Ulster club championship

[Captain Obvious]

Ballybay in fairness to them stepped it up 2nd half and Crossmaglen had no answer, Paul Finlay near 40 years young showed all of his experience and deserving of the MOTM award.  Lessons to learn for Crossmaglen who have a lot of improving to do defensively if they are to get back close to the level they use to be. 

[Schkite]

Jap proving that class is indeed permanent, he rolled back the years with that performance. It was a deserving MOTM award, but Dessie Ward would have also been worthy of it, he put in a phenomenal shift. The whole Ballybay team were great for that 2nd half especially though.

[Main Street]

Ballybay pride

Considering their available talent, Cross were píss poor in attitude, discipline and tactics.

[thewobbler]

Brilliant from Ballybay.

A lesson in how to make a black card count. Ward and Jap immense.

[imtommygunn]

Ballybay ,despite playing very little in ulster, played like a seasoned side. They were a bit cuter than cross in many ways too which you could see in Clarke's frustrations. Some handy footballers in there and good experience from the Monaghan setup too. Finlay still mobile as well as smart. The cross black that led to the ballynah dominant period was absolutely needless too.

[square_ball]

Would any managers get sacked on poor provincial performances or is it the case we have won county anything else a bonus talking about all provinces.

Stephen Kernan might test that after that Cross performance.

[Walter Cronc]

There's me told!!

[OrchardOrange]

All Cross's slabbering about having Ulster title and beyond in their sights comes back to bite them. Got a complete lesson in football in the 2nd half. You never look beyond your next match.

[Itchy]

Cross struck me as a team that think they are better than they are. Didn't give Ballybay much respect, especially at start of 2nd half when they should have been doing 10mins of slowing match down.

[grounded]

Lads there's a serious underestimating of Kilcoo on here. No team in Ulster will match them for pure dogged hunger and determination to get a result by any means necessary. Their collective experience will stand to them like few other teams in Ulster. The 2 Canavans would be food and drink to the Brannigan boys in Kilcoo if they met.

I quite fancy Ballybay to take Crossmaglen. at 33-1 for Ulster Ballybay has some serious value. Cross have firepower to be sure but they arent as hot as many would have you believe. After McConville and O'Neill they are an ordinary team. Ballybay will be well prepped for them. Thats gonna be a battle.

Watty Grahams will have sights on the Ulster Title and another bite out of Kilcoo but they could get tripped up if they are looking too far ahead. Plus McFaul's loss is huge, no two ways about it.

Great call.

[general_lee]

Cross tonight looked like a team that hadn't won a championship in 10 years.

Ballybay full value for the win, they were exceptional in the second half. Cross came off second best in every department. The naivety from the management was badly exposed. When Cross scored their goal a Ballybay man was down "injured". Basic stuff. When Cross were down to 14 it was BAU. Unbelievable.

Would any managers get sacked on poor provincial performances or is it the case we have won county anything else a bonus talking about all provinces.

Stephen Kernan might test that after that Cross performance.

He'll be away I reckon.

[bennydorano]

Ballybay very deserving winners. I couldn't believe they were 7/2, a team with serious experience and quality.

Cross looked green as grass, they lost 2 County Finals in recent years due to niaviety on the line as much as on the pitch and that game was lost in the 10 minutes after HT when Cross were down a man.. I don't think they have the quality players of previous years (& an emotional looking Aaron Kernan might have played his last), but they will continue to come out of Armagh on a regular basis. It'll be interesting to see what happens on the management front over the winter.

[Schkite]

Ballybay ,despite playing very little in ulster, played like a seasoned side. They were a bit cuter than cross in many ways too which you could see in Clarke's frustrations. Some handy footballers in there and good experience from the Monaghan setup too. Finlay still mobile as well as smart. The cross black that led to the ballynah dominant period was absolutely needless too.

Ballybay imo have been the great underachievers in Monaghan football in modern times, they've had quality footballers for a long time now, but before this year, the 2012 title was their only county championship since the 80s. This group should probably have won at least another couple titles in there somewhere. So while they don't have the provincial experience, they have a talented group there: most notably Finlay, the Wylies, Ward - but also the likes of Kerr, McGuiness's etc

I think they'll give Kilcoo a good rattle.

[tonto1888]

Ballybay worthy winners. Fair play to them. They will give Kilcoo some headaches

[charlieTully]

All Cross's slabbering about having Ulster title and beyond in their sights comes back to bite them. Got a complete lesson in football in the 2nd half. You never look beyond your next match.

Ah that's unfair. Any cross lad I've spoken too were of the thought it's a year or two off yet.