Messages

I am under no illusion about the awful tactics employed by Derry at the minute, and I freely accept that club football in the county is full of cynical play.

However I don't attempt to deny, make excuses for, or in the case of many people here, actually celebrate, the goading, violence and assorted forms of cheating which pervade the game today.

I have no axe to grind with Tyrone, they have had some wonderful footballers in the last 15 years and were the best footballing side in the country for a few years in the last decade.

Just thought I'd check back here to see if any Tyrone people had decided to speak against the cynical play which is clearly rife at all levels in their teams.

It seems the end justifies the means for them though which is a bit disheartening to see, although not unexpected. It's a pity because the good footballers in Tyrone are being overshadowed by this blight on the game.

Shame to see Tyrone indulging in pathetic behaviour again. Seems to be widely accepted in the county which is disappointing. Would have hoped someone from Tyrone might have spoken out against it but alas not.

Gormley was a good footballer but has been poor for about 5 years. And as has been pointed out he lacked class and basic respect for his opponents. Too many nasty digs with knees and fists.

Conway was the only Ballinderry player who played well. Young Bell made the most of the poor service he got but didn't feature a lot. McGuckin was roasted, should have been moved out the field or taken off.
Quinn and in the second half Connolly controlled the game.
Poor refereeing, harsh on Ballinderry, but Vincent's were much better.

I Completely agree with what Brolly said. The best pundit on TV in any sport.
His outburst was passionate, accurate and made for brilliant viewing. The sooner we see an end to the cynical cheating as displayed by Cavanagh the better for GAA.

On top of the very unfortunate injury to Eoin Bradley the Derry formbook has taken a bit of a knock. The Fermanagh team we beat where put out by London and the Armagh team we beat should have been beat by Wicklow, both Div 4 teams. Derry will struggle to score above 10 points and our full backs wont keep Donegal beneath that total. As a Derry supporter I hope we put up a good performance but the way Donegal play I cant see how this match will be anything other than very poor to watch.

Derry struggle to score 10 points? Would you ever catch yourself on you idiot, they should be around the 10 point mark by half-time.

Donegal have no chance of winning, even without Skinner.

Derry have no shortage of quality forwards, I predict a couple of goals for Derry in a comfortable victory.

Derry to win comfortably.

I took a lot of criticism for predicting a comfortable victory over Armagh but was proved correct, and I see another easy win in the final.

Derry to score goals, dominate midfield and win by at least 5 or 6 points.

I'd advise all the Donegal supporters to stick a whack of money on Derry just to soften the blow of defeat.

Derry are going to win this game easily.

For all the talk of Murphy and McFadden, they are actually quite easy to keep quiet, and aren't as heavy scorers as their reputations would suggest. Flat-track bullies.

Even if Lacey snuffs out the threat of Skinnner, Derry have so many players capable of contributing scores that they will prevail.

Nuke the county from orbit, it's the only way to be sure.

It's astonishing how many people have decided Armagh will win based purely on one decent performance against a massively overrated Down side.

I'll be surprised if Derry don't win by at least 4 or 5 points.

The Derry forwards are far too strong for Armagh, and I confidently predict at least 2 goals for Derry.

I'll be back on Sunday evening to boast about my Nostradamus-like predictions coming true.

The Stallion.

True to my word, i'm back to boast about my prediction. They say self-praise is no praise at all - they're wrong.

Great performances all over the park, and man of the match wasn't even on the pitch - John Brennan got it spot on today.

It came as no surprise to see how today panned out, it was shocking how wrong the bookies and pundits were, and there was serious money to be made. Hopefully some of you heeded my tips.

It's astonishing how many people have decided Armagh will win based purely on one decent performance against a massively overrated Down side.

I'll be surprised if Derry don't win by at least 4 or 5 points.

The Derry forwards are far too strong for Armagh, and I confidently predict at least 2 goals for Derry.

I'll be back on Sunday evening to boast about my Nostradamus-like predictions coming true.

The Stallion.

I'm fairly confident Derry will beat Armagh based on a few factors:

1. Armagh are getting a bit too much praise for beating a vastly overrated Down team, and I think they might be a wee bit complacent going into this match.

2. Brennan was canny enough to make a convincing victory for Derry sound like a dreadful day at the office, to make sure the players come out firing against Armagh rather than the usual Derry habit of one good performance followed by one dreadful performance.

3. I think this is potentially the best all round Derry forward line in a few years, despite what many are saying. There's a bit of everything - scorers, high fielders, hard workers, and clever creative players. Armagh have Clarke, Padden and an aging McDonnell, and nothing else in my opinion.