Armagh Club football & hurling

[qub la la la]

cruppen lose only 4 starters from the team that won the u21s last year. 3 other lads played a part in nearly all the games. will be strong contenders again but thats not until oct/nov time. i still think cross/dromintee will be interesting, the time to beat cross is early. i remember killeavy running them very close a few years ago and there could be still the hangover of any potential all ireland. though without dyas....

[full back]

IMHO the only challengers to Cross will be the Og's
They will have come on for last years final appearance & with Donnelly to come in they could push Cross in the next year or so.
No-one else will come close

[corn02]

Dromintee came close last year and forced a draw full back so I don't see how you can rule themn out.

Win I don't think anyone ever built up Dromintee as such, but we have been Cross greatest challengers for years and although we failed most on the board would of seen us as the team who may have challenged the dominance.

From a Dromintee viewpoint it a good draw for us, but Cross are Cross and all that..

[full back]

Dromintee came close last year and forced a draw full back so I don't see how you can rule themn out.

Kevin Dyas is a massive loss corn & although no single player is better than the team it is going to be very difficult to replace him in the coming year.
Regarding last year against Cross, on the first day O Neill was outstanding in the middle of the park in the second half (as was Dyas coming from deep) & this sort of caught Cross on the hop. In the replay the Cross tactics totally stifled the Dromintee midfield so that is another tactic out the window for the coming year

[corn02]

A good point, the return of Shane O'Neill fairly softened the blow though.

As Uladh says it is hard to get excited about it this year, maybe the year were we do not expect is the year we get shocked.

[Armagh4SamAgain]

It will be cross again. Nobody else is close. Mulaghbawn have a easy draw and should win. Clans have had trouble with bys before so dont get to cocky winsamsoon.

Why is there 2 bys in the JFC??? Why could Forkhill and that lot from Newry not play each other it dont make sence to me

[asitis]

you need 2 bys to make the draw work  dummy

[winsamsoon]

Who got cocky? I simply stated we got a bye. We would hve probably prefered a competitive match but at a second best we will be happy with a bye. Unlike some other members and teams the clans wouldn't really settle for a first round or second round defeat. The clans don't really go out to play any team if they have already conceeded defeat. I have witnessed some posters on this board running their own team down when draws have been made. I admire the likes of Corn and theses guys for sticking to their guns. They know the face an uphillchallenge but they are still positive that they can beat the Cross and sure why wouldn't they be. I woul be of the opinion that no one has run the cross close over the past ten years. Dromintee have meet them in earlier rounds and therefore haven't really got an opportunity to reach many finals but they still have never run cross close.(with the exceptions of last years draw) I went to the reply and it was really embarassing. Registering 1 point from play is a joke in any game.  Championship football is a funy game and anything could happen on any given day. Look at Balymacnab last year with the ogs, Sarsfields when cross won the first All Ireland. The list goes on. Everyone is the championship has a chance of winning it, but you would have to make cross about 5/1 on favouites but they may just encounter a few surprises along the way.

[Uladh]

Dromintee have meet them in earlier rounds and therefore haven't really got an opportunity to reach many finals but they still have never run cross close.(with the exceptions of last years draw).

Jaysus man if you're gonna preach at least do a bit of research

[illdecide]

Illdecide, there is some meritin what you say, but it must also be seen in the overall picture.  Do you honestly believe that Cross will suddenly implode and stop losing Championships.  What may happen is that they will stop winning countless ones in a row, but I seriously cannot see there being any sustained gap in them winning.

Factor in this, of the teams that have been challenging Cross, Dromintee have a small pick of players and subsequently will find it more difficult to maintain their challenge, the Harps have a strong group of young fellas but with no real leaders on the pitch to drive them on, the Clans are similar.  The Ogs are a serious threat but there is a physcological thing there with them.  Couple this with the fact that Cross have an under age structure geared to generating players who can seemlessly fit into the senior squad, then you see that there is potentially a huge gap overall for teams to bridge.  I am not saying Cross will win 10 in a row again, but 5 out of  ten is a serious possibility and if you see that as teams making inroads well I have to disagree.

Interesting draw, and I wiould say that depending on how the AI goes for Cross this may be Dromintee's best chance to catch them.  The early rounds are always the hardest to win so Dromintee now have 3-4 months of complete focus with only one goal in mind.  Can they take it?Time will tell!

BC1 thats what i meant. Cross will still win the majority of the senior championships but they will not repeat the feat they accomplished over the last 13 years. As you say 5 out of 10 or possibly more is very realistic but another 13 in a row??? I doubt it but 1 never knows.

Winsam have you forgotten Dromintee getting beat 3 finals in a row (i think it was 3)

[man in black]

Illdecide, there is some meritin what you say, but it must also be seen in the overall picture.  Do you honestly believe that Cross will suddenly implode and stop losing Championships.  What may happen is that they will stop winning countless ones in a row, but I seriously cannot see there being any sustained gap in them winning.

Factor in this, of the teams that have been challenging Cross, Dromintee have a small pick of players and subsequently will find it more difficult to maintain their challenge, the Harps have a strong group of young fellas but with no real leaders on the pitch to drive them on, the Clans are similar.  The Ogs are a serious threat but there is a physcological thing there with them.  Couple this with the fact that Cross have an under age structure geared to generating players who can seemlessly fit into the senior squad, then you see that there is potentially a huge gap overall for teams to bridge.  I am not saying Cross will win 10 in a row again, but 5 out of  ten is a serious possibility and if you see that as teams making inroads well I have to disagree.

Interesting draw, and I wiould say that depending on how the AI goes for Cross this may be Dromintee's best chance to catch them.  The early rounds are always the hardest to win so Dromintee now have 3-4 months of complete focus with only one goal in mind.  Can they take it?Time will tell!

BC1 thats what i meant. Cross will still win the majority of the senior championships but they will not repeat the feat they accomplished over the last 13 years. As you say 5 out of 10 or possibly more is very realistic but another 13 in a row??? I doubt it but 1 never knows.

Winsam have you forgotten Dromintee getting beat 3 finals in a row (i think it was 3)

Are Dromintee the Mayo of Armagh club football?

[winsamsoon]

Yes the key was the fact that they were beaten 3 finals in a row, I think it was the last one they were in( about 3 years back) they went fairly close but still never produced the goods. Uladh you seem to be the font of all knowledge so instead of just sitting back and sniping at the opinions of other posters, how about you post an opinion of your own? It would be very easy to sitback and read other posts and then make attacks on the actual characters but what about making a comment on the issue at hand.

[winsamsoon]

Are Dromintee the Mayo of Armagh club football?
[/quote]

No because the last two seasons they have been dumped out in early rounds albeit by cross. Plus they have never won a senior championship so it is hard to say they are the second best team in Armagh. They are a decent side though with some great individual players and some great characters (cathal). I also agree with some of the other posters when they say Dyas will be a big miss. How is Dyas getting on anyway?? (for anyone who doesn't know Dyas he was another great prospect poached by the NFL)

[full back]

How is Dyas getting on anyway?? (for anyone who doesn't know Dyas he was another great prospect poached by the NFL)

winsam - the font of all knowledge

[winsamsoon]

Very good fullback at leats we know you are awake on these dull mornings