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In all fairness the referee didnt cost Derry the game. He made bad decisions for both teams, and it was his first game enforcing the new rules. I would be more bothered if one team benefitted moreso than the other.

Paraic Duffy - One word - Dickhead.

He did do a lot of work Vernon. That run right through the middle of the field stands out in most game. Wouldnt give it McDonnell, although he scored some fantastic frees and set the goal up - no wait, I would give it to McDonnell 

Did anyone watching on RTE hear O'Rourke at half time? After making a comment comparing one or both of the teams to the Harlem Globetrotters he came out with something along the lines of "If you painted them black you wouldn't know if they were basketball players or Gaelic footballers." Classic line!

Did he not say that about the Kerry team of the 70's? And then Puke went on to say that his Kerry team did as much kick passing as they did hand passing?

The one thing that was noticeable about Armagh was that they are very much a team.  They have a plan, they stick to that plan and no one deviates from that plan.

Disagree brokencrossbar1, they did deviate from the plan, POR said that they werent instructed to play defensively and that they should have went on to attack and score more. But apart from that I would agree 

Rte gave Andy Mallon the man of the match award

Ah BBC gave Vernon. Id trust Jarlath and McHugh

Charlie Vernon got the Armagh/Derry MOTM.

Eoin Bradley wasn't being cynical, more like petulant, the scuffle was borne out of frustration imo, it looked like a bad hit on first glance, replays showed it to be fine.
I do think Armagh as a team were extremely cynical for the last 20 minutes, they had a 3 point league and they decided that Derry would not get back into the scoring zone if at all possible.  The repeatedly fouled in out the field, I'm not saying that the fouls were all terriblly dirty or dangerous, just that were cynical in that they stopped the flow of the game and made sure they'd time to get their defence in position (as if it had ever really moved too far out).  I know Derry have done more of this over the past year or so, but it is horrible to watch, our game with Monaghan last June was an awful spectacle too, yet a month later we had a score fest against the same opposition when tactics went out the window.

This frustrated me greatly. From watching the game, I was a little worked up at the time but whenever Armagh tried to take a quick free Deegan would blow his whistle and call for it to be retaken. When Derry took a quick free it was allowed, no whistle, play just carried on. So in that respect I dont blame Armagh for slowing the game down. The ref never allowed Armagh to play the quick ball, so Armagh didnt allow Derry to play the quick ball in.

You sound like Armagh were more cynical than Derry. You may have ground for that with Fin (havent seen it yet) and I didnt agree with the Mallon tackle on the sideline either but to scorn the entire team because of it? Remember Eoin blatantly tipped McKeever on purpose in the second half. Then dragged Kernan to the ground. One Derry player started a scuffle with McKeever after sending the Derry player into next week. Not to forget when one Armagh player was through on goal there was a blatant foul. Im not making out that Armagh are angels, theyre far from it. But dont try making Derry out to be the victim here. Both teams were deliberate in their cynicism.

Decent victory. Far from a vintage performance but we were comfortably the better side over the 70 minutes. Good to see us winning a tight Ulster championship match with Clarke unavailable and without being completely reliant on Stevie. I was surprised to see how deep we dropped at times, that wasn't the way we played in the League but at the end of day, it was effective rather than pretty.

Thought Charlie Vernon was excellent, when given the opportunity to run at defences he's a huge asset. Great pass and finish for
the goal which was the one big highlight in a disappointing second half.

I thought the second half was very enjoyable. It takes skill to both attack and defend. Towards the end it was vintage Armagh heart in mouth ending. I hate it but love it too.

Armagh were certainly not comfortably the better side (if they were it wouldn't have been a tight ulster game with your hearts in your mouths at the end), they played to their system, Derry didn't have the guile to break them down, I think Monaghan probably will, they'll play to their own system and Armagh showed very little going forward today, even with Clarke back you really need to up your game - where will it be?

Ive acknowledged it and Paddy O'Rouke acknowledged it. Armagh stopped attacking, they were happy stopping Derry from getting into scoring range. If Armagh do attack theyre more than capable of beating Monaghan. Look at how tight Armagh's defence have been. They restricted Donegal to 6 points in the NFL. Kildare to 5 and Tippereary to 1 point in the first half of that game. 

Decent victory. Far from a vintage performance but we were comfortably the better side over the 70 minutes. Good to see us winning a tight Ulster championship match with Clarke unavailable and without being completely reliant on Stevie. I was surprised to see how deep we dropped at times, that wasn't the way we played in the League but at the end of day, it was effective rather than pretty.

Thought Charlie Vernon was excellent, when given the opportunity to run at defences he's a huge asset. Great pass and finish for the goal which was the one big highlight in a disappointing second half.

I thought the second half was very enjoyable. It takes skill to both attack and defend. Towards the end it was vintage Armagh heart in mouth ending. I hate it but love it too.

I was expecting this to happen, a dogged fight to the end and I wanted this to happen. I dont care how unattractive on the eye it was, this is a young Armagh team, they need to grind out wins and not let their guards down to the final whistle. They did it against Tipperary and then learnt from their mistakes and went on to demolish Donegal.

Its a totally different game now, Armagh let their guard down again [Although it could be argued it wasnt a penalty - and I dont think it was] and it almost cost them. They should have went on to score more points and to me it seemed like they were happy enought to sit back and just absorb everything Derry threw at them which they did.

I dont think it was a cynical game, Eoin did deserve to go but it wasnt a straight red card. Moriarity [havent seen it again] went for the ball and his forearm wasnt tucked in. The referee didnt see anything cynical in the tackle, but he did recognise what he thought was a foul.

McKeever is a f*cker, he knows exactly how to touch a raw nerve when he plays opponents and all I can say is that im glad he plays for Armagh, teams need players like him. 

Armagh can improve and will improve, Ronan will be back for Monaghan. Jamie Clarke took that shot very maturely, what a great way to start your first Championship game. Armagh's options up front are expanisve, the midfield is versatile and the backs are solid. Hearty did him and Armagh proud today but I still see him as a liability but willing to accept him as goalkeeper.

This started as a thread of general interest, how to keep youth interested in GAA and the damage that self destructive substance abuse can do. In comes Sheehy with a bit of thread destruction, and you were all unwise enough to follow his lead.

Im not too sure about this, primarily because I didnt go to school in Ireland but how about following the United states? Having a sports scolarship of sorts. Help players in their education and get better jobs. This could also encourage both side of the community in the North to take up Gaelic sports.

[turn coat]

Very disapointed with the result but im sure the turn coat from Burren is happy enough winning a league where McDonnell has been outstanding.

Please tell me you're not serious.

should hope is he serious. o,rourke is a traitor. plian and simple. he should hand back his all Ireland medal.

You are joking surely?

Dont forget, it wasnt that long ago when the Down fans turned their back on him. So dont be giving off about him turning his back on Down [which he hasn't].

I would like to also say that O'rouke is making a fantastic impact on this team. He brought in some of the u-21 players just in time and the experience will hopefully spur them on.