Armagh Club football & hurling

[bennydorano]

I thought the defence was dodgy enough with Ciaran McKeever and JP Donnelly probably the best, thought Ferris was skinned every time. 

Surely Ferris (number 5) was playing at CHF?

Paudie McCreesh was number 5, Ferris was 9, i think.

[David McKeown]

Ahh if it was McCreesh at number 5 then I might have been wrong on my feelings on Ferris.  I didnt get a program yesterday so I was going on the fact people beside me where saying Ferris was number 5

[full back]

Anyone got the team, scorers & subs that came on

[lurganblue]

armagh squad numbers from orchardcounty

1. Ciaran McKinney (Pearse Og)
2. Brendan Donaghy (Clonmore)
3. J P Donnelly (Harps)
4. Paul Duffy (Pearse Og)
5. Martin Ferris (Carrickcruppen)
6. Stefan Forker (Maghery)
7. Philip Loughran (Claudy)
8. Tony McClelland (Granemore)
9. Gerard McCreesh (Mullaghbawn)
10. Paudie McCreesh (St Patricks)
11. Steven McDonnell (Killeavy)
12. Kieran McGeeney (Na Fianna)
13. Paul McGrane (Ballyhegan)
14. Ciaran McKeever (St Paticks)
15. Paddy McKeever (ballyhegan)
16. Alan Hearty (Crossmaglen)
17. Enda McNulty (Ballyboden)
18. Neil McSherry (Whitecross)
19. Malachy Mackin (St Patricks)
20. Andy Mallon (Pearse Og)
21. Ciaran Toner (Granemore)
22. Kevin O'Rourke (St Michaels)
23. Martin O'Rourke (Dromintee)
24. Gareth Swift (Harps)
25. Peadar Toal (Harps)

[Goats Do Shave]

                  A Hearty

Mallon          McNulty          JP

McClelland    McKeever        McCreesh (Switched with JP though, maybe half time?)

          Nippy          Toner

Toal              Ferris           MOR

Stevie          Donaghy        Forker


Not sure who came off for Paddy McKeever....Might have been Donaghy?

[bennydorano]

Looks like my mistake then if those numbers are correct .  Must have been McCreesh who I thought was getting skinned.

[Smokin Joe]

I thought the defence was dodgy enough with Ciaran McKeever and JP Donnelly probably the best, thought Ferris was skinned every time. 

Surely Ferris (number 5) was playing at CHF?

Paudie McCreesh was number 5, Ferris was 9, i think.

Afraid not Benny.  When I was at school F came before M in the alphabet

Benny, that was posted before I seen your last post!!!

[Smokin Joe]

                  A Hearty

Mallon          McNulty          JP

McClelland    McKeever        McCreesh (Switched with JP though, maybe half time?)

          Nippy          Toner

Toal              Ferris           MOR

Stevie          Donaghy        Forker


Not sure who came off for Paddy McKeever....Might have been Donaghy?

Forker made way for Paddy Mac.

[brokencrossbar1]

I picked this off orchardcounty.It gives s good insight into what it takes to succeed.

Cross purpose
Michael Foley

Donal Murtagh heads to the Ulster club football final with high hopes of bringing the glory days back to Crossmaglen


Donal Murtagh charts the changing seasons from the sheds beside Mannan Castle Golf Club, from the burnt fairways of the summer to the shortened days of winter spent carefully vacuuming wet leaves and repairing plugholes around the course. This is his workplace, and his haven. The outside world is restrained at a safe distance behind the ridges and slopes of the course. Last week Murtagh headed to Dublin for a greenkeeping course and spent much of the afternoon trying to plot his way around the traffic in his head before he left for home. Too much noise. Too many people.



Mannan gives him time to obsess, to think. As a child he came home from football matches with Crossmaglen and lulled himself to sleep finding nuts in his performance that needed tightening. Now, as manager, he spends his time thinking of others. For 20 years he anchored Crossmaglen at full-back, unshakeable through the lean times and a rock when they reached Croke Park. Football always began and ended with Crossmaglen. He remembers county chairmen and Armagh managers trooping across the fairways 10 years ago looking for him to play, but Armagh never drew him the same way as Cross did. One afternoon he saw one pair strolling across Ashfield course in Cullyhanna, golfbags slung over their shoulders. "I knew it wasn't out to play golf they were going. They cornered me on the course and tried to talk me into [playing for Armagh], but I bluffed them. I had no heed on putting in that effort for the county at the time."

Armagh got him in once, but he was young and didn't know any better. In 1990 his neighbour Joe Kernan was Armagh assistant manager, Murtagh was 20 and, in the midst of another troubled year, GAA players had been deemed legitimate targets by loyalist paramilitaries. Some received death threats. Teams were disrupted and training was broken up. The Armagh team split into four training pods: the Belfast-based players trained together, those in north Armagh trained in Lurgan, Armagh city was a third venue while the south Armagh players trained in Mullaghbawn. With a chunk of south Armagh players in Belfast, six players routinely gathered under Kernan. One night they trained with the wind howling down the pitch and sleet lodging on their backs with only an endless procession of laps to keep them warm. It was a fortnight before Christmas, and nothing about the place could hold Murtagh's interest.

"I was used to having the winter off and coming back when the weather was good. Maybe I was a bit spoiled. I went to Joe [Kernan] and told him some lie that a doctor said I was injured and I should take time off. Joe reluctantly agreed and said he'd ring me after Christmas and I told him the same excuse after Christmas. I got away and I never went back.

"I'd had a couple of sickeners at underage with Armagh. I was full-back for the minors and we got to the Ulster final [1987] and I got dropped. I was the best player we had all year. I had a bit of an injury coming into it all right but there was no reason I couldn't have played. Down beat us and James McCartan was playing corner-forward. I was told "keep yourself ready, you'll be on here in five minutes". James McCartan practically beat us himself and I still never got on. The time and the effort was nothing compared to now, but I wasn't willing to give it at that stage. I'd give any sacrifice for my club, but I wasn't willing to give it for Armagh at the time."

People promised him he would regret leaving Armagh behind but he never gave it heed. A few years later Crossmaglen took off and Murtagh had three All-Ireland medals before Armagh won theirs. By the time he retired last winter he had won 10 county medals and four Ulster titles. Teams had always tried to find a way round him, but his confidence had always been bulletproof. He was good in the air and read the game well on the ground. He handled Peter Canavan in Ulster and Jason Sherlock in All-Irelands when Crossmaglen needed him. Empire building was their business in Cross back then. His only regret remains that it didn't live a little longer.

"I think we should've won two more [All-Irelands]. I've told the boys this on a couple of occasions. In that period from '96 to 2002, we won three and we should've had at least two more. We should've had the four in a row from 1997 to 2000 and possibly between 2001 and 2002 we should've had another one. By 2004 the team were in transition. We had a lot of players coming through and they were very young.

"If Armagh hadn't been about I've no doubt we would have had two more All-Irelands, but you can't do both. It's rare to have club and county do well at the same time and that was the case in Armagh. But if one hadn't existed the other might have done better."

Before the feast, Murtagh survived the famine. In 1986 Crossmaglen had won the county title with Murtagh flitting about the fringes. There had been talk of adding him to the senior panel, but he was young and busy with Armagh minors and assorted others. When he did make it that autumn, Crossmaglen were heading into a decade's hibernation. Ten years would pass before their next title. By then, Murtagh was almost worn out.

"The mentality of the team was probably wrong. You'd have a very poor attendance at training up until a month before championship. If you told some of the players now that was the case, they wouldn't believe you, that six weeks before a championship match there'd have to be a big meeting called, and that meeting was called every year. All right, some years you went out and still won the championship, but things were still wrong. There was no effort being put in."

A new generation of players changed everything and Murtagh was swept up with them. Thirteen minors emerged from one team onto the senior panel. Eight of them were prodigies, the rest were good enough to provide the required support. Oisín McConville emerged first, followed by the McEntee twins and Francie Bellew. Murtagh found himself training in November to keep with them. By the end of 1995, Crossmaglen were re-energised.

"A bread man used to call to our house at home, mad into football. He was from Silverbridge, who'd be our biggest rivals, and he got to talking about who'd win the championship. He was a real old man, and he says, 'If Cross don't win all before them for the next 10 years then I know nothing about football.'"

The bread man saw them coming, but few others did. When the potential winners of the 1996 championship were discussed, Crossmaglen were tucked away in the pack. It hurt the players, and as the years rolled on the causes kept popping up. Having won their first All-Ireland title in 1997, they remained outside the favourites to retain their county title. Long before the pursuit of history drove them on, they had much to prove among their own.

"We couldn't believe that. There was people saying that was Cross finished. They'd never win another championship. The mentality was once you'd win something like that you'd celebrate it for the rest of your life. Cross players celebrated for two weeks and went back to basics. We knew how good we were. We just got on with it and the sort of players we had were very down to earth. Very few got carried away."


Since then Crossmaglen have been unbeaten in Armagh and remained an imposing force beyond, but six years have passed since their last All-Ireland title. The team has slowly changed. Of the 10 players honoured for winning 10 county medals at the club's dinner dance this winter, only four remain on the team.
This year has been a challenge. The Armagh title was won with greater ease than they expected, but Ulster has been a struggle. At different times during the year Murtagh thought back to his own time in the late 1990s when Joe Kernan brought in Sean Boylan, Colm O'Rourke, Martin McHugh and others to talk to the team about winning All-Irelands. Now he stands in a dressing room where a third of the team have won four medals. The list of speakers has shortened.

Keeping them hungry can be tough. At one stage in the year, one senior player told him he felt training was overrated, but the rush of winter games has helped keep their interest. When he took over as manager he brought Martin Califf with him to provide the same security he did as corner-back alongside Murtagh for years. The team still look to the McEntees and McConville, Francie Bellew, Paul Hearty and a new generation of Kernan boys, but everything else about Crossmaglen is young and new.

This summer their entire under-21 team was transplanted onto the senior panel. During last weekend's semi-final against Clontibret, Stephen Finnegan, a minor, was introduced for his very first senior game for Crossmaglen and slotted in seamlessly. In an Ulster semi-final. They rear them for those days.

"The last few years were a bit sticky in Armagh. We could've been beat, but I think we have made the transition over the last couple of years. I think we've a lot better squad to pick from. Even when we were winning All-Ireland titles the squad wouldn't have been as strong. Obviously some of the players mightn't be playing as good a level of football, but we've a stronger squad now in terms of depth. I'd have used up to 24 players this year, whereas when Joe was over the team he was lucky. He wouldn't have used any more than 18."

Different times, but Murtagh has seen anything these long winters can toss at him. In a quiet corner hedged by the border, the quest for greatness continues.

[Blue is the colour]

Seen this on orchardcounty...posted from Barry

Just to clarify a matter that was drawn to my attention tonight.

Even though the club league positions have seemingly been confirmed for 2006, THIS IS NOT THE CASE.

Clann Eireann's appeal over the play-off game against Culloville is still with the Ulster Council after the County boards decision to eliminate them.

Is that correct?
Unlikely any decision will be overturned by the ulster council but still!

Couldnt c the ulster council over ruling the decision. think of the practical problems it would cause! If Culloville and clanns where to play off again would clanns have to play carrickcurppen and the bridge if they won?I thought dat the decision to throw clanns out of the playoffs for such a minor Incident was very rough and it was a joke that it took 3 weeks to reach a decision the playoffs really didnt work out this year (although we got promoted because of them) glad to c they wont b in place next yr.

[Goats Do Shave]

Any Tullysaran heads on the board??

I hear they were forking out £300 for the boul Morrison to train them, now he's at Clonoe.

What happened there?

[The Iceman]

Armagh were very lucky yesterday - a lot of guys fell apart in the second half - notably Ciaran McKeever who kicked at least 3 frees into the hands of a Fermanagh man, Ferris who was roasted and Nippy who really needs to give the ball instead of constantly running and hoping to get a free....

Toner was excellent - Peadar needs to work harder and he could be a legend this year - JP worked hard and pulled Armagh out of a few holes though he needs to calm down a bit -any smell of blood and he is in there ready to box!

Seacrest out

[Smokin Joe]

Any Tullysaran heads on the board??

I hear they were forking out £300 for the boul Morrison to train them, now he's at Clonoe.

What happened there?

I don't believe there was ever an agreement between Morrision and Tullysaran - as witnessed by the fact that he has gone to Clonoe.

You sure it wasn't just pubtalk Goats?

[el_cuervo_fc]

Any Tullysaran heads on the board??

I hear they were forking out £300 for the boul Morrison to train them, now he's at Clonoe.

What happened there?

I don't believe there was ever an agreement between Morrision and Tullysaran - as witnessed by the fact that he has gone to Clonoe.

You sure it wasn't just pubtalk Goats?

From what i've heard i think one of the reasons it didn't work out was because of all the slabbering round the town about money.  I think his family members were getting alot of stick about it as well.  But then again Armagh people do love to mouth.  It's a pity

[harps2002champs]

wat goes around comes around...not like the morrisons dont do any mouthing themselves