Armagh Club football & hurling

[bennydorano]

Would cross have won thirteen in a row in any other county in ulster i dont think so they are a super team but i think once in 70 odd club championship games with in any other county in ulster they would have been caught at least once!!!

They've rode their luck on a few occassions in Armagh too.  Ogs and Dromintee both could have won games against them.

People dont realise that the next three odd best teams in Armagh would prob have won multiple championships in most other Ulster counties over the past 13 years.

I've said it numerous times that Dromintee would have won at least an Ulster if they could've gotten past Cross.  I get the feeling that their time has probably passed, but they are arguably still the second best team in Armagh.

[IVEDECIDED]

I dont know about an Ulster Benny. If you havent got over Cross in 10 attempts why would you all of a sudden beat a Ballinderry, Bellaghy or Errigal Cairin? I think Dromintee, the Ogs and Clans would have a few champioships to thier names in most other counties and would prob have dominated in areas like down, Cavan, monaghan and Donegal. However this is an irrelevant argument, they are Armagh clubs so thats the one they have to win! Sorry!

[bennydorano]

It's all opinions, On occassion Cross have found it every bit as hard to beat Dromintee as any of those teams. 

[fitzroyalty]

North Armagh Town team beat North Armagh Country team 1-16 to 1-08

[illdecide]

North Armagh Town team beat North Armagh Country team 1-16 to 1-08

C'mon the buckfast brigade...

[Over the Bar]

In Tyrone - Would've won at least 10 or 11

lol

[winsamsoon]

The game at Clann Eirean was dyer to. But i guess you could put it down to the poor underfoot conditions and the time of year. Plus you would have had a lot of players playing with each other for the first time which made it sort of like a trial game. Was disappointed with the turn out though. People yap and yap about getting more Gaelic going in North Armagh and then when we have something like this they all choose to sit at the fire or maybe they were watching the spurs game which wouldn't be out of place in Lurgan. Soccer heads all over the place the bars are like soccer magnets. You go into them and you hear ballbags in liverpool tops talking about "we" should have done this. I always ask them where they born in liverpool. That one really gets my goat.

On the Cross issue. I feel Cross would have dominated most of the counties that AFS mentioned but i think they would have found Derry and Tyrone football a different ball game. Now i am not saying they wouldn't have won any championships because clearly they would because they are a class act. But In tyrone and Derry you would have had teams that had more individually skiled footballers. Even if you look at the Derry and in particular Tyrone county team. Despite the dominance of Armagh in Ulster i always felt Tyrone were a better footballing team in terms of individual football ability. IMHO I think cross would have held their own with the Bellaghy's the Ballinderry's the Errigals and the rest but they certainly wouldn't have been so dominant.

I would also be of the opinion that there success in Armagh was partly due to the lack of opposition in Armagh. As the cross rein has continued to grow the opposition to cross has continued to dwindle. sure we have had a mix of clubs trying to challenge them but all in all they were never in any real danger. I am not going to get into that argument again about who is second best in Armagh because it doesn't really matter. Fact is that they were never really good enough to challenge the Cross who are on a different level from all in Armagh and most in Ulster.

It will interesting to see the cross game on Sunday. Some would say that this is a cross team that are getting on in years and are not as good as they once were. I don't buy into that either. Ballinderry are a team in transition as well. They have brought in a few younger lads so it should be a good game. It will also give us an indication of the standard of the Ulster club this year.

[The Gs Man]

Was at the game in Clann Eireann myself (even missed the Spurs match for it!).  Wasn't great but sure it was all for charity anyway.  Conditions were pretty bad right enough.  Slowed the game right down.  The helicopter flying overhead the whole time didn't help either....

Thought Ryan Henderson was the pick of the bunch even though he made a few dodgy decisions.  Scored a cracker goal though.  Danny Shanks also showed up well.  I thought the country team looked better on paper, but they didn't seem to try as hard.

Was there any county selectors or anything like that at the game? Not sure if they would have took much from it though.

[TacadoirArdMhacha]

I would also be of the opinion that there success in Armagh was partly due to the lack of opposition in Armagh. As the cross rein has continued to grow the opposition to cross has continued to dwindle. sure we have had a mix of clubs trying to challenge them but all in all they were never in any real danger

That simply isn't true. You are "in real danger" when you're 2 points down heading into injury time or in any game when its level in the final minute and one point will send you out. There were years when Cross struggled as much, if not more, to get out of Armagh as they did to get out of Ulster.

As for Dromintee, I think at this stage they just don't have the belief that they can beat Cross. It'll probably be another side that eventually stops Rangers' dominance.

[winsamsoon]

Yeah but you guys keep bringing up the two points in games but it doesn't really matter whether you are beaten by 2 or 20 they were still beaten. If the game would have went into the melting pot then cross would have scored another 4 if they needed. They are like Armagh only more ruthless. The cross always grinded out results in tighter games but they were always capable of more than the opposition. If Dromintee, Harps, Ogs, clans, Mullaghbawn or any other team would have went forward to ulster competition they would have lost out. They wouldn't have won what cross did they wouldn't have even got near it. Look at your own team the year Tac. A third division derry side (i don't mean that as a dig ) i am using it merely to highlight the difference.

[brokencrossbar1]

I think the difference between Cross and other teams is how they perceive the championship and individual games themselves.  For ten years now( i would discount the first 3 years as the momenum hadn't built up at that stage), Cross have been training to win the championship, while other teams have been training to beat Cross.  As a result any game that Cross play is a testy affair, scrappy football, with the other team set out to disrupt Cross and stop them playing.  Cross on the other hand have a style of play which they try to impose on the game.  As has been shown in games, they close the opposition down, they force them into mistakes, and then the attack on masse.  As each year has passed it has become harder for Cross to win handsomely in Armagh as the stakes become increasingly higher, as each championship win passes, it is harder to win as the pressure is increasing.  Now that they have won the 13 in a row, there is less pressure, but they will want to own the record outright.  If they win next year(which I believe they will) I actually think the next few years after that will be easier to win, if they can maintain the focus, and the younger players start filling out. 

Until teams can get over the notion that the championship means that they have to beat Cross then it will only get harder for a team to beat them.

[thegael]

cross are a great club but to be quite honest club football in armagh is useless and a bit like kerry in the 70 s munster was so weak they always had an easy run.

the wintry conditions lend themselves to suit cross style of play in their early years were they would take men out via the cumiskey route.

but you cannt take away their records but armagh club football really is dire!

[doire na raithe]

The game at Clann Eirean was dyer to. But i guess you could put it down to the poor underfoot conditions and the time of year. Plus you would have had a lot of players playing with each other for the first time which made it sort of like a trial game. Was disappointed with the turn out though. People yap and yap about getting more Gaelic going in North Armagh and then when we have something like this they all choose to sit at the fire or maybe they were watching the spurs game which wouldn't be out of place in Lurgan. Soccer heads all over the place the bars are like soccer magnets. You go into them and you hear ballbags in liverpool tops talking about "we" should have done this. I always ask them where they born in liverpool. That one really gets my goat.

On the Cross issue. I feel Cross would have dominated most of the counties that AFS mentioned but i think they would have found Derry and Tyrone football a different ball game. Now i am not saying they wouldn't have won any championships because clearly they would because they are a class act. But In tyrone and Derry you would have had teams that had more individually skiled footballers. Even if you look at the Derry and in particular Tyrone county team. Despite the dominance of Armagh in Ulster i always felt Tyrone were a better footballing team in terms of individual football ability. IMHO I think cross would have held their own with the Bellaghy's the Ballinderry's the Errigals and the rest but they certainly wouldn't have been so dominant.

I would also be of the opinion that there success in Armagh was partly due to the lack of opposition in Armagh. As the cross rein has continued to grow the opposition to cross has continued to dwindle. sure we have had a mix of clubs trying to challenge them but all in all they were never in any real danger. I am not going to get into that argument again about who is second best in Armagh because it doesn't really matter. Fact is that they were never really good enough to challenge the Cross who are on a different level from all in Armagh and most in Ulster.

It will interesting to see the cross game on Sunday. Some would say that this is a cross team that are getting on in years and are not as good as they once were. I don't buy into that either. Ballinderry are a team in transition as well. They have brought in a few younger lads so it should be a good game. It will also give us an indication of the standard of the Ulster club this year.

In my opinion second best means absolutely nothing...

However for arguments sake I think, just as Cross's record in being the best team in Armagh speaks for itself, Dromintee's record in being second best does also. Dromintee have beaten every team, bar Cross obviously, in the senior championship since 1998. Many of those encounters were regularly against Og's, Harps, and Clans.

[winsamsoon]

But as you say doire it means absolutely nothing even if it is for arguments sake.

[Whacker]

From Todays Indo..........

Floodlight row sparks fury ahead of Ulster showdown


By Cliona Foley


Tuesday November 25 2008

DEFENDING Ulster football champions Crossmaglen Rangers have been forced to go to the Down County Board for a suitable floodlit training pitch after being refused permission to use their own county ground ahead of Sunday's provincial decider.

Furious Rangers manager Donal Murtagh has revealed that, in a bid to practise under floodlights in preparation for the Ulster final, his side sought permission to use the Athletics Grounds but were refused by their county board.

"They refused point blank but, to be honest, I am not surprised," Murtagh said. "It is bad form, we are representing our county as county champions after all."

But the Armagh board have insisted that they are allowing no one to train in the revamped Athletics Grounds, not even teams who have had matches there recently.

"It is 'matches only' in the Athletics Grounds at the moment, with no exceptions," said Armagh PRO Joe Jordan.

Elite

"Teams who are coming in there to play games are allowed to use the county's elite training centre at Shannonbridge to train on, but there is a fairly hefty programme of matches at the county ground at the moment and the same rule is being applied across the board."

With a 3.45 throw-in for Sunday's Ulster final against Ballinderry in Enniskillen, the Ulster Council have indicated that full floodlights will be used for the match.

Murtagh wanted to practise in the Athletic Grounds as their lights will most replicate those match conditions.

And he is far from impressed with such a late throw-in, especially as most fixtures at this time of year have a 2pm or 2.30 throw-in because of the fading light.

"From the start we were disappointed by the fact that game will be under lights," said Murtagh.



"At first the Ulster Council said the second-half would be under lights but with the weather and the time of year it is getting dark at 3pm and 4pm.

"It is only a minor thing but some of my players aren't that fussed on playing the whole game under lights and, at this stage of the Ulster club championship, you can leave little to chance," he added.

It remains to be seen whether Down County Board will give them the go-ahead to train at Pairc Esler in Newry which also has a busy schedule of matches at present.

- Cliona Foley