Sam Maguire Group 2 - Galway, Armagh, Tyrone, Westmeath

[Armagh18]

Conversely I wasn't impressed with them at all and think they will need to improve significantly for this weekend. I can't see anything other than a comfortable Galway win.

They're a decent team and deserved at least a draw, but Jesus we were awful. They've some decent footballers, big Heslin is class, Loughlin a good player too and the centre half forward. Don't think they'll get a close to Galway as they did to us though. Galway to win pulling up

[yellowcard]

Armagh carried that hangover from the Ulster final into the match which was not totally unexpected but at least we still somehow managed to eke out a win when we probably looked like a beaten side. The pattern of goals scored coming from last ditch long hopeful balls should tell us something about this team but we still persist with the slow, passive structured build up. Look at previous goals we scored against Donegal and Galway in last years championship and against Galway, Down and Westmeath this season and they have nearly all come from long balls or mishit shots kicked in. We are creating almost zero goal chances from the structured running game. The one major positive is that we managed to come out on the right side of a tight match for a change to hopefully guarantee a place in the last 12. But we are still a very hard watch with our reluctance to press up and play a more energetic direct game. I'd be hopeful that the sight of Tyrone jersey this week will be enough to reignite our season though. They haven't won a meaningful match since the AI final in 2021 and are under huge pressure themselves so if we can come out of Omagh with a win it could help do something similar for us than last seasons win over them.   

[David McKeown]

Conversely I wasn't impressed with them at all and think they will need to improve significantly for this weekend. I can't see anything other than a comfortable Galway win.

They're a decent team and deserved at least a draw, but Jesus we were awful. They've some decent footballers, big Heslin is class, Loughlin a good player too and the centre half forward. Don't think they'll get a close to Galway as they did to us though. Galway to win pulling up

I don't agree. I thought both teams deserved to lose but Armagh were awful tactically and Westmeath still couldn't get over the line. I think any kind of decent team yesterday would have beaten Armagh out of the gate but Westmeath kept them in it. Then couldn't respond even when gifted easy chances late on.

For large parts of yesterday Armagh didn't get press Westmeath who simply played keep ball. Conversely when Armagh put the pressure on they turned them over easily. When the pressure of the clock came Westmeath again wilted missing two easy chances.

I genuinely think there's an oh look plucky division 3 Westmeath thing going on. I can't see them giving Tyrone or Galway a game. Both of whom are a better than Armagh this year and b couldn't play as badly.

[Armagh18]

3 things pissed me off about Armagh at the weekend.
1. Kickouts. Both theirs and ours. We have no plan, no runners looking the ball and Raffertys kicks themselves are ropey at times.

2. Not engaging/pressing up on the opposition, someone posted on the other forum that Westmeath held the ball for something like 14 minutes in the second half in total going back and forward. Surely we could have got contact on a man.

3. Playing Rian O'Neill inside and not kicking the f**king ball to him. One of the best players about, so if you're leaving him in close to goal you need to sicken him with the ball or else get him out the field to get involved. Yes they had a sweeper in but move the ball quick enough and theres not much a sweeper can do.

[Armaghtothebone]

Never seen so little interest in a "championship " game between Tyrone and Armagh.
Tells you everything you need to know about the new format.

[imtommygunn]

I suspect that neither set of supporters are particularly confident going into it so neither want to say too much...

It's an interesting one.

[Armamike]

Don't really fancy us at all going into this one and still suffering from Ulster final blues.

[imtommygunn]

I do wonder do Tyrone fans think the same on their team hence the silence here.

[yellowcard]

Armagh have been under the microscope a bit more due to the number of games we've played but I think Tyrone are under more pressure than Armagh to get a result here. They haven't won a meaningful match since they won the AI title and have suffered a lot of player defections since then. If we can beat them here then they will be needing to beat Westmeath to make the last 12 which is certainly no given. I wouldn't be totally confident of beating them but I think its a good time to play them and a good match to try and reignite our season. There was very little between the 2 sides in the League encounter when we were missing Rian O'Neill and Murnin and I don't expect there will be much in this match either.     

[Lamh Dhearg Alba]

Never seen so little interest in a "championship " game between Tyrone and Armagh.
Tells you everything you need to know about the new format.

I suppose there has never been an Armagh and Tyrone championship game where both sides have already lost a game and can lose this one too and still progress. No surprise in that respect that the build up feels less intense and I suspect the match will too in comparison to some of the clashes of the past. That said, I'm sure it will be hectic enough when Saturday evening comes around.

Once again hard to know where Tyrone really are. League was up and down, Monaghan game in Ulster was up and down, even Galway game had positives but undermined completely by poor discipline. And then further questions since with more departures from panel. Tyrone were in a position in 2021 where they could have got even better. Unfortunately they have gone the other way. Still well capable of beating anyone if they get their tails up but it's extremely hard to see them doing that over a few games now. And they could just as easily lose the next two and exit before the knockout.

I'm still not entirely sure about Armagh either. Didn't beat anybody of note to reach Ulster final and I felt that was a poor quality encounter too. Perhaps Saturday will see them find a bit of spark and catapult themselves on for a few weeks but I do wonder is this a clash between one side who have dropped out of the elite pack and another who aren't going to be capable of getting into that group.

[Fuzzman]

I suppose Tyrone fans are mirroring their team in that they've not done much recently to get excited about.
The 2021 win was well celebrated but that huge fan hunger seems to have abated and the passion isn't there any more.
A lot of the current team have been there for years and maybe aren't enjoying their football as much as they used to. They only seem to play well when backed into a corner or when they fancy it.
There were even signs of this in the 2021 final when they went long periods without scoring.

Armagh however had a good run last year and their fans found something to cheer about.
That chaotic comeback v Galway was typical of what they can do and they felt they can match it with the top teams again.
I think their performance v Derry in the final showed they are still at a decent level and in my eyes capable of getting to the quarters.
I'm hoping Tyrone finally show their hand on Saturday and if the sight of the orange men in Omagh don't wake them up, nothing will.

[seafoid]

Tyrone are better than Armagh.

[naka]

Tyrone are better than Armagh.

definitely not much between them

[larryin89]

Any truth in Tyrone panel members playing club football over the weekend just gone ?

[bennydorano]

I think we are on a sticky wicket here, go full pelt and get beat and there's another pick me up required for Galway. I'm honestly not sure we'd be any worse off by tanking both games and concentrating on the preliminary QF. It's not going to happen tho but the 'professional' approach would be to play the percentages and do just that. It'll be clearer after this weekend I suppose, we could be vying for top spot or anxiously watching Westmeath's last game, Westmeath not being whipping boys could certainly complicate things.