McKenna Cup 2024

tonto1888 · January 19, 2019, 11:20:58 PM

Quote from: Moortown Spuds on January 19, 2019, 11:15:30 PM
For years Armagh fans took the Mickey out of Tyrone taking the competition seriously.

Tonight Armagh fans around me were the most vulgar foul mouthed cry baby yaps I have ever seen. From encouraging James Morgan to kick Canavan in the head harder to calling Joe McQuillan every name under the sun.

Never knew they wanted to win the McKenna cup so bad.

Glad to see Armagh on the rise. If they just learnt how to tackle properly they might fare ok in division two.

A few Tyrone fans around me doing similar. We all have them

smelmoth · January 20, 2019, 12:06:33 AM

My first post of the current season and I have to say that Armagh have improved. The obvious reasons for this are that a few of our better players have returned to the panel and a few more have come of age.

Shooting and tackling still remain big concerns. Coolness under pressure in each of these areas remains a concern. These have to be the areas of focus in training if we are to be properly prepared for championship.

Our strengths are in the forwards so continued focus on an attacking game plan should be encouraged

Rossfan · January 20, 2019, 12:10:04 AM

Ye've been in Round 4 and Qtr Finals last 2 years ......

Throw ball · January 20, 2019, 12:31:04 AM

An enjoyable game tonight and a pity about some of the silly carry on. Armagh need to improve their tackling that is obvious but some of the frees given tonight - for both teams - were soft. Tyrone also showed much more composure in possession.

tonto1888 · January 20, 2019, 12:34:38 AM

Quote from: Throw ball on January 20, 2019, 12:31:04 AM
An enjoyable game tonight and a pity about some of the silly carry on. Armagh need to improve their tackling that is obvious but some of the frees given tonight - for both teams - were soft. Tyrone also showed much more composure in possession.

I thought the ref was poor in general to be honest. Tyrone got some soft ones but st the same time they didn't get a couple i would have been annoyed about had we not got them

armaghniac · January 20, 2019, 01:14:28 AM

Quote from: trailer on January 19, 2019, 10:43:41 PM
It's only a rivalry if Tyrone continue to field a 2nd / 3rd string, which is unlikely.

Trailer, is your first name Coat?

Armagh not too far away, but they still have tackling issues and still run of ideas when confronted by a blanket.
Such games against god opposition are a good learning experience for O'Neill.

Baile an tuaigh · January 20, 2019, 04:28:24 AM

What a crowd tonight. Watched Armagh a few times last year and they have a massive following. Not much between the two teams probably Tyrones experience was the difference. Nice to see the National Anthem being well respected. Thought there was a good bit of "bite" in the game a sure sign of things to come. Man of the match for me was the Armagh mid fielder Grimley. One particular time in the second half he jumped away up into the clouds to fetch a ball, he was that high when he finally came back down and hit the ground he winded himself. It was a fantastic piece of skill but it's a pity they didn't show it on the replay.
Armagh and Tyrone have a few good scrap yard dogs in their defences. I actually thought Tyrone got a couple of buttery soft frees towards the end of the first half. I don't think Peter Harte is suited at full forward he excels in the space. Sludden had a brave good game for Tyrone tonight over all both sets of players contributed a lot. The pitch looked very cut up where Armagh took their penalty which I suppose you could expect this time of the year. Over all it was great entertaining game.

Aaron Boone · January 20, 2019, 10:08:20 AM

Interesting overhearing a couple of neutrals in Armagh last night, the McKenna Cup is now as prestigious as the Ulster Championship itself.

never kickt a ball · January 20, 2019, 11:05:34 AM

Quote from: Baile an tuaigh on January 20, 2019, 04:28:24 AM
What a crowd tonight. Watched Armagh a few times last year and they have a massive following. Not much between the two teams probably Tyrones experience was the difference. Nice to see the National Anthem being well respected. Thought there was a good bit of "bite" in the game a sure sign of things to come. Man of the match for me was the Armagh mid fielder Grimley. One particular time in the second half he jumped away up into the clouds to fetch a ball, he was that high when he finally came back down and hit the ground he winded himself. It was a fantastic piece of skill but it's a pity they didn't show it on the replay.
Armagh and Tyrone have a few good scrap yard dogs in their defences. I actually thought Tyrone got a couple of buttery soft frees towards the end of the first half. I don't think Peter Harte is suited at full forward he excels in the space. Sludden had a brave good game for Tyrone tonight over all both sets of players contributed a lot. The pitch looked very cut up where Armagh took their penalty which I suppose you could expect this time of the year. Over all it was great entertaining game.

It usually takes O'Rourke, Spillane or Brolly to start drooling over a high catch especially if it's performed against Tyrone 😂

tyroneman · January 20, 2019, 01:36:08 PM

As I've said before - Armagh now have their best panel since the glory days and if McGeeney fails to get somehting out of them this year you would have to question the wisdom of renewing his contract. Thier front 6 is right up there with Kerry/ Tyrone / Monaghan / Mayo (just maybe not Dublin)

Tackling is thier major downfall. Far too many fouls given away with poor technique and playing the man not the ball.

That and acting the hard men when thery don't need to.

Walter Cronc · January 20, 2019, 01:37:14 PM

Quote from: tyroneman on January 20, 2019, 01:36:08 PM
As I've said before - Armagh now have their best panel since the glory days and if McGeeney fails to get somehting out of them this year you would have to question the wisdom of renewing his contract. Thier front 6 is right up there with Kerry/ Tyrone / Monaghan / Mayo (just maybe not Dublin)

Tackling is thier major downfall. Far too many fouls given away with poor technique and playing the man not the ball.

That and acting the hard men when thery don't need to.

Pot kettle with that current Tyrone side.

Throw ball · January 20, 2019, 01:40:28 PM

Quote from: tyroneman on January 20, 2019, 01:36:08 PM
As I've said before - Armagh now have their best panel since the glory days and if McGeeney fails to get somehting out of them this year you would have to question the wisdom of renewing his contract. Thier front 6 is right up there with Kerry/ Tyrone / Monaghan / Mayo (just maybe not Dublin)

Tackling is thier major downfall. Far too many fouls given away with poor technique and playing the man not the ball.

That and acting the hard men when thery don't need to.

A big problem with the tackling is that referees in Armagh let a lot more go. It is not so much they are acting the hard man more they are doing what they are used to. Anyone at an Armagh club championship game can see that.

trailer · January 20, 2019, 02:23:43 PM

Quote from: Throw ball on January 20, 2019, 01:40:28 PM
Quote from: tyroneman on January 20, 2019, 01:36:08 PM
As I've said before - Armagh now have their best panel since the glory days and if McGeeney fails to get somehting out of them this year you would have to question the wisdom of renewing his contract. Thier front 6 is right up there with Kerry/ Tyrone / Monaghan / Mayo (just maybe not Dublin)

Tackling is thier major downfall. Far too many fouls given away with poor technique and playing the man not the ball.

That and acting the hard men when thery don't need to.

A big problem with the tackling is that referees in Armagh let a lot more go. It is not so much they are acting the hard man more they are doing what they are used to. Anyone at an Armagh club championship game can see that.

Main Street · January 20, 2019, 02:38:51 PM

Quote from: armaghniac on January 20, 2019, 01:14:28 AM
Quote from: trailer on January 19, 2019, 10:43:41 PM
It's only a rivalry if Tyrone continue to field a 2nd / 3rd string, which is unlikely.

Trailer, is your first name Coat?

No, but I'd say his second name is Trash.

illdecide · January 20, 2019, 03:44:49 PM

Armagh have improved alright but it wouldn't have been hard to improve as we've been poor enough over the last 5 years or so, from the forward line last night we have Murnin, E rafferty, O'Neill to force their way in. For defence P Hughes and A Forker to come in (remind me who else is missing), our defence is going to let us down. I know a few Tyrone wans are winding us up but they're right, we do give far too many fouls away and TBH there was at least 2-3 times in that game last night where our defenders high tackled a Tyrone player when there was no need to even touch them as they were going out of play...Criminal.

I do believe Tyrone are still a few steps ahead of us and IMHO if the ground was firmer Tyrone are 5-6 pts a better team, they have a few better athletic runners than us but we are making strides and closing the gap ever so slightly and who knows where we'll be come start of August (hopefully the Super 8's). All in all not a bad match and both managers will be pleased for a match like that this time of the year which will serve both teams well for the coming weeks.

For something different...someone mentioned about taking the McKenna cup serious...I remember teams using the league and more often than not the last 2-3 matches of it for getting ready for the Championship, the way it's going we're using the McKenna cup to get ready for the league and maybe in a few years we'll have something else to prepare us for the McKenna cup