Your county’s toughest defeat to stomach

[Puckoon]

I think the worst defeats were those after winning the AI.

Complete opposite for me. After Sam arrived it took the edge off.

Agreed. I don't know why 97 hurt so bad. Donnelly scoring that goal at the start just made it all the worse.

[macdanger2]

It should be 96 but for some reason, 97 was the worst for me, I remember sitting on the ground outside the bank of Ireland at the top of Clonliffe Road feeling devastated. I think it took us around 6h to get home with the traffic as well.

2014 and last year are up there too

[bennydorano]

2005 AISF defeat by Tyrone by a mile, 2003 AIF never ranckled with me as I thought we were brutal and deserved a hammering, but Armagh had some run in 2005 and I always thought that we were at our Zenith then and not in 2002.

[Jinxy]

I think the worst defeats were those after winning the AI.

Complete opposite for me. After Sam arrived it took the edge off.

Yeah, you become a bit more philosophical about defeat after you've won the big one a few times.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

'86 vs Kerry, and '95 vs the Dubs tie for the worst with me.

'02 vs Sligo, and '04 vs Mayo are tied runners-up.

[Owenmoresider]

3) Armagh in Navan 2002. Think we would probably have lost to Dublin in the semi anyway, but it was the one time in my life when we were potentially capable of challenging for Sam. Matched Armagh blow for blow both days, and indeed O'Hara took plenty of blows off them, luckily for Armagh the black card wasn't around then. Not getting a penalty late on when Sean Davey was fouled was a particularly sore point too.
2 ) Kerry in Tralee 2009. Unlike the other two I don't think this hurt in that it deprived us of any title as we weren't strong enough to go all the way, but to outplay Kerry in their backyard and go down by a single point was a tough one to take. Considering the trouble other Connacht teams have had with them in the championship, to have not only beaten Kerry, but beaten Kerry in Kerry would have been sweet. Had a penalty saved too. Galvin dug it out for them that day, not that it mattered much to how the championship panned out...
1) 2010 Connacht Final. Utterly devastating. Did the hard work in beating Mayo and Galway and then lost to an average Roscommon team, on the one day that Donie Shine proved to be of any use (was brutal in the U21 final that Spring, but if we were counting Minor/U21 defeats here we could write a book on them).

[Jinxy]

Did David Kelly miss a penalty against Kerry in 2009?

[The Iceman]

I had followed Armagh all over Ireland from the mid 90s all the way to the Semi Final in 2002 and missed the final. In 2003 I swore I wouldn't miss a game. 2003 Final was a bitter pill to swallow.
2005 SF defeat by Tyrone was just as bad.

[Owenmoresider]

Did David Kelly miss a penalty against Kerry in 2009?

Yeah, hit it straight at Diarmuid Murphy. Would have put us a point up with about a quarter hour to go. We got a point shortly after and neither side scored again til the end.

[Newbridge Exile]

It has to be the 1995 semi final defeat ' in Clones against Tyrone with the Cavan defeat in 97 Ulster final a not so close second .

[Syferus]

Before this era it would of been 96&97 .

All defeats in this era from 2013 on were gut wrenching , no other county will ever understand the pain . I'm a 40 yr old man but have no problem admitting in 2016 I actually broke down and cried coming out of hill16 with the rare Aul times blaring in my ears . Like I say it's impossible to explain the hurt to others ,it's simply unique to Mayo . Like Farr above I know now I'll never see a Mayo man lift Sam Maguire but the memories have been brilliant at the same time .

Cop on, it's a bit of fun of a slow Sunday. You sound like you're writing for Willie Joe's bellend blog.

[BennyHarp]

Before this era it would of been 96&97 .

All defeats in this era from 2013 on were gut wrenching , no other county will ever understand the pain . I'm a 40 yr old man but have no problem admitting in 2016 I actually broke down and cried coming out of hill16 with the rare Aul times blaring in my ears . Like I say it's impossible to explain the hurt to others ,it's simply unique to Mayo . Like Farr above I know now I'll never see a Mayo man lift Sam Maguire but the memories have been brilliant at the same time .

Cop on, it's a bit of fun of a slow Sunday. You sound like you're writing for Willie Joe's bellend blog.

I'm surprised you haven't mentioned "The grudge match of the year", Syferus. Defeat in grudge matches are always tough to stomach.

[Cunny Funt]

3) Armagh in Navan 2002. Think we would probably have lost to Dublin in the semi anyway, but it was the one time in my life when we were potentially capable of challenging for Sam. Matched Armagh blow for blow both days, and indeed O'Hara took plenty of blows off them, luckily for Armagh the black card wasn't around then. Not getting a penalty late on when Sean Davey was fouled was a particularly sore point too.
2 ) Kerry in Tralee 2009. Unlike the other two I don't think this hurt in that it deprived us of any title as we weren't strong enough to go all the way, but to outplay Kerry in their backyard and go down by a single point was a tough one to take. Considering the trouble other Connacht teams have had with them in the championship, to have not only beaten Kerry, but beaten Kerry in Kerry would have been sweet. Had a penalty saved too. Galvin dug it out for them that day, not that it mattered much to how the championship panned out...
1) 2010 Connacht Final. Utterly devastating. Did the hard work in beating Mayo and Galway and then lost to an average Roscommon team, on the one day that Donie Shine proved to be of any use (was brutal in the U21 final that Spring, but if we were counting Minor/U21 defeats here we could write a book on them).

He played a big part in the U21 semi win against Mayo in 2010 and that Mayo team was full of current seniors and was going for 5 in a row U21 titles. David Kelly marked out of the 2010 Connacht final didn't help Sligo's cause but Alan Costello probably played his finest game for Sligo and along with Sean Davey kicked some outstanding long range points. 

[LooseCannon]

95. Taaffe the bastard.

[Ball Hopper]

Did David Kelly miss a penalty against Kerry in 2009?

Yeah, hit it straight at Diarmuid Murphy. Would have put us a point up with about a quarter hour to go. We got a point shortly after and neither side scored again til the end.

Penalty was in 66th minute, at about 1:28:00 in (apologies for poor enough quality picture)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8db5YNwAZrQ