Down v Armagh. June 4th

[bennydorano]

A lot of stock being put in Down halting their slide to Division 3 with a draw v Cork. Cork showed exactly were they are at v Waterford at the weekend.  Whereas Armagh's last day sickener against Tipp should be a great motivational step off point.

[OgraAnDun]

Brick why is it like buying money?On the basis of what?
Armagh just about beat Longford Antrim who both got hammered in the championship drew with sligo and lost to Tipp Laois in division 3
They beat Louth who just about beat Wicklow who finished bottom of division 4
They also beat Offaly without 6 of there best players who are now back
Down to win this by 3-4 buying money
McGeeney won't last the qualifiers

I still think Down will win but you can't use that logic. If you want to go down that road, Down were well beaten by Fermanagh (who were well beaten by Monaghan), and got a grand total of 1pt in the league against Clare and Cork who managed one point wins over footballing superpowers Limerick and Waterford. In a game like this the league doesn't matter one bit.

[Smurfy123]

Fair point Ogra.I just think Down will have a little bit to much for Armagh.The Johnstones O Hagan x2 Mooney Maginn McGovern and O Hanlon are all top players.If they all start on Sunday which they should then we should win.Armagh have some great players also but I just think they are very very suspect at the back.It promises to be a great game

[seafoid]

Down bucked up after losing their first 2 games in the league. It's a local derby. And Geezer is a poor tactician  . I think Armagh with a different manager would do better.

Last year they both went out in the first round of the qualifiers

[Brick Tamlin]

Smurfy who will do all the scoring for Down to win this game?
Where is the heavy firepower in the team?
Down will need to score a few goals I fear because I don't see where they will score 13+ points from.

[illdecide]

Against Armagh's defence Down could score 2-11...easily...

Score line Down 2-11 Armagh 1-14

Armagh to win replay by 5pts

[Smurfy123]

J Johnstone likely to kick 4-5 points
B O Hagan 3 points
R Johnstone 2
D O Hanlon 1-2
C Mooney 1-2
C Maginn 1
D O Hagen 1
K McKernan 1
Then add in 1 or 2 goals from any of the above and can see Down scoring 1-14 in this game but can't see Armagh getting any more than that.
If Down can score 1-14 they will win the game

[Brick Tamlin]

How many points did Jerome Johnston kick off James Morgan the last time the two met?

[Smurfy123]

What's that got to do with the Down v Armagh game?
Sure Chris McKaigue scored 4 points off D Connolly a few months ago would he do the same against Dublin?Jerome also scored 2-5 off Drew Wylie in the club championship a few seasons ago doubt he would do the same against a better Monaghan
Crossmaglen went onto win 2 all irelands this Armagh team can't even get out of division 3
Tipp scored 3 goals
Longford 3 goals
Sligo 2 goals
Loais 2-3 goals

[Brick Tamlin]

No youre right, what was I thinking?
The fact that arguably Armagh's best defender has already came out on top against arguably Down's best forward has absolutely nothing to do with the game this weekend when they could be potentially matched up again. Nothing...nada.

[tonto1888]

Lads we may give up. Not content with being the only true celtic fan in the board, Tony is also the only true Armagh fan. Are you even going to the game Tony?

How do you work that out?

Ah sure I'm just taking the mick out his posts here and the celtic thread

[Smurfy123]

Kilcoo v Crossmaglen has absolutely no relevance in what happens the Sunday.
None whatsoever.
Morgan may have got the better of him before that doesn't automatically mean that's going to happen again
Who have you down to mark O Hagan by the way?Vernon?
Field day for O Hagen

[tonto1888]

Seriously I'd struggle to name 5 current Down players.I'll be there,there will be a big crowd,but it's a shame that neither team has much to look forward to this summer.

Go to the game Tony. Hopefully enjoy it and sure we will worry about what comes next when it comes next

[Brick Tamlin]

Kilcoo v Crossmaglen has absolutely no relevance in what happens the Sunday.
None whatsoever.
Morgan may have got the better of him before that doesn't automatically mean that's going to happen again
Who have you down to mark O Hagan by the way?Vernon?
Field day for O Hagen

Kilcoo v Cross has no relevance youre right, but an individual battle between two players does and we've already seen the result of that battle first day out so it gives a decent indication of things.
Shea Heffron or Paul Hughes would likely be matched to O'Hagan.
Who will mark Jamie Clarke, Campbell, Oisin O'Neill, Rory Grugan, Murnin?

Down simply don't have the same array of quality that Armagh do.
A lot more will have to go right for Down to win this game than it will for Armagh.

[brokencrossbar1]

The problem Armagh will have will be securing primary possession round the middle of the field. There is no point having an array of forward without the ball. The team that can convert middle third possession to good ball into the forward lines will win. That may seem pretty obvious but that's the fulcrum of any game and that is where I think Armagh may struggle