Ard Mhacha v Dún na nGall - 26ú Meitheamh

[bennydorano]

Monaghan and Donegal didn't have interim AI champs at U18 and U21 grades - should have been another U21 as well a few years back.  I think we've reason to be optimistic about the future.

[Shortso79]

Armagh get Donegal qualifier

Armagh boss Paddy O'Rourke told BBC Sport on Sunday night that Ronan Clarke will "definitely not" be in the frame for the Donegal game.

Clarke has suffered an apparent setback in his recovery from an Achilles injury and O'Rourke said that the former All-Star's foot is in plaster again.

"He'll be out of football for some time. I'm not sure for how long but he'll not be playing against Donegal," said O'Rourke.

The Armagh manager also confirmed that the county will be appealing against Brian Mallon's controversial sending-off against Monaghan.

Mallon picked up an automatic one-month ban for a high challenge on Rory Woods which is in line to rule the Armagh forward out of the qualifier.

O'Rourke further added that there were suggestions that a couple of his players had picked up knocks in weekend club games but that these reports were as yet unconfirmed.

O'Rourke said that Armagh are expecting the game to be played in Crossmaglen.

"It might have to be all-ticket but we certainly believe that Cross should be the venue for this game given that we were first out of the hat.

"We expect it to be a very tough and close game.

"Everything went right for us in Letterkenny and everything went wrong for them."


http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/northern_ireland/gaelic_games/8737968.stm

[borderfox]

Id be confident of a win if the game is played in cross

[Maguire01]

Why has it taken Armagh so long to get the Athletic Grounds sorted?

[Orior]

Why has it taken Armagh so long to get the Athletic Grounds sorted?

Cause they're useless feckers?

[balladmaker]

Let's forget about Ronan Clarke for this year, even of he was declared fit, he has been out for so long it would take some time to be match fit.

Would be very important for Armagh to have the game in Cross, not that Cross is a fortress for Armagh, but the atmosphere of a partisan home crowd in the Championship should not be underestimated.

[StGallsGAA]

        If Armagh do lose this, where do we go from here ?

Sorry to bring it up again....But hopefully the county board will move heaven and earth to get Grimley.

Grimley had his opportunity and turned it down, move on.  I really think he's letting someone else do the rebuilding and he'll slip in in a two or three years when hopefully we should be realistic challengers again.

As I pointed out on the other thread,  Grimley was met last week and sounded out.

[Maguire01]

As I pointed out on the other thread,  Grimley was met last week and sounded out.

I'd be dubious about reports of what Grimley supposedly said, especially when with another team in mid season when things are going well.

[J70]

Bollocks to this anyway... we just can't handle the Armagh physical game and I will be seriously shocked if we come through this tie. I do not expect us to stand off Armagh like we did in the recent league game and they're not quite Cork in terms of melding the physical game with superb attacking, but I don't see too many ways for us to win. Throw in the fact that McFadden will have to be brought back into the team in place of Molloy, and most of the time he'll do little in a game like this. Would be a nice evening for him to get into one of his occasional unmarkable moods though and take a bit of the pressure and cover away from Murphy. But I thought we played decent enough, given the personnel we have, in the Down game, and even that probably just won't be good enough. While we owe them, Armagh have serious amends to make as well, so I'm very pessimistic. The last team I wanted! And I'm not saying that to get the excuses in or save face: I thought we had a great chance against Down beforehand, and I said so (I still think we should have got something from the game) and I would do so this time if I really thought that. But more often than not the best we can do is lose by a couple of points. We were lucky in 2007 with a soft goal, even though we came back well in a match we looked beaten in, but even when we've played well against them such as the 2006 Ulster final, the 2005 first round drawn game, 03 AI semi and even 02 Ulster Final, we just can't get across the line.

[Schkite]

As I pointed out on the other thread,  Grimley was met last week and sounded out.

I'd be dubious about reports of what Grimley supposedly said, especially when with another team in mid season when things are going well.

He'll be with Monaghan again next year I'd say.

[JMohan]

As I pointed out on the other thread,  Grimley was met last week and sounded out.

I'd be dubious about reports of what Grimley supposedly said, especially when with another team in mid season when things are going well.

That's true

However there's no way there's another 50k in Monaghan for him next year

[AFS]

Shite draw as usual. Seven years now since we faced a non-Ulster team in the qualifiers and three times in a row that we've faced arguably the toughest team in the pot. If we get them to Cross I'd be confident enough, but elsewhere it's anyone's guess. We're not going to be lifting any cups this year, but it's vital that we win this game. Another early exit will put a lot of pressure on the manager heading into next year. The lack of Championship games in the last couple of years can not be helping the development of our younger players either.

[GrandMasterFlash]

What's the capacity of XMG? Is it 10k did I read last week? I'd imagine that should be just about ample. Lads, I wouldn't be too despondent, whichever team comes through this will be back on track and could go on a bit of a run. Think of it as an USFC game with the winners meeting a beaten semi-finalist i.e. parity restored. Should be a good contest and would like to see it in Cross. It's a shame for Armagh to have to relinquish home advantage twice in the one year..

[AFS]

What's the capacity of XMG? Is it 10k did I read last week? I'd imagine that should be just about ample. Lads, I wouldn't be too despondent, whichever team comes through this will be back on track and could go on a bit of a run. Think of it as an USFC game with the winners meeting a beaten semi-finalist i.e. parity restored. Should be a good contest and would like to see it in Cross. It's a shame for Armagh to have to relinquish home advantage twice in the one year..

I'd say the capacity would be fine, but it could be the number of seats or disabled access or some red tape issue like that which prevents the game from going ahead there.

[GrandMasterFlash]

What's the capacity of XMG? Is it 10k did I read last week? I'd imagine that should be just about ample. Lads, I wouldn't be too despondent, whichever team comes through this will be back on track and could go on a bit of a run. Think of it as an USFC game with the winners meeting a beaten semi-finalist i.e. parity restored. Should be a good contest and would like to see it in Cross. It's a shame for Armagh to have to relinquish home advantage twice in the one year..

I'd say the capacity would be fine, but it could be the number of seats or disabled access or some red tape issue like that which prevents the game from going ahead there.

  True.. Inniskeen capacity is circa 6k but GAAHQ fixed it at 3k for the NFL game aganist Tyrone. Bureaucrats!!