Armagh Club football & hurling

[pearseog]

Tac was that you standing against the fence with notepad and blackberry?? 

[armaghniac]

Tac was that you standing against the fence with notepad and blackberry??

Janey, people's nicknames in Cullyhanna have changed since my day, imagine being called notepad, and blackberry would be worse. 

[twenty one yard free]

by the end of july there will be worse names floating about armagh

[Erwin Rommel]

Magnificent second half performance from Cullyhanna tonight with a makeshift side who performed heroically.

Absolutely delighted 

Didn't see that one coming. did you notice if the sidelines were in a bit?

Narrow ptch usually hampers Pearse ogs expansive football.

[TacadoirArdMhacha]

Tac was that you standing against the fence with notepad and blackberry??

Janey, people's nicknames in Cullyhanna have changed since my day, imagine being called notepad, and blackberry would be worse. 

Twas meself alright. I was keeping up to date withevents at the Bernebeu on the phone. I presume the notepad gave the game away given my PRO status?

As for nicknames, we seem to have something of a penchant for idiotic monikers in Cullyhanna. I've variously heard people playing for the club be called Widgery, Jackson, Brookie, Bomber, Cluck, Savo, Sleepy, Chunk, Stafford, Slunky, Shoulders, schillaci, Foxy amongst other colourful names. I'll let you work out for yourselves what my own was.

[ogshead]

Magnificent second half performance from Cullyhanna tonight with a makeshift side who performed heroically.

Absolutely delighted 

Didn't see that one coming. did you notice if the sidelines were in a bit?

Narrow ptch usually hampers Pearse ogs expansive football.

The wider pitches do help us out... I think they played the Harps on a wider pitch recently. Seemed to work out that night 

[TacadoirArdMhacha]

St Patrick's 0-10 Pearse Óg 0-8

The St Pat's senior side travelled to Ballycrummy on Wednesday night having experienced a sobering defeat to Granemore the week previously. With another two players lost to the current ravaging injury crisis, there were few expecting an away victory against the 2009 county champions who have been in impressive early season form. Played in ideal conditions on a beautiful evening, the match commenced in fairly bland circumstances as each side struggled to create scoring opportunities in what were fairly even opening exchanges. Indeed nine minutes had passed before Pearse Ógs fisted the opening point of the match. Two minutes later, Ógs fired another point before a couple of goal chances went begging for the home side which could have put them almost out of sight within the first quarter. Despite being under severe pressure at this stage, Cullyhanna persevered and after 18 minutes Shane McKeever pointed a difficult free however this was soon cancelled out by a long range Pearse Ógs point. Soon after, a terrific interception and well delivered pass from Eugene Casey found Liam O'Hare who kicked a great point from a tight angle to bring the St Pat's within the minimum.

In the latter stages of the half, Pearse Ógs pressed to extend their advantage but failed to turn territorial dominance into scores as some stout defending put the Pearse Óg attackers under sufficient pressure to prevent points. On 29 minutes goalkeeper Deaglan McArdle had to react sharply to prevent a Pearse Ógs goal however the half ended on a pleasing note for St Pat's when a speculative ball forward bounced over a Pearse Ógs defender to put Kieran Hoey through on goal. Given the distance between himself and the goal and onrushing goalkeeper, Hoey no doubt choose the sensible option when chipping the ball over for a point to leave the sides level at half-time on a scoreline of St Patrick's 0-3 Pearse Ógs 0-3. Cullyhanna were perhaps fortunate to be level at half-time having played second fiddle to their opponents for much of the half however they deserved huge credit for their efforts and the manner in which they defended to restrict the Ógs to such a low first half score.

The second period was always likely to be more freescoring and within three minutes Pearse Ógs had almost doubled their first half tally with a long range score and a pointed free.  St Pat's replied with a good Eugene Casey point on five minutes and a minute later, a Shane McKeever free levelled matters once more. St Pat's edged into the lead for the first time when the ever dangerous Liam O'Hare was hauled down while soloing though the Pearse Ógs defence. Shane McKeever pointed the resultant free as Cullyhanna enjoyed their best spell of the match, producing some attractive following football. With 10 minutes remaining a long range Pearse Óg point levelled the match but within a minute Kieran Hoey won a ball in the corner before showing great speed and strength to burst past his marker and kick an excellent score.

The scores continued to flow as the game turned into a magnificent tussle with Pearse Ógs replying almost immediately with an excellent score. Kieran Hoey continued to inspire his teammates when collecting a Aidan Mackin pass. Despite facing away from goal, he turned, surged past two defenders and fisted a vital point to put his side a point to the good. With 3 minutes to go, Shane McKeever was faced with a placed ball 45m from goal to put his sides two in front. Rather than attempt an unlikely score, Shane McKeever used all his experience to select the correct option and exchanged passes with Niall McShane before passing to Eugene Casey.  With little time to assess his options, Casey was left with a difficult kick, 25m from goal and facing a tight angle. Yet, despite the pressure of the situation, he struck the ball hard and true, scoring a magnificent point with the aid of the post, to the sheer delight of the travelling supporters. The game was not yet won however as Pearse Ógs reduced the deficit to a single point on 28 minutes. The spectators were on tenterhooks as Pearse Ógs desperately tried to fashion an equalising score but the Cullyhanna defence held firm and avoided the concession of any rash frees. When eventually St Pat's regained possession, they used the ball wisely and precisely, retaining possession before Kieran Hoey was fouled. Despite the pressure of the kick, Shane McKeever made no mistake, putting his side two points in front and ensuring that only a goal would prevent victory. Try as Pearse Ógs might to fashion the major score, it was never likely given the tenacity and skill of the St Pat's tackling. As they came towards goal with menace late on, a magnificent steal robbed the Armagh men of possession and even though they attacked again in waves, when Eamon McArdle won possession for St Pat's, the final whistle blew and the victory was secured on a scoreline of St Patrick's 0-10 Pearse Ógs 0-8.

This was a magnificent performance and indeed no superlatives within my vocabulary can properly describe the effort, commitment and desire displayed by the Cullyhanna side. Heading into such a difficult fixture with a makeshift squad, it took a combination of quality and courage to produce such a superb and fully merited victory. It is perhaps unfair to single out individuals on an evening when all fifteen were heoric but Liam O'Hare was a constant threat while the victory could not have been secured without the sterling performance of Deaglan McArdle in goals. Kieran O'Neill produced a great hour's effort, Shane McKeever was unerring in his accuracy from frees while Kieran Hoey was magnificent throughout. It can only be hoped that this performance is one which can be used as a foundation for a successful season.


Starting XV: D McArdle; S O'Neill, S Reel, P McKeever; C Nugent, N McShane, E McArdle; K O'Neill, P Casey; R O'Neill, E Casey (0-2), A Mackin; S McKeever (0-4), K Hoey (0-3), L O'Hare (0-1)

[David McKeown]

Tac was that you standing against the fence with notepad and blackberry??

Janey, people's nicknames in Cullyhanna have changed since my day, imagine being called notepad, and blackberry would be worse. 

Twas meself alright. I was keeping up to date withevents at the Bernebeu on the phone. I presume the notepad gave the game away given my PRO status?

As for nicknames, we seem to have something of a penchant for idiotic monikers in Cullyhanna. I've variously heard people playing for the club be called Widgery, Jackson, Brookie, Bomber, Cluck, Savo, Sleepy, Chunk, Stafford, Slunky, Shoulders, schillaci, Foxy amongst other colourful names. I'll let you work out for yourselves what my own was.

Can I guess? I played football with a guy called Hoof for 7 years still dont know his real name.

They just dont have nicknames like that anymore though.  My brother tells a story that in the early 90's he went to Boston for the summer.  He had flown Belfast------> London--------> Amsterdam ------> Boston as a result he had had a lot to drink and when asked by Immigration who he was staying with he could only remember his soon to be housemates nicknames of stumpy and tree trunk.  As a result Immigration refused him entry and he was sent back to Amsterdam

[gaapunter]

Culloville 1-10 Clan na Gael 1-16. I think that was the scoreline.

Clans beat granmore in Lurgan by 2 points

[el_cuervo_fc]

Ballymacnab 1-8 Pearse Og 3-9

[TacadoirArdMhacha]

St Pat's 0-8 Sarsfields 0-6

Heard Whitecross beat Culloville after scoring 4 goals in the latter stages of the first half.

Great result for Clans.

[fitzroyalty]

Well deserved win for the Clans, IMO the scoreline actually flatters Granemore, nevertheless two more points on the board. 0-11 to 1-6 I think it ended.

[Armaghgael]

Well deserved win for the Clans, IMO the scoreline actually flatters Granemore, nevertheless two more points on the board. 0-11 to 1-6 I think it ended.

Clans fully deserved their win.
The performance today was a joke no bite from the players at all. I know we were beat but the ref was an absolute clown clearly hadnt knowledge of any rules. On one occasion he give a free to the Clans when one of our players apparently dived

[TacadoirArdMhacha]

St Patrick's 0-8 Sarsfields 0-6

The senior side were allowed little time to dwell on their midweek
victory, being pressed into action a mere four days later when
Sarsfields visited St Patrick's Park. While St Pat's may well have
been cast in the role of favourites, this was never likely to be a
comfortable match. And so it proved from the early stages as within a
minute Sarsfields should have opened a three point lead were it not
for a point blank save from Deaglan McArdle which prevented an early
goal. The Derrytrasna men required only a further minute however to
open their account with a lovely point. After three minutes, Eugene
Casey equalised matters showing great strength to resist the
Sarsfields defence while kicking a point. Returning county man Mal
Mackin put St Pat's in the lead soon after as Cullyhanna began to get
to grips with the strong breeze which they faced in the first half.
Sarsfields began to use the wind to their advantage in the middle
period of the half as their dominance at midfield resulted in two
points which put them into the lead. On 19 minutes a great defensive
catch by Stephen Reel instigated a Cullyhanna attack which resulted in
Kieran Hoey collecting a ball at pace before kicking a fine score. The
game then entered a scoreless spell before strong work down the
sideline by Ciaran O'Neill allowed Mal Mackin to pass the ball to
Pearse Casey who kicked a lovely score with his left foot to register
what will no doubt be his first of many points for the senior team. A
good Sarfields point followed before a late Shane McKeever pointed
free put his side into a half-time lead on a scoreline of St Patrick's
0-5 Sarsfield 0-4.

The conventional wisdom would have suggested that a Cullyhanna side
which led after facing a very difficult wind in the first half would
go on to register a comfortable victory however nothing was to come
easy in this second half as St Pat's struggled to use the advantage of
the breeze. It took seven minutes before Shane McKeever extended the
one point advantage, scoring a point from 40m under the severest
pressure. Nine minutes into the half Kieran Hoey laid a pass off to
Rory O'Neill who kicked a fine point and when a magnificent long range
free from Eugene put Cullyhanna four points in the lead, the game
looked over as a contest. However the final twenty minutes of the
match were to elapse without Cullyhanna troubling the scoreboard
further as the game almost slipped beyond their grasp. Indeed had the
Sarsfields' attackers not volleyed a ball over the bar when an overlap
had been created and the goal seemed at their mercy, the match could
well have been lost. In the end, a further Sarsfields pointed field
was the most the away side could muster as St Pat's held on for the
victory on a scoreline of St Patrick's 0-8 Sarsfields 0-6.

This was a far from classic encounter which will not live long in the
memory. The quality of football was severely hampered by an
unseasonably strong wind which dictated affairs to a large extent.
However the two points secured were most welcome and despite the
lengthy injury list, the 2011 season has commenced more positively
than either of the past two years. Certainly all those involved
deserve immense credit for the results which have been achieved. Best
on the day for Cullyhanna were probably Peter McKeever and Niall
McShane in defence, as well as Eugene Casey up front.

Starting XV: D McArdle; S O' Neill, S Reel, P McKeever; C O'Neill, N
McShane, C Nugent; E McArdle, P Casey (0-1); R O'Neill (0-1), E Casey
(0-2), A Mackin; K Hoey (0-1), S McKeever (0-2), M Mackin (0-1). Subs
Used: C McGlade, G McCooey

[Orior]

O'Hanlons bate Dromintee IIs.