity. He is just a laid-back fellow who cares deeply about his game."

On this evening, however, he is content to linger in the shadows, talking with friends. Gradually though, the star seekers are made aware that he is of the chosen few and they straggle up to demand a signature. They quickly encircle him and he obliges with easy small talk, quietly comfortable.