Armagh v Westmeath 27/05/23 @ 4.45pm

[Louther]

Why wasn't this game sold out? Wasn't wet? Best supporters ever and so many left at home for Ulster final. Should have been wedged.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzz

That's possibly a reason. People slept in.

[marty34]

What in under God was McGeeney at with the referee after the final whistle? Eejit.

no need for that, ref was trying to get off the field through the crowd and mcgeeney was determined to get some sort of point across, not the time.

Bit of the Cody Shefflin handshake about that!!!

[Wildweasel74]

Never want hear Armagh complain about tickets again!

[Manning18]

What in under God was McGeeney at with the referee after the final whistle? Eejit.

no need for that, ref was trying to get off the field through the crowd and mcgeeney was determined to get some sort of point across, not the time.

Strange also as I thought Armagh got the majority of the decisions. Open to correction as it's hard to be certain, especially watching on GAA Go but a couple of the scored frees for Armagh in the first half were absolutely ridiculous calls.

Overall he seemed like a ref from the 90s, giving frees always to the player in possession when under any bit of pressure all over the field, ignoring steps and allowing frees to be taken many yards forward from the infringement. That was for and against both teams

[Rossfan]

The steps and stealing metres on frees was absolutely crazy in this game.

[Throw ball]

Never want hear Armagh complain about tickets again!

I assume there were bigger crowds at other gamesq

[armaghniac]

Never want hear Armagh complain about tickets again!

There were 10,500 Armagh people there and there weren't the empty spaces evident in Celtic Park. How many did you expect?

[Armaghtothebone]

Never want hear Armagh complain about tickets again!

500 euros in 6 weeks.
Hefty bills no matter what.

[Armamike]

Big crowd. Poor Armagh performance though not surprising given the context. Westmeath were good. They gave it their all.

[omochain]

Given the Ulster final disappointment. They dug it out in the end. Onward and hopefully upward.

[balladmaker]

The kickouts  in the final minutes of the UF cost Armagh dearly.  Yesterday, it appeared nothing had been learned as Armagh continued to give away possession, especially in the final minutes again when the game was there for the taking for Westmeath.

Very impressed by Westmeath, they deserved the points last evening.  No. 14, John Heslin, a special talent.

Armagh seemed leggy and lacked energy,  especially after Rian missed the goal chance early on, it seemed to go down hill from there.  Might have been the UF hangover, or maybe they'd done a big training session midweek incorrectly expecting to beat Westmeath handy enough.

Would worry that the tax of last nights game will further impact Armagh next Saturday in Omagh, but hopefully not, hopefully the lads recover well and are ready to give it a lash against Tyrone. 

Either way, it's all about jockeying for position in the table, most likely position 2 or 3.  Win one of the last two games and it's a home tie in the Q/F prelim.  Lose both and it's away to a potential big gun.  As someone mentioned earlier, I'm questioning whether the effort to win a tough group is worth it, given the straight passage to the Q/F and a 2 week break, either way, squad depth is more crucial now given the additional games.

Hopefully the person who took unwell after the game is on the mend, thoughts with him and his family.

[David McKeown]

Having now watched it back my view hasn't changed.  I thought both teams were very poor and neither deserved to win.  I think the praise of Westmeath is condescending.  They may have deserved to beat Armagh last night but I think that's down to how bad Armagh were particularly tactically however when the pressure was on Westmeath wilted. The goal they scored came from a lucky bounce then they conceded a simple goal, they missed several chances in the last 5 to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory and they failed to put away that very leggy and poor Armagh team through a combination of poor decision making and tactical foolishness.  Even on the winning score, Westmeath left Rian O'Neill completely unmarked in about 30 yards of space.  Madness.  Maybe I am being harsh but I just thought the match was such low quality last night.

I can't see either team giving Tyrone or Galway much to worry about

[Orior]

Armagh kick-outs were awful. Westmeath always seemed to be able to a free man for the kick-out. Why do Armagh outfield players not do more to become free?

[seafoid]

Armagh kick-outs were awful. Westmeath always seemed to be able to a free man for the kick-out. Why do Armagh outfield players not do more to become free?

Anything to do with Ulster championship custom ?

[lurganblue]

Was it complacency from Armagh or were they flat from the Ulster final?  Probably a mixture of both.  They really never got going in the game.  When behind by 2/3 points, how can you afford to let the team in the 2nd half keep the ball for such long periods.  Absolutely no change to push up and force the issue.  It was like they had all the time in the world. When Armagh did turn the ball over, they repeatedly seemed to lose the ball in transition.

Kick-outs all day were a disaster.  We did have players making good runs.  They were available but the ball is kicked over the side-line. Even at the end.  The short one wasnt on.  The whole Armagh pack in midfield realised this and shuffled in unison to one side of the pitch, and Ethan somehow kicked it down the middle, where they had all moved away from.  A bad day at the office.

A fortuitous goal gets Armagh back in it, but no way that will be good enough next week.  That being said, i dont expect the same next week as there is always a different buzz about facing Tyrone.

Westmeath were better on the day and will be very disappointed i'm sure. If there were more than 300 of their supporters at the Athletic Grounds i'd be surprised. They deserved much more support than that.