Ulster Senior Football Club Championship 2012

[oakleafgael]

So no one in Ulster came within 6 points of Crossmaglen, that's pretty impressive.

Maghery 5 points in the quater final ? Was that the closest in Armagh ?

Carrickcruppen were beaten by 3 points.  Ogs gave them a good match up until the last 5 minutes or so in the final.

I laid the trap and I knew it would be a Derry man to be first in as it's normally the Derry wans that look down their noses at Armagh club football the most. You had better believe that Cross would have dominated the Derry championship. Granted they might not have won 13 titles in a row in Derry as Bellaghy and Ballinderry were very good teams in the 2000s but I'd estimate that they would have won 10 or 11 out of the 13. Let's not forget that Cross have an excellent record against both those teams in Ulster.  The current crop of Cross players would walk the current Derry championship.

I certainly dont look down my nose at any county but to claim they would have won 10 or 11 of the 13 you are being slightly optimistic. Ballinderry, Bellaghy and the Loup all had strong teams during this period. Crossmaglen is not a reflection of Armagh football, it is a reflection of Crossmaglen football. Take Cross out of Armagh and how many teams would compete for Ulster? Pearse Og? Don't think so.

wise up, is this the same Pearse Ogs, the last team in ireland to beat Cross in championship football? The ones that got narrowly beat by St Gall's who went onto win it that year? They'd bate anything derry has to offer at the min, Bderry and slaughtneil were both poor in the derry final whereas Ogs and Cross played out a great final in Armagh.

That's unfair on the Ogs. The one opportunity they got was in 09 and were narrowly beaten by St Galls who went on to lift the AI. Ronan Clarke was through on goal in the dying seconds and missed the chance to beat them. Hardly lambs to the slaughter.

Just a few quotes from previous Armagh posts. Take from it what you want but my general take on these posts (and others)  is that the other teams in Armagh are better than the other Ulster teams due to the fact that they were only beat by a few than Cross's last few wins in Ulster

You're adding two and two together and getting fifteen!!! There are no posts saying what you think they say.....that's your problem.....not the posters.

Right that;s fine, Armagh club football is crap then

It is...isn't it remarkable that we won half of the Anglo celts available over the last 15 years, one AI one national league given the "crapness" of our league.
Oh our crappy league has also produced 3 different ulster club winning teams.

The 3 different club winning teams proves nowt, Derry have produced Ballerin, Ballinderry, Bellaghy, Dungiven, Lavey and Loup to all win Ulster Championships and the standard of the Derry Championship is rubbish.

The Armagh Championship isn't competitive. It used to be Dromintee who put it up to Cross in the final every year before bottling it. They appear to have passed that honour to Pearse Og.

[Milltown Row2]

I am not sure about that, milltown. Getting a near bye to the Ulsters is certainly a help. Look at the Tyrone championship. One of the most competitive. They never cut the mustard in Ulster. Sure, as you say yourself, you don't start training til after the Antrim final.

I was being slightly mischievous with certain posters. Ulster club football as a whole is at a serious standard, past All Ireland winners include Cross, Naomh Gall, Ballinderry, Bellaghy, Lavey and Burren of old. My point is that the serious training and form happens usually after the county final. The teams mentioned above have had sustained runs in their county championships at times which gives them the experience in Ulster and usually the big push onwards. Some teams have bucked the trend but it is usually the consistant county winners that have an impact.

So teams that run their county winners close in their own county wouldn't necessary be able to get that close come the business end of the Ulster competition.

[emmetryan]

Apologies for the delay on this one, my tactical analysis piece on Crossmaglen's win over Kilcoo is now up http://action81.com/blog/?p=6492

[mackers]

So what is the argument for Armagh football being so crap then? Because Cross are so dominant? Yet them being dominant at provincial level this past decade somehow doesn't render the rest of Ulster crap? 

+1
This is the point that I was trying to make before certain posters went off on a tangent.  Cross don't just win the Armagh championship every year because it's crap, they win it every year because they are an exceptional club team.  MR2 argues that they don't train too hard for it because the standard is low.  I would argue that they don't train too hard for it because they have been training flat out until Paddy's Day and need a break.

The Armagh Championship isn't competitive. It used to be Dromintee who put it up to Cross in the final every year before bottling it. They appear to have passed that honour to Pearse Og.

Lazy analysis. The first year that this current Cross team won the AI they had three very competitive matches, they drew with Cullyhanna and pipped them by a point in the replay and Dromintee pushed them all the way in the final.
This year I felt that Maghery, Carrickcruppen and the Ogs all give them their fill of it, well as much as anybody in Ulster did. Where you at any of these matches oakleafgael?  Are you going along with the argument that Ulster club football is crap then?
And no I'm not saying that any of these teams are competing for the second best team in Ulster..

[Walter Cronc]

So what is the argument for Armagh football being so crap then? Because Cross are so dominant? Yet them being dominant at provincial level this past decade somehow doesn't render the rest of Ulster crap? 

+1
This is the point that I was trying to make before certain posters went off on a tangent.  Cross don't just win the Armagh championship every year because it's crap, they win it every year because they are an exceptional club team.  MR2 argues that they don't train too hard for it because the standard is low.  I would argue that they don't train too hard for it because they have been training flat out until Paddy's Day and need a break.

The Armagh Championship isn't competitive. It used to be Dromintee who put it up to Cross in the final every year before bottling it. They appear to have passed that honour to Pearse Og.

Lazy analysis. The first year that this current Cross team won the AI they had three very competitive matches, they drew with Cullyhanna and pipped them by a point in the replay and Dromintee pushed them all the way in the final.
This year I felt that Maghery, Carrickcruppen and the Ogs all give them their fill of it, well as much as anybody in Ulster did. Where you at any of these matches oakleafgael?  Are you going along with the argument that Ulster club football is crap then?
And no I'm not saying that any of these teams are competing for the second best team in Ulster..

Is this the same Cullyhanna that Greenlough beat in the Intermediate championship a couple of years ago??

[mackers]

Cullyhanna are a frustatingly inconsistent team.  They had a very poor day against Greenlough with their star player Ciaran McKeever just off a plane from Oz after the International Rules. 

[Milltown Row2]

So what is the argument for Armagh football being so crap then? Because Cross are so dominant? Yet them being dominant at provincial level this past decade somehow doesn't render the rest of Ulster crap? 

+1
This is the point that I was trying to make before certain posters went off on a tangent.  Cross don't just win the Armagh championship every year because it's crap, they win it every year because they are an exceptional club team.  MR2 argues that they don't train too hard for it because the standard is low.  I would argue that they don't train too hard for it because they have been training flat out until Paddy's Day and need a break.

The Armagh Championship isn't competitive. It used to be Dromintee who put it up to Cross in the final every year before bottling it. They appear to have passed that honour to Pearse Og.

Lazy analysis. The first year that this current Cross team won the AI they had three very competitive matches, they drew with Cullyhanna and pipped them by a point in the replay and Dromintee pushed them all the way in the final.
This year I felt that Maghery, Carrickcruppen and the Ogs all give them their fill of it, well as much as anybody in Ulster did. Where you at any of these matches oakleafgael?  Are you going along with the argument that Ulster club football is crap then?
And no I'm not saying that any of these teams are competing for the second best team in Ulster..

I said that already in a previous post, They only train at the business end of the year as they are usually doing pre-season training leading up to playing in Croke Park. Time management, other clubs need tough pre season training Cross don't, we didn't really do a wile lot of training during our good runs, that may change with the players getting older and fear of losing this winning streak

[supersub]

Toughest game Cross got so far has been Carrikcruppen in semi final of Armagh championship, the will have been glad to get out of the Athletic Grounds that day for sure! Joe Brolly wrote an article last week which including a bit about them training in Gosford Park that morning, home and showered and away to play the semi final, god knows if he is making it up/fed that information or it is actually true but would make you wonder.

[fitzroyalty]

So what is the argument for Armagh football being so crap then? Because Cross are so dominant? Yet them being dominant at provincial level this past decade somehow doesn't render the rest of Ulster crap? 

+1
This is the point that I was trying to make before certain posters went off on a tangent.  Cross don't just win the Armagh championship every year because it's crap, they win it every year because they are an exceptional club team.  MR2 argues that they don't train too hard for it because the standard is low.  I would argue that they don't train too hard for it because they have been training flat out until Paddy's Day and need a break.

The Armagh Championship isn't competitive. It used to be Dromintee who put it up to Cross in the final every year before bottling it. They appear to have passed that honour to Pearse Og.

Lazy analysis. The first year that this current Cross team won the AI they had three very competitive matches, they drew with Cullyhanna and pipped them by a point in the replay and Dromintee pushed them all the way in the final.
This year I felt that Maghery, Carrickcruppen and the Ogs all give them their fill of it, well as much as anybody in Ulster did. Where you at any of these matches oakleafgael?  Are you going along with the argument that Ulster club football is crap then?
And no I'm not saying that any of these teams are competing for the second best team in Ulster..

Is this the same Cullyhanna that Greenlough beat in the Intermediate championship a couple of years ago??

Well which of the two do you think has progressed since then. Greenlough teetering at bottom of their Division or Cullyhanna now regarded one of the top teams in Armagh?

[Walter Cronc]

So what is the argument for Armagh football being so crap then? Because Cross are so dominant? Yet them being dominant at provincial level this past decade somehow doesn't render the rest of Ulster crap? 

+1
This is the point that I was trying to make before certain posters went off on a tangent.  Cross don't just win the Armagh championship every year because it's crap, they win it every year because they are an exceptional club team.  MR2 argues that they don't train too hard for it because the standard is low.  I would argue that they don't train too hard for it because they have been training flat out until Paddy's Day and need a break.

The Armagh Championship isn't competitive. It used to be Dromintee who put it up to Cross in the final every year before bottling it. They appear to have passed that honour to Pearse Og.

Lazy analysis. The first year that this current Cross team won the AI they had three very competitive matches, they drew with Cullyhanna and pipped them by a point in the replay and Dromintee pushed them all the way in the final.
This year I felt that Maghery, Carrickcruppen and the Ogs all give them their fill of it, well as much as anybody in Ulster did. Where you at any of these matches oakleafgael?  Are you going along with the argument that Ulster club football is crap then?
And no I'm not saying that any of these teams are competing for the second best team in Ulster..

Is this the same Cullyhanna that Greenlough beat in the Intermediate championship a couple of years ago??

Well which of the two do you think has progressed since then. Greenlough teetering at bottom of their Division or Cullyhanna now regarded one of the top teams in Armagh?

Neither has won their senior championship. No medals in Derry for second best.

[Cold tea]

Toughest game Cross got so far has been Carrikcruppen in semi final of Armagh championship, the will have been glad to get out of the Athletic Grounds that day for sure! Joe Brolly wrote an article last week which including a bit about them training in Gosford Park that morning, home and showered and away to play the semi final, god knows if he is making it up/fed that information or it is actually true but would make you wonder.

Harps gave them a good go!!