Ulster Senior Football Club Championship 2011

[Orior]

BCB,

Couple of questions,

Pretty obvious,  but do the Cross mangment focus totally on kick passing? Eerything yesterday was off the boot and it is great to watch.  Takes some fitness too to play that type of football.

Also,  Has Stephen Kenan being called into the county this year? Thought he controlled the game yesterday and is probably Cross best player this year.

On yeserdays game,  Cross never panicked.  When Ballinderry got the goal,  they just ploughed away and nearly responded with a goal themselves.  Their defence is still a bit suspect.  James Morgan had a rat game as did Paul McKeown.  Thought O'Callaghan was lucky enough to stay on the field with some clumsy tackles but he is turning into the Donaldson type player, not letting anyone down the middle which is working.

Yes Joxer, they do an awful lot of work on kick passing, its the way the game is coached throughout the club so it is not that hard to keep it going.  Also their fitness training is something else.

I would imagine SK will be asked onto the county and probably will go because the one thing about all the Kernans is that although Cross is no 1 in their eyes, Armagh is a very close no 2 and they are very proud county men.

PMK and James had quieter games yesterday but importantly they won a few very crucial balls at crucial times.  Danny and Fiddler in the HB line are old fashioned Cross half backs, like JD as you say and they don't ask questions, they just give answers!!!  They will though need to pick their game up for Burren.

Stephen Kernan was soloing towards goal yesterday and did a sort Ronaldo feet shuffle to get past the last man. That was the first time I saw anything like that on the gaelic field. Unfortunately he ran out of space to get a shot in, but great skill from Stephen.

[OverThePostsAWide]

Was sludden that bad that he deserved to get put on his arse after the game by the sub?

Sloppy writing Mont. Doesn't matter how bad a referee might be, nothing should merit him being put on his arse. That can't be repeated enough.

I thought Sludden was good today. He was as fair and consistant as you could reasonably expect a referee to be in fast and furious Ulster semi-final in the middle of November. Ballinderry and Crossmaglen played their part in a match generally devoid of cynicism or malice. McKenna's play acting was the only disappointing part for me. He's better than that and it was unnecessary as Sludden had already seen Harney's reaction and he was (rightly) walking anyway.

[Mont]

In relation to Sludden, I thought he did very well.  He got all the big calls right, 2 sendings off were right, penalty seemed like a right decision and even though he favoured Ballinderry slightly in the early stages of the second half it wasn't too bad.  I think he handled the game well but he was helped by 2 sets of players who went about the game the right way with plenty of hard hitting which rarely went over the edge.  I certainly wouldn't have any complaints about him.

I didn't see the any incidents on the sideline, which physio was it? Heavy lad or thin lad?  Also was McKindless having a shouldering match with Tony or Gareth?  In fairness to him I could think of easier things to be at than that

foul started outside the area for the penalty so should nvr a been a pen. think ref gave it because it was so cynical whn the lad was clean through.

the thin physio - not the 1st time member of cross sideline team has been involved in games - umpires/linesmen/county board officials/reserve ref should all go 2 specsavers

Mckindless and tony mac were at it. b'derry chairman was trying to calm mckindless down - lighter job wud suit him anyway

how r armagh good enough to leave s kernan off the panel never mind the 1st 15 is crazy. was there something about murtagh not having him on it because he has no time for him? maybe grimley will see past it. are the armagh subs all that good and would they all be able to pull the strings for the best club team in ulster? if so ye lads should have more all irelands

[Mont]

Was sludden that bad that he deserved to get put on his arse after the game by the sub?

Sloppy writing Mont. Doesn't matter how bad a referee might be, nothing should merit him being put on his arse. That can't be repeated enough.

point taken altho i didnt think he was all that bad. what i ment was on some occasions lads lose the run of themselves if the ref is shite (louth v meath) - not saying their reaction is right - it isnt but sludden didnt do much wrong for b'derry lads to be pissed off with him.
they shud be more pissed off with their first half performance and harney being a fool.

maybe sum people want this wiped under the table

[OverThePostsAWide]

foul started outside the area for the penalty...

Agreed

...so should nvr a been a pen.

Disagree. The referee played advantage and when Cross continued to foul him inside the large parallelogram he gave a penalty 

[Any craic]

There's 2 minutes of hilites from a really decent game between Roslea and Burren here - http://ulster.gaa.ie/

[screenmachine]

I don't think there can be any debate about the penalty, it was pretty clear cut in my eyes.  On the penalty, would there be any backing for a change in the rules where in the situation like yesterday where Kernan is clearly the last man and denying a goal scoring opportunity that the last man tackle policy used in soccer could apply and that player be red carded.  It seems to becoming more regular, especially with the better teams, that there is a ruthless approach to stopping shots on goal and they will happily take a yellow card by dragging a man down or taking him out with no intention of playing the ball when he is running through on goal.  If there was the possibility of a red it may remove this cynical approach some players seem to have adopted.

On the game itself, Ballinderry certainly produced some performance in the second half but just couldn't get the equaliser to really put the pressure on Cross.  Some going with 14 men in fairness.  In the first half especially Cross made it look terribly easy.  They always had an option at about the halfway line on both sidelines where they kicked the ball to out of defence.  These players won practically every ball that came their way, turned and kicked it into the forwards who won the lions share of ball as well and done serious damage in the first half at least along with players running through.  A rather simple but devastating approach when the running is timed right and the quality of ball is that good.  For Ballinderry, Muldoon obviously stood out and I thought Darren Conway had a great game as well as the two keepers who can have no real complaints with their performances.

It's a pity we have to listen to the BBC's local headline news of a mini riot in Tyrone rather than the great game at Casement Park yesterday. 

[OverThePostsAWide]

On the penalty, would there be any backing for a change in the rules where in the situation like yesterday where Kernan is clearly the last man and denying a goal scoring opportunity that the last man tackle policy used in soccer could apply and that player be red carded.

I wouldn't be in favour of it. Too open to interpretation and controversy. Yellow card is fine - he can only do it once 

[haranguerer]

Stephen Kernan was soloing towards goal yesterday and did a sort Ronaldo feet shuffle to get past the last man. That was the first time I saw anything like that on the gaelic field. Unfortunately he ran out of space to get a shot in, but great skill from Stephen.

I hope you're not talking about the time he went on a solo ran, and then couldnt make up his mind what to do with the last man, went one way, fell the other, and was blew for overcarrying??!

[gander]

Stephen Kernan was soloing towards goal yesterday and did a sort Ronaldo feet shuffle to get past the last man. That was the first time I saw anything like that on the gaelic field. Unfortunately he ran out of space to get a shot in, but great skill from Stephen.

I hope you're not talking about the time he went on a solo ran, and then couldnt make up his mind what to do with the last man, went one way, fell the other, and was blew for overcarrying??!

Think that might be what he's talking about!  It was a nice bit of skill to go round the man but then he just fell over himself

[Orior]

Stephen Kernan was soloing towards goal yesterday and did a sort Ronaldo feet shuffle to get past the last man. That was the first time I saw anything like that on the gaelic field. Unfortunately he ran out of space to get a shot in, but great skill from Stephen.

I hope you're not talking about the time he went on a solo ran, and then couldnt make up his mind what to do with the last man, went one way, fell the other, and was blew for overcarrying??!

Emm, yes, he needed one more step to make up his mind, lol

[yellowcard]

How was Paudie Hughes (from Crossmaglen) allowed to referee a game involving a potential opponent for his club in an Ulster final. The reason I'm asking is that he sent off the Burren captain which if he is suspended for the final would have a big bearing on the outcome of that match. I'm not suggesting that he did or didn't warrant a straight red but why the Ulster council would appoint Hughes for this match is poor foresight on their part.

[sammymaguire]

Good question, but seeing some of the soft frees he gave to Burren yesterday, he might have been a bit more lenient on Roslea considering they would have been even less of a threat to Cross.

I think he done ok throughout the 60 minutes

[Applesisapples]

His reference point was Mickey Linden from years ago but Sean Kelly got quite a bit of treatment the last day too.

Maybe even before the throw-in too. Sean Kelly was knocked into once if not twice as Crossmaglen were running out through the St Gall's guard of honour. Maybe it was accidental. Bad form from Cross if not.

The "Guard of Honour" was so narrow that a player had just enough room to run out, deliberately so to intimidate. Backfired though.

[Applesisapples]

Cross players must be watching too much cross channel soccer - nice little bit of play acting to get the Ballinderry boy sent off. Shame that this diving is now part of our great game.

Can't believe how poor Ballinderry were in the first half - clueless!!

His first yellow should have been straight red, the second was also a strike and the rule says striking or attempting to strike.