McKenna Cup 2024

[el_cuervo_fc]

http://www.irishnews.com/irishnews/597/5776/2009/1/22/608265_369986309226Donegalra.html

Donegal rain supreme

Dr McKenna Cup semi-final Armagh 2-9 Donegal 1-14


John Joe Doherty is closing in on his first trophy as Donegal manager, but the attacking class of Stephen Griffin and David Walsh would have counted for nothing had corner-back Paddy McDaid not taken centre stage as the late, late hero at Healy Park last night.

Ronan Clarke looked odds-on to blast home what would have been a match-winning goal in a dramatic

finish, but McDaid's stoppage-time block saved the day, and sent Tir Chonaill through to the Gaelic Life Dr McKenna Cup final.

There were calls for a penalty from the Armagh players and fans, but Derry referee Aidan McAlynn got the call spot on, and this was the final act in a dramatic and generously

entertaining encounter played in atrocious conditions.

A more experienced Donegal side always looked capable of holding sway, but their failure to turn periods of dominance into significant blocks of scores almost cost them dearly, after Armagh struck for second half goals through Kevin O'Rourke and substitute Paddy McKeever.

Doherty is happy to have another game ahead of the NFL, but in his post-match musings, he appeared more concerned with the big League opener against Kerry on Sunday week than with this Saturday's McKenna Cup decider against either Down or Queen's.

"Kerry is going to be a very, very tough opener, and we'll know more about our team coming back from Kerry than we will anytime up to then," said the 1992 All-Ireland-winning corner-back.

"Where else would be better to play football than down in Kerry, so we're looking forward to it."

Three games unbeaten in 2009,

Doherty is encouraged by the way his team is shaping up, with a handful of newcomers making their mark.

"I'm happy in so far as the marker has been laid down, the hard work will have to be done. It's encouraging so far," he added.

"There's a lot of injured players who will be coming back into the set-up over the next couple of weeks."

A constant drizzle left the Healy Park surface greasy, and difficult for the players to hold their footing, but Donegal made light of the conditions to perform with some poise in a first half that saw them shoot 10 points, all but one of them from play.

The elusive Kevin McMenamin was a constant thorn in the side of the Orchard defence, always out in front to claim possession and offload to effect.

David Walsh was the chief beneficiary of 'Wappa's' impact, hitting three points, with full-forward Stephen Griffin also claiming three from play and tagging on a free as well.

Armagh had their own opportunist in Joe Feeney, who twice capitalised on slack defending to hit two of his three first half scores from play.

It was Donegal, with Neil Gallagher and Brendan Boyle making an impact in midfield, who had the better of the opening 25 minutes' action, building up a 0-8 to 0-4 lead.

But some uncertainty at the back allowed Peadar Toal to keep Peter McDonnell's side in touch from frees.

Barry Monaghan, on a milestone evening which saw him make his 100th Donegal appearance, can count himself somewhat fortunate to escape a yellow card for a couple of rash challenges on roving Orchard playmaker Ronan Clarke.

Two Griffin points late in the half maintained Donegal's four points advantage, but a Clarke free narrowed the gap to three, the men from Tir Chonaill ahead by 0-10 to 0-7 at the break.

Clarke reverted to his accustomed full-forward role after Feeney went off with an injury, and provided the decoy run which allowed Kevin O'Rourke to drift in and lob a delightful goal which left just a point between the sides with 50 minutes played.

Donegal had a goal chance moments later when Griffin slipped a clever pass to Walsh, but Philip McEvoy was quickly off his line to smother the Naomh Brid man's shot.

John Joe Doherty's men did net in the 57th minute when Walsh picked up a wayward clearance to cut in from the right and rifle the ball home. Moments later, however, his game was over as he hobbled off with a leg injury.

There was more drama at the other end when Clarke was hauled down going for goal. He took the penalty himself, but saw his shot saved by Paul Durcan, with substitute Paddy McKeever in like a flash to net from the rebound.

But corner-back McDaid emerged as the match-winner with a superb block on Clarke as he bore down on goal in the dying moments.

MATCH STATS

Donegal: P Durcan; J Gallagher, R Sweeney, P McDaid; C Byrne (0-1), B Monaghan,

E McGee; N Gallagher, B Boyle (0-2);

C Bonner, C Dunne, R Kavanagh;

K McMenamin (0-2, 0-1 free), S Griffin

(0-4, 0-1 free), D Walsh (1-4).

Subs: M Doherty (0-1, '45') for Bonner (52), L Thompson for Walsh (59)

Armagh: P McEvoy; G Smyth, V Martin,

B Shannon; C Rafferty, T McClelland,

B McDonald; J Lavery, S O'Neill;

M O'Rourke, B Mallon; P Toal (0-3, 0-3 frees); J Feeney (0-3), R Clarke (0-2, 0-2 frees), K O'Rourke (1-1).

Subs: M Mackin for Martin (33), N O'Rourke for Smyth (33), P McKeever (1-0) for Feeney (51), B Toner for McDonald (50)

Referee: A McAlynn (Derry)

[bennydorano]

Went to Omagh myself last night, pleasantly surprised as the game was very entertaining.  Strange game as both sets of forwards played well whereas defences and MF's on both sides were pretty poor.

Thought maybe only Chris Rafferty and Shannon looked like they might have a future in county football although I doubt either will be troubling McDonnell come the summer.  I thought McClelland was awful, might have made one or two decent interceptions but he was cleaned by and large.  Mal Mackin seemed to play CHB when brought on and he had another shocker, I seriously doubt if he'll ever kick another ball for the county.  A definite second best in MF, Lavery's first game in a year, so I'd say there's more to come from him, O'Neill did some dirty work but I doubt he has a future at this level.

The forwards seemed to function pretty well despite the same oul sh1te tactics, nearly everyone contributed.  Feeney took 3 good points in the first half (although he should have passed for a goal chance on one) and went off with a shoulder injury.  Peadar had an excellent first half, contributed less in the second but was still good.  Kevin O'Rourke's goal was sublime and I think he got a good point as well, having watched O'Rourke a fair bit before, he could be the one to make a breakthrough.  Clarke worked like a dog the whole game – very good.

Have to say I thought it was a blatant penalty at the end.  The Irish News said a well timed tackle, to me it looked like it was a tackle from behind and secondly as Clarke was about to pull the trigger the Donegal man kicked the ball from his hand.  Maybe I was seeing things.

[Uladh]

Maybe its because i haven't seen much live football lately but jaysus i really enjoyed the game last night. it wasn't the very highest quality but the commitent and competitiveness was top drawer. looking at the impact of the new rules, it makes for attacking football but for someone who loves the physical aspect and appreciates the art of the tackle, its a nonsense. all over the pitch players simply shadowed their men. very rarely were there committed tackles and when martin o'rourke fractionally mistimed a shoulder charge he was yellow carded. not for me i'm afraid.

From an armagh perspective, the full back line was very shaky. martin and smith were cleaned out, though i thought shannon stuck to a very difficult task manfully. smith is just not county material. martin was faring better at half back. McEvoy kicked the ball out rightly i thought... certainly further than Durcan who's kicks were very high but covered no distance. he also made a couple of good interceptions and a great save at a forward's feet. mcclelland had a shocker. he was getting badly exposed at 6 and the move to 3 didn't help him much. wing backs were very ordinary altogether and were neither shutting their men down nor pushing forward. Midfield was poor. i just don't know about Lavery and ONeill appears to lack strength and confidence.

the lack of ball being won probably sucked the half forwards further towards the middle but to little effect. o'rourke and toal worked and battled hard but nothing constructive came off either of them. mallon was very disappointing for me. he spent the whole night carrying ball out of his own defence and consequently created nothing and wasn't within 80 yards of a shooting opportunity. clarke really played centre forward to limited success. his quality is lost in the malaise and any good touches weren't as constructive so far from goal. he was excellent when he went inside in the second half. its a no brainer for me. clarke plays full forward.

Feeney was the real plus of the night. won loads of ball in front and took his man on constantly to good effect. three neat points from play added up to a great first half from him. very disappointing to see him go off injured early in the second half. i wasn't as impressed with o'rourke i have to say. i thought he was hiding in the first half and didn't want the ball but he showed more hunger after the break. his point was excellent, as was his goal if he meant it, but he wasted a lot of good oppportunities by not passing or running down blind alleys.

Donegal played their usual fluid running game with measured low ball into a very sharp and islolated front 3. McMenamin was very sharp and held onto some difficult ball. the two men who impressed me most were conall dunne at 11, who everything went through and particularly Griffin at full forward who Armagh could do nothing with. walsh had a good first half. Not great from the rest but obviously enough to win the game!

[TacadoirArdMhacha]

All in all not a bad McKenna Cup from an Armagh point of view. Don't think any of the defenders really showed up, apart from Donaghy looking the part at FB. None of the midfielders tried did much to increase their reputations either. But the area that we've struggled in most in recent years, the forward line, is also the area that a few prospects seemed to have shown up for us in the last few games. Henderson, Kevin O'Rourke, Toal and Feeney (if fit) all look like they could step up to the next level, which would be fantastic. Even if we can only bring one of these guys through over the league it will aid our chances no end by taking some of the scoring pressure away from Ronan and Stevie.

Don't really agree with that AFS. Even though we made the knock out stages, I've been a bit underwhelmed by the 4 matches so far. Defensively we've been very poor. Of all the players we've tried defensively, very few have made any impression and none really look like adding to our options. I suppose Rafferty's been reasonable enough and to be fair, while he had a poor match against Antrim, Neil O'Rourke did well when he came on last night. Did Feeney scores 0-3? Was that mainly in the first 15 minutes as I was late arriving (traffic coming out of belfast was wild). Kevin O'Rourke's goal was nearly worth the trip itself and he scored a great point as well.

My initial reaction at the end was that it was a penalty but I was a brave bit away. Would have been a bit harsh on Donegal though their goal was an absolute gift from McClelland who otherwise has looked solid enough.

[Uladh]

I thought it was a good tackle at the end but it was very hard to see

[AFS]

All in all not a bad McKenna Cup from an Armagh point of view. Don't think any of the defenders really showed up, apart from Donaghy looking the part at FB. None of the midfielders tried did much to increase their reputations either. But the area that we've struggled in most in recent years, the forward line, is also the area that a few prospects seemed to have shown up for us in the last few games. Henderson, Kevin O'Rourke, Toal and Feeney (if fit) all look like they could step up to the next level, which would be fantastic. Even if we can only bring one of these guys through over the league it will aid our chances no end by taking some of the scoring pressure away from Ronan and Stevie.

Don't really agree with that AFS. Even though we made the knock out stages, I've been a bit underwhelmed by the 4 matches so far. Defensively we've been very poor. Of all the players we've tried defensively, very few have made any impression and none really look like adding to our options. I suppose Rafferty's been reasonable enough and to be fair, while he had a poor match against Antrim, Neil O'Rourke did well when he came on last night. Did Feeney scores 0-3? Was that mainly in the first 15 minutes as I was late arriving (traffic coming out of belfast was wild). Kevin O'Rourke's goal was nearly worth the trip itself and he scored a great point as well.

My initial reaction at the end was that it was a penalty but I was a brave bit away. Would have been a bit harsh on Donegal though their goal was an absolute gift from McClelland who otherwise has looked solid enough.

Really? As I've said I don't think many of the defenders or midfielders tried look like they're gonna trouble the incumbents, but were there not enough bright sparks from the few forwards that I've mentioned to encourage you? We need new forwards more than anything and I reckon 1 or 2 of those lads could be the real deal.

[corn02]

All in all not a bad McKenna Cup from an Armagh point of view. Don't think any of the defenders really showed up, apart from Donaghy looking the part at FB. None of the midfielders tried did much to increase their reputations either. But the area that we've struggled in most in recent years, the forward line, is also the area that a few prospects seemed to have shown up for us in the last few games. Henderson, Kevin O'Rourke, Toal and Feeney (if fit) all look like they could step up to the next level, which would be fantastic. Even if we can only bring one of these guys through over the league it will aid our chances no end by taking some of the scoring pressure away from Ronan and Stevie.

Don't really agree with that AFS. Even though we made the knock out stages, I've been a bit underwhelmed by the 4 matches so far. Defensively we've been very poor. Of all the players we've tried defensively, very few have made any impression and none really look like adding to our options. I suppose Rafferty's been reasonable enough and to be fair, while he had a poor match against Antrim, Neil O'Rourke did well when he came on last night. Did Feeney scores 0-3? Was that mainly in the first 15 minutes as I was late arriving (traffic coming out of belfast was wild). Kevin O'Rourke's goal was nearly worth the trip itself and he scored a great point as well.

My initial reaction at the end was that it was a penalty but I was a brave bit away. Would have been a bit harsh on Donegal though their goal was an absolute gift from McClelland who otherwise has looked solid enough.

Really? As I've said I don't think many of the defenders or midfielders tried look like they're gonna trouble the incumbents, but were there not enough bright sparks from the few forwards that I've mentioned to encourage you? We need new forwards more than anything and I reckon 1 or 2 of those lads could be the real deal.

Based on the one game I saw and various reports, I have to go with AFS on this, but there is not much in it.

The two keepers have both impressed which is good.

Defence wise? A lot of players have had varying degrees of success. By reports, Shannon has had two good games in a row, which will obviously help.

I know Smyth has been seen as poor but in the Queen's game he was excellent. Rafferty and Donnelly also impressed me as well. Donaghy seems a cert for the number 3 spot, a class act and, although he was poor last night, McClelllnad has looked good.

Midfield – biggest problem area for me. Everybody seemed to do ok, but nobody had a stormer or stood out significantly. There was a window open and McDonnell has often said he needs more midfielders. People have been steadt but, realistically, we needed one or two to have class games. That said, it is January football and if you make a couple of clean catches you are doing ok. Boys are not sharp yet so nobody can be expected to dominate.

Forward wise – The two O'Rourkes and Henderson have impressed and all three will be confident of pushing on from here.

Overall the League will tell a much bigger tale than the McKenna Cup. It is an indicator rather than a decider. See how the lads do in the league and then judge.

[corn02]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/puffbox/hyperpuff/wide_site/rugby_union/ulster/7845053.stm

Looked a good tackle to me. Knowing Barnsey, eh certainly meant that chip.

[southdown]

How much will the admission be tonight for the Down game?

[5 Sams]

I'd imagine it'll be the same....£8 or 10 yo yos

[AFS]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/puffbox/hyperpuff/wide_site/rugby_union/ulster/7845053.stm

Looked a good tackle to me. Knowing Barnsey, eh certainly meant that chip.

Fair play to BBC for those highlights, you couldn't really ask for any more for whats really just a pre-season friendly. All we're asking from them is to do this on a constant basis. I wonder if this wasn't a midweek match when there was f**k all else on, would they have bothered going to the effort though.

[AFS]

Also corn, despite Austin's remarks I reckon that's a definite penalty. The Donegal player doesn't touch the ball and comes down on Clarke's legs instead. That's not a legal tackle, you're supposed to tackle the ball not the man.

[corn02]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/puffbox/hyperpuff/wide_site/rugby_union/ulster/7845053.stm

Looked a good tackle to me. Knowing Barnsey, eh certainly meant that chip.

Fair play to BBC for those highlights, you couldn't really ask for any more for whats really just a pre-season friendly. All we're asking from them is to do this on a constant basis. I wonder if this wasn't a midweek match when there was f**k all else on, would they have bothered going to the effort though.

Yes, more like that please.

[corn02]

Also corn, despite Austin's remarks I reckon that's a definite penalty. The Donegal player doesn't touch the ball and comes down on Clarke's legs instead. That's not a legal tackle, you're supposed to tackle the ball not the man.

I hadn't the sound on, what did Austy say?

It looks like his right hand makes contact with the ball.

[AFS]

Austy also thinks it was a good tackle. I just can't see the Donegal lad making contact with the ball. The way I see it he falls across Clarke, who loses control of the ball as he loses his balance. Doesn't matter a whole pile at the end of the day, just as long as we're not at the wrong end of some of these calls later on this year.