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It's a pity yet again all the chat is about the melee and not about the match. It was the cliched game of two halves for me.  Armagh did well to get to HT only down by 5 points.  Donegal were cutting us to ribbons, exposing gaps in our defence. It was particularly noticeable they were making great grounds up our right wing in front of the stand.  The fairly dramatic turnaround in the second half wasn't solely down to the introduction of O'Neill and Grugan.  We pushed up on Patton's kickouts and he folded.  There's been a lot of debate in Armagh about our goalkeeping position but Donegal have concerns there too.  We tightened up the defence and got a bit more ball in the middle third.  There's plenty for the video analysts and the respective managers to work on for the next four weeks.
As opposed to what our Tyrone friends are saying about our conditioning, it is at the same level as everyone else's at this point in the season as this game mirrored the Kerry game with Armagh the stronger team in the second half again.  Although we never really looked like winning against Kerry we could definitely could have beaten Donegal yesterday missing easy enough chances towards the end.
It is definitely all to play for in four weeks time.

The row started at the end with McFadden-Ferry of Donegal going up into Aidan Nugents face and shouting. A pushing match started, with most players involved. Not a pile in it i thought. Donegal were goading armagh the whole match, with a lot of cynical fouling also. Nrs 4 and 7 for Donegal the worst culprits. They are a hard team to watch

Interesting I thought what started it was Murphy running up to Grugan on the far side of the pitch and giving him a belt round the back of the head in retaliation for a kick Grugan put in on Murphy earlier. Then two other Donegal players going to assist Murphy 3 on 1. Seemed to me that Armagh men went to go to Grugan assistance. Got blocked off and things kicked off from there.

Maybe the two things were unrelated and it was just coincidence of timing.

As for the incident itself I'd be surprised if there weren't suspensions handed out, very silly thing for either team to get involved with but not entirely surprising given the needle throughout in a largely meaningless game.
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Grugan was at our side at the final whistle. McMenamin (Donegal no 7) started on him. He had been dishing it out throughout the match. Fancies himself as a bit of a hard man by the looks of things. McGee's contribution whilst he was on the field as a temporary sub was pathetic also. Obviously came on to try and get a rise out of Rian whose temperament has improved dramatically. A few years ago he would have fell for it and started swinging.

It's good to have the Tyrone posters worried again.

Armagh went into the league a lot fitter than everyone else. The last few games when other teams have caught up fitness wise have shown where Armagh are really at.

Not sure the fitness point is true. They beat Dublin and Kildare who got relegated and they were fitter than Tyrone who were only back from holiday. Today they started with out their 2 best players and gave 2 other players their county debut.

Armagh are on an upward trajectory but they still have a long way to go.

He's posting that repeatedly. He has himself convinced of that 'fact'

[Maybe the only position that has a true lack of cover is Trent.]

Squad is very good is right. Any player can be replaced right now with someone of equal abilities. To be able take off top players like Diaz and Jota and bring on players like Salah and Bobby is unreal. Maybe the only position that has a true lack of cover is Trent.

Right on cue. TAA out for weeks with a hamstring injury.

Tyrone's discipline is shocking

What's the story with the traffic in Roscommon?

Some joker earlier claiming it was a free in to Tyrone that got reversed and that there were 4 points between them at that stage. None of that is true. Just objectively not true.

Redzone appears to have been watching a completely different match to the rest of us.

I didn't see any red card offences from either team in that carry on. Getting someone in a headlock is now a red card offence.

It's not. But getting a player in a headlock and f**king him up against a fence is. Petey Harte on Jarly OG Burns. Video doing the rounds already. It'll hit your phone soon enough.

That's more like the old Armagh. Mcshane wins a dubious free to put 3 in it and the 2 Armagh defenders headlock him and sludden and won't let go till there's an all out melee. But I'm sure it will come back to haunt them ltr in the year as it always has

I'll call you out on the first bit of bullshit in that diatribe.It was a free out for Armagh for McShane touching the ball on the ground. Rian O'Neill took it when Gough got rid of the offenders. Don't let the facts get in the way of your crap.

This Armagh team have been snatching draws/defeats from the jaws of victory over an extended period and the biggest takeaway from Saturday evening's game is the fact that they got over the line.  We have been playing good football for a couple of years now and drawing plaudits for it but winning is a habit this team haven't formed yet.  Hopefully Saturday evening is a turning point in that respect.

Anyone have recent experience of travelling to the UK from Dublin Airport?  Do you need to complete a Passenger Locator Form or not?  It seems as if the UK do not require it to be completed if you're travelling within the Common Travel Area.  I can't find anything on an exemption travelling back? I'm going back to the north.

Someone says on the Armagh fans forum that crossmaglen can represent Armagh in the junior if their senior team lose the senior final... I presume this is ballex?

That was me said that. Just repeating what I've been told. Thought it odd myself but time will tell. Might be immaterial anyway was Belleeks are likely to win.

What odds would you give me on Cross?? Would put the house on them.

They'll win with their willies out ffs! Senior/junior double on the cards

Have they ever done the double before? Think they got to both finals a good few years back. Remember Cullyhanna getting to finals with both teams one year and losing both.

Twice, 1926 and 2002.

I recall when Cullyhanna got to the 2 finals,  2016,  they had beaten us in the semis of the senior. Cullyhanna jerseys were in the town in the weeks building up to finals like never before. There would have been a few lads drank in one of the Cross pubs and the craic was wild. Anyway, they lost both finals and the slagging was off the scales as you can imagine. One of the local wits said 'now lads come on, Cullyhanna did something this week that Cross have never done ....they lost 2 county finals on the same day!'

This aged well. What odds whether it was on the same day or not. The local wits will be quiet tonight. 😜

I saw someone on Twitter making the point that girls should be allowed in to change into and out of their jerseys for the match. I can see their point on that to be fair.

Jesus you'd like to think that goes without saying already. Of course changing rooms should be open, how you expect lads to drive home soaked and sweating after a game, in many cases for probably the guts of an hour I dont know.

Because the alternative is that anytime one of their teammates (which might be 40 men) gets Covid, then they're deemed a close contact.

I'd drive home from anywhere sooner than spend 10 days in isolation, let alone in isolation during championship season.

Only thing is I suppose its that close contacts don't self isolate anymore if they are double vaccinated. Not sure if that's the case in the south too?

So you'd need a Vaccine passport to get into the changing room? Keep them closed.....less confusion.

Robbo with a bad looking ankle injury

Just saw a video of it. Nasty looking alright.