Donegal v Armagh Championship game

[PatDaly]

                          1. Hearty

2. Andy Mallon 3. Kieran McGeeney 4. Ciaran McKeever

5. Aaron Kernan 6. Kieran Toner 7. Kevin Dyas

        8. Paul McGrane 9. James Lavery

10. Martin O'Rourke 11. Charlie Vernon 12. Peadar Toal

13. Stevie McDonnell 14. Diarmuid Marsden 15. Oisin McConville

[BroJolly]

Should that not be "be careful in your praise of Sigerson winner and U21 star Charlie Vernon"?

Don't get me wrong. I think he is a terrific footballer. Just think for a long time now he has benefitted from being stronger than his opponent and so distribution wasn't a problem. This was certainly the case against Tyrone U21s and Down seniors in the league. Having said that he was very good in the u21 final. Perhaps the likes of Vernon is seen as the great white hope to replace the industry of Geezer, etc when they retire in ten years time and so the suffer from heightened expectation.

[corn02]

Was not a dig at you Bro, you would need to read back a few posts to get it.

[Uladh]

In a reverse of normal trends, the closer this game gets the less confident i'm becoming of an armagh win for some reason. From a long way out, donegal's lack of bottle against armagh has previously given me a sort of comfort blanket to wrap myself in. The more i look at the two teams that will line out, the more i realise that donegal more than anyone are equipped to expose armagh's weaknesses.

Neil Gallagher will likely break even with McGrane so young toner will have to produce a big performace against Cassidy to give us the lion's share of possession we'll need to win this one. marty o'rourke's work in this sector could be crucial but donegal have some very good break ball winners of their own. With McConville playing up front alongside Stevie, we're gonna need a lot of frees to keep the scoreboard ticking over. oisin is no longer capable of creating scores one on one with intercounty defenders and Stevie will likely be double teamed.

With McKeever and kernan in the half forward line they offer a serious lack of workrate and marsden might be the only effective player we have in that area. i can see donegal breaking at will from their half back line, especially against those first two fellas. given that thats what donegal do best, armagh could be in serious difficulties here.

In the absence of Devenny, Donegal's best six forwards are probably hegarty, kavanagh, roper, mcfadden, toye plus one from McMenamin, Bonner & Sweeney. Sweeney hasn't produced it against armagh and McMenamin is too small to start so i think they'll go for bonner. on the plus side, all of those forwards have consistently failed to fire against previous armagh defences and the psychological aspect of these games can be vital. on the other hand, they offer serious running and scoring power and on a bad day could tear us to shreads running from deep.

given that donegal will play two forwards, McFadden plus one, and make it a race from the midfield malaise to support them, i am fairly worried. we have a couple of defenders who can be seriously exploited by this gameplan.

From an armagh point of view, we are going to struggle badly for scores. of the 5 forwards, Kernan and mckeever can probably be discounted from play. McDonnell will produce the goods if he gets the service but again the fear would be a laboured build up with half backs constantly carrying the ball and starving stevie. McConville has massive talent but i have only seen very small glimmers of it in the last two years. his fprm has been to generally be anonymous through games and add one or two eye catching moments in the second half. that won't do on sunday.

To have a consistent scoring threat, McGrane is going to have to produce an attacking performance of heroic proportions and we need a massive game from marsden. he'll need to be on top of his game because given McGeeney's passing so far this year, there is noone else able to get the ball to McDonnell early and in the areas he needs it, and Diarmaid will need to contribute 3/4 points from play for armagh to win. unfortunately, that diamaid marsden hasn't played for armagh for nearly three years now.

The chink in donegal's armour could be their lack of an effective partner for McFadden up front and if they can't win the ball inside they can't get runners feeding off.

Armagh can win but they'll need to score maybe 2--08 and shut donegal down to do it.

[orangeman]

How can you get tickets for Sunday's game in Ballybofey ? Is it all ticket ?

[gander]

Yeah its all ticket.  You should be able to get tickets off your local club if they haven't been given out already

[Donagh]

Uladh, your analysis seems to be predicated on S Kernan, starting. I really can't see it happening in this game especially with Vernon on the bench.

[qub la la la]

if a man who cannot command a starting position for his club can start for armagh there is something seriously wrong. i think armagh can win on sunday, donegal have built themselves up for a big fall.

[Donagh]

A Donegal man was telling me on Friday night how much he was looking forward to Fermanagh sneaking a win yesterday – must have had a eye on the Ulster Final. 

[qub la la la]

perhaps donegal men should concentrate on getting out of ballbofey with a win this week before talk of ulster finals. armagh wont be going up the road to make up the numbers. its a disgrace the game isnt in clones and taking armagh all the way to ballybofey could do alot to fire them up!

[illdecide]

Look on the bright side at least most of them we dicks about 16 years of age (the Clones Brigade) won't be falling over the top of you drunk because most of them won't get tickets.

[qub la la la]

Look on the bright side at least most of them we dicks about 16 years of age (the Clones Brigade) won't be falling over the top of you drunk because most of them won't get tickets.

aye but its all good craic, then raceys to laceys after

[ard mhaca abu]

aye but its all good craic, then raceys to laceys after

absolutely nd mini laceys before hand...

[J70]

perhaps donegal men should concentrate on getting out of ballbofey with a win this week before talk of ulster finals. armagh wont be going up the road to make up the numbers. its a disgrace the game isnt in clones and taking armagh all the way to ballybofey could do alot to fire them up!

FFS, somebody somewhere makes a remark about Fermanagh, and suddenly Donegal are taking Armagh for granted! Get a grip will ye. Any Donegal person with half a clue about the game will be nervous about this given our recent history against you. We know we're good enough, especially given the absence of several of your key players, but we've folded on several occasions in recent years when we had the opportunity to beat you, so I doubt if anyone is taking anything for granted. On the other hand, there does seem to be a vibe amongst a few Armagh supporters that it is inevitable that we will lie down again. We'll see. Can't wait for Sunday myself!

As for "taking armagh all the way to ballybofey", this is the first time since 1999 that Donegal supporters haven't had to travel a much longer distance than Armagh for our meetings, so spare us your ridiculous complaints. Ticket numbers is one thing, but crying about the distance you have to travel is just childish.

[illdecide]

Your right its wild craic that when somone throws up right beside you and you get dashed with the vomit. You couldn't beat it, the smell of stale beer and cidar the whole way home