QuoteULSTER CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI-FINAL
Venue: Healey Park. Date: Saturday, 21 June. Throw-in: 1800 BST
Coverage: Live: BBC2 NI, Radio Ulster MW and on the BBC NI website
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/northern_ireland/7324411.stm
It's actually
Healy Park. A 6pm Saturday evening throw in. This should be interesting with the Tyronies not knowing who to support :D. A replay of a recent McKenna cup game (semi final I think) at Healy which Derry won.
Quote from: hardstation on June 02, 2008, 12:15:56 AM
DERRY V FERMANAGH Healy Park Sat 21st June 1800
What was the score?
:D
6pm on a Saturday's no time for an Ulster Championship game.
Aye that was bad timing as well alright. Especially when you consider two Derry minors had to travel from the football in Ballybofey to play for the hurlers in Belfast.
Well its Derry for us next and i have to say i would have preferred Donegal given our recent record against them.
Healy park on a Saturday night will lead to a cracking atmosphere and i would presume the game will be all ticket. I know that it may devalue the semifinal abit by not having it on a Sunday but TV pays the money, so they have to have some say in the scheduling.
As for the match itself, Well we have to stop the Paddy Bradley show and the only way that can be done is by winning the midfield battle. Owens is a huge loss to us at full back. Although he did play for Teemore in the league this weekend, it was a sub appearance and he was way of the pace of the game. It would be a miracle if the man plays, even as a sub.
Womble and Marty at midfield are going to have a real battle with Doherty and Diver. They will not win as much clean ball as they did against Monaghan. Up front we have to be clinical. If we hit any more than 10 wides in the game we will get beat.
The one thing in our favour is the fact that we will be huge underdogs and that is a tag we can live with no problem whereas Derry will be on a hiding to nothing. The pressure is on them. They will be expected to beat Fermanagh comfortably.
Should be quite a battle. O'Rourke will know alot about the Derry team due to his spell with the Loup and that will be an advantage. He is very tactically aware and his switches before the match started and during the game beat Monaghan
Was chatting to a former Derry player and he said that the one of the biggest things that Derry have to worry about is O'Rourke. (plus, the small light forwards)
He said that he would deploy any tactic to ensure a Fermanagh win, even if it means winning the game by 1 pt to nothing
O'Rouke and Drops knowledge of the Derry game would be immense and should be an interesting tussle.
Regarding the midfield, Derrry will be without Doherty, as I think he will geta month for that slap.
Hoping for a good game, and agree, this should have been on a Sunday. Would this have happened if it was Tyrone and Armagh???
Outrageous to have this game on Saturday evening - but I'm going to stick my neck out here and say that it won't matter as Derry will win by at least 6 !
Don't think so Orangeman
If anything, I think it will be a 1pt victory for either team
Should be an interesting battle
1) How will Fermanagh cope with the Bradleys?
2) How will Derry cope with the small light Fermanagh Forwards?
3) will both teams miss as many scores the next day?
4) Who wants it/ Deserves it more?
Quote from: AidyMac on June 02, 2008, 12:15:52 PM
Don't think so Orangeman
If anything, I think it will be a 1pt victory for either team
Should be an interesting battle
1) How will Fermanagh cope with the Bradleys?
2) How will Derry cope with the small light Fermanagh Forwards?
3) will both teams miss as many scores the next day?
4) Who wants it/ Deserves it more?
Honestly can't see Fermanagh producing anything that will get to within 6 points of Derry - the big field in Omagh will suit the Bradleys and the Bradley boys will score enough to beat Fermanagh on their own.
it will take a poor performance from derry to be beaten
Prob have to agree with ya Orangeman....we can be competitive but our forward line is just too lightweight IMO.
Quote from: FermGael on June 02, 2008, 11:06:56 AM
Healy park on a Saturday night will lead to a cracking atmosphere and i would presume the game will be all ticket.
Not sure if this game will be made all ticket, the main stand perhaps but I don't think Healy Park will be anywhere near full capacity. Fermanagh have a small supporter base and the Derry fans won't travel, especially against a side they should beat easily. Probably be a crowd of around 12-000-15,000 IMO.
6PM is a strange time for a throw in. Omagh is a hard enough town to get into and get parked, it'll be even harder on a Saturday afternoon. A 7pm throw in would be more logical.
Fermanagh have absolutely no pressure of them at all. Promotion to division 2 and the defeat of Monaghan in the first round means all main objectives of this year have been achieved. With Malachy O'Rourke on the sideline with his knowledge of Derry football you just never know. Derry were impressive in the second half yesterday but they are over reliant on Paddy Bradley. If we can compete at midfield and some how stop the ball into the Derry full forward line then we have a chance. A lot will depend on the weather as well. If it's a dry day then the Fermanagh forwards have the ability to run the legs off the Derry defence. It's a big ask but I honestly don't think this game wll be as one sided as many pundits will predict. Fermanagh have only lost one game this year (league and championship) and the winning habit will hopefully have a positive influence on the squad. I was at the McKenna cup semi final back in January and it was a horrible night for football so I wouldn't read too much into that result.
The mcKenna cup has absolutely no influence on this game as it was in january on a mucky pitch and both teams fielded that day bear little recognition to the teams that will take the pitch in the Ulster semi.
As for thinking Derry are going to walk it think again. There are no easy games in Ulster apart from Antrim ;D And this Fermanagh team are well drilled, have buckets of belief and have a great tactician in MOR to compliment their obvious talent. Derry will need to be at the very top of their game to beat them and will have to counter the sweeper system that Fermanagh are going to play in front of Bradley. They would also need to realise that the attack has a left corner as well as a right.
Derry deserved to win yesterday but they have alot of work to do and problems to iron out if they are to win an Ulster title and beating Fermanagh will be a very tough obstacle in achieving that end.
I predict Derry to edge it but only if they are in top form and spread the scores a bit more.
Doire Abu
Derry kicked everything into that one corner on Sunday, but the strange thing is P Bradley usually focuses most of his runs into the other corner.
Derry are well on track to take down all the silverware this year.
Quote from: FermPundit on June 02, 2008, 06:08:11 PM
Not sure if this game will be made all ticket, the main stand perhaps but I don't think Healy Park will be anywhere near full capacity. Fermanagh have a small supporter base and the Derry fans won't travel, especially against a side they should beat easily. Probably be a crowd of around 12-000-15,000 IMO.
Derry were impressive in the second half yesterday but they are over reliant on Paddy Bradley.
There'll be a brave turnout from Derry. I've never seen as many Derry supporters at a game in recent years as yesterdays. The bandwagon continues to roll. So will the support.
I fail to understand people who say that we are too reliant on Paddy. You give the ball to the man doing the damage. No point in saying 'Ah well Paddy sure you've scored enough now, we'll pass to someone else'.
If, as expected, Fermanagh play a man in front of him, that will leave us a spare man out the field. It's how we use that man that will determine the outcome of the game.
Quote from: the green man on June 02, 2008, 08:33:46 PM
There'll be a brave turnout from Derry. I've never seen as many Derry supporters at a game in recent years as yesterdays. The badwagon continues to roll. So will the support.
Isn't it fcukin great to see it? I've been to too many games where I've been almost embarrassed at the turnout. At one stage yesterday, i started to think that we'd actually outnumbered the opposition support for once
Quote from: jodyb on June 02, 2008, 08:46:55 PM
Isn't it fcukin great to see it? I've been to too many games where I've been almost embarrassed at the turnout. At one stage yesterday, i started to think that we'd actually outnumbered the opposition support for once
Great too see. One bad result though, and most will fizzle away. Probably.
It was all red and white jerseys the whole road into Ballybofey.
Also can some wag/smartarse, not get a better chant for us than ' Der-ree Der-ree'? Thats rubbish. I propose 'London Calling' by the Clash. :P
Quote from: the green man on June 02, 2008, 08:59:23 PM
Also can some wag/smartarse, not get a better chant for us than ' Der-ree Der-ree'? Thats rubbish. I propose 'London Calling' by the Clash. :P
Isn't Willy Mc Crea jus down the road from ye? He might be able to come up with something inspirational ;)
Quote from: jodyb on June 02, 2008, 09:04:54 PM
Quote from: the green man on June 02, 2008, 08:59:23 PM
Also can some wag/smartarse, not get a better chant for us than ' Der-ree Der-ree'? Thats rubbish. I propose 'London Calling' by the Clash. :P
Isn't Willy Mc Crea jus down the road from ye? He might be able to come up with something inspirational ;)
Poor enough voice on him
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWPukxHvpUM
Quote from: the green man on June 02, 2008, 09:06:51 PM
Quote from: jodyb on June 02, 2008, 09:04:54 PM
Quote from: the green man on June 02, 2008, 08:59:23 PM
Also can some wag/smartarse, not get a better chant for us than ' Der-ree Der-ree'? Thats rubbish. I propose 'London Calling' by the Clash. :P
Isn't Willy Mc Crea jus down the road from ye? He might be able to come up with something inspirational ;)
Poor enough voice on him
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWPukxHvpUM
:D Was that at your last barbie???
Quote from: jodyb on June 02, 2008, 09:12:26 PM
:D Was that at your last barbie???
Aye, just last Friday. :D
So...all roads lead to Healy Park. Really looking forward to this clash and it'll be a good test for Fermanagh to see how far they've come on this year under O'Rourke. Will he risk Owens at full back? It'll be a big call but it may be totally necessary after Paddy Bradley's exploits yesterday. Not too worried about Skinner Bradley. Has there ever been a more greedy and wasteful player? I fancy Shane Goan to be the man to mark him on the 21st. The real discussion has been how Fermanaghs light forwards will get on against a big, strong Derry defence. From an Erne perspective, we'd be hoping that Derry will foul all round them, because if they are diciplined Fermanaghs forwards will struggle to drive past the likes of McCloy. Full forward is another problem position for us. I fancy James Sherry to be deployed in there. He's been average at best at CHF and Shane McCabe will surely start after his excellent cameo the last day.
If owens is fit, he's definitely one of the few that can contain PB. Cant disagree with ye on skinner, loadsa talent, but his greed outweighs his vision. Paddy was a wee bit like that in his early days so hopefully skinner can learn.
WRT the ferm forward line, pacy and sharp. Derry should should be fit to contain them, but depending on the ref, it could be a minefield from a Derry point of view.
Laois in 2005, with munnelly and wee donie brennan, that Maurice deegan w@nker blew the whistle every time mc guckin or lockhart touched them!! Wee man syndrome gone mad! (ask Colm O Rourke).
So it could go either way. Would like to think that Derry has the strength and bench to beat yes, but who knows.
Quote from: jodyb on June 02, 2008, 09:38:11 PM
So it could go either way. Would like to think that Derry has the strength and bench to beat yes, but who knows.
Dont know about that. We're awful shy on forwards in the subs. 3 out of the 15 subs on Sunday were forwards!
Dook, Barry Mc Goldrick, Ciaran Mullan and Wee Wilkinson. Four to begin with. also James conway could also line out on the 40 any time. Where does the Steelstown lad O' Hea play? theres definitely more than 3.
Quote from: jodyb on June 02, 2008, 09:38:11 PM
If owens is fit, he's definitely one of the few that can contain PB. Cant disagree with ye on skinner, loadsa talent, but his greed outweighs his vision. Paddy was a wee bit like that in his early days so hopefully skinner can learn.
WRT the ferm forward line, pacy and sharp. Derry should should be fit to contain them, but depending on the ref, it could be a minefield from a Derry point of view.
Laois in 2005, with munnelly and wee donie brennan, that Maurice deegan w@nker blew the whistle every time mc guckin or lockhart touched them!! Wee man syndrome gone mad! (ask Colm O Rourke).
So it could go either way. Would like to think that Derry has the strength and bench to beat yes, but who knows.
Even if we get plenty of frees we're going to have to convert a lot more than we did last Sunday week. Ryan Keenan played excellently but needs to be more reliable. We really miss Ciarán O'Reilly and Tom Brewster in this regard. Tom is on his way back and is not a bad option in at full forward, but having been dogged with injury, it's hard to see him lasting 70 minutes. As regards the "Wee man syndrome" as many have said if you pull and drag and they go down it's a free regardless of the size of the man. Fermanagh forwards are cute, and will look for the free as soon as they are touched. We got slated for this tactic against Armagh in 2004 but if you watch the game, every one of John Bannon's decisions were correct. You can't argue with a referee who doesn't let the 'half foul' go. It's all about playing to your strengths.
Quote from: jodyb on June 02, 2008, 09:55:43 PM
Dook, Barry Mc Goldrick, Ciaran Mullan and Wee Wilkinson. Four to begin with. also James conway could also line out on the 40 any time. Where does the Steelstown lad O' Hea play? theres definitely more than 3.
O'Hea is deeefence. I counted Colly Dook, Banty and Wilkinson as the forwards. Barry isn't going to get you more than 1 or 2 points during a game. Christ the rest mightend get that either!
I'd be very surprised if Barry Owens makes an appearance let alone start. Last weekend was the first time he has kicked a ball this year. There's no way he'd be fit enough for the pace of a championship game.
Quote from: FermPundit on June 02, 2008, 10:01:42 PM
I'd be very surprised if Barry Owens makes an appearance let alone start. Last weekend was the first time he has kicked a ball this year. There's no way he'd be fit enough for the pace of a championship game.
He still has 3 weeks to get his fitness up, and who else could mark Paddy Bradley? Possibly Shane Goan, but Owensie is defiently the ideal man. Personally I think Clucker will play a sweeper role again in front of the full back line and Mark Little will drop back as well. This should help to cut out the ball going into Bradley. The tactics in the defence are going to be key to Fermanagh having a fighting chance.
There's no doubt, that our best 6 (bar dook) started yesterday, but the only man that's irreplaceable is still PB and no team has one of those on the bench. Derry, like it or not has 3 half forwards that will contribute no more than 4 points between them, on average, per game and the 2 corner forwards will generally contribute about 2 - 3 apiece
Quote from: jodyb on June 02, 2008, 10:20:33 PM
There's no doubt, that our best 6 (bar dook) started yesterday, but the only man that's irreplaceable is still PB and no team has one of those on the bench. Derry, like it or not has 3 half forwards that will contribute no more than 4 points between them, on average, per game and the 2 corner forwards will generally contribute about 2 - 3 apiece
fermanagh will double team on paddy
whoever derry pick as the spare man will be vital
i would go for gerard okane - uses ball well and good coming forward
What is wrong with Ciaran O Reilly and how long is he out for?
Quote from: glenullinabu on June 03, 2008, 09:33:52 AM
whoever derry pick as the spare man will be vital
Ah but Fermanagh will decide who the spare man is
Quote from: Uladh on June 03, 2008, 10:37:00 AM
Quote from: glenullinabu on June 03, 2008, 09:33:52 AM
whoever derry pick as the spare man will be vital
Ah but Fermanagh will decide who the spare man is
o no they wont ;D
You're new to the game? of course they will
Quote from: Our Nail Loney on June 03, 2008, 10:31:08 AM
What is wrong with Ciaran O Reilly and how long is he out for?
O'Reilly has a persistent cartilage problem in his knee. He had surgery at the end of last year but it's still troubling him and is only likely to pay club football this season.
Anybody got the latest on Sean Martin? Heard he limped off at the weekend during the club champiobship game. Would be a big loss, although on the plus side, I hear young M McGoldrick is back playing again.
An all ticket affair, should be a good crowd. Would you get 15000?
Quote from: wherefromreferee? on June 10, 2008, 01:06:06 PM
Anybody got the latest on Sean Martin? Heard he limped off at the weekend during the club champiobship game. Would be a big loss, although on the plus side, I hear young M McGoldrick is back playing again.
An all ticket affair, should be a good crowd. Would you get 15000?
I'd say you'd get close to 15000 anyway. There was 17'000 at Ballybofey, indicating that Derry's support-base is as large as it's been since probably the mid-late 90s. Expectation of reaching an Ulster Final must be pretty high in Fermanagh also, so i'd say this game will attract close to a capacity crowd.
Thought I get this thread back to the top again.
Deighan not expected to be fit for the game. Gillis in goals McGuckin on the bench!
Quote from: Estimator on June 16, 2008, 02:35:23 PM
Thought I get this thread back to the top again.
Deighan not expected to be fit for the game. Gillis in goals McGuckin on the bench!
Why is McGuckin on the bench?
Goalkeeper Shane McGuckin!
Quote from: screenexile on June 16, 2008, 04:15:15 PM
Goalkeeper Shane McGuckin!
Get ya now! Estimator, be clearer! Thats like saying Bradley (3no) or McGoldrick (2no)
Starting to get a bit nervous now... was on to McElroy there and the hoor won't even mention the match. Fermanagh are targeting this one big time!
Don't get me wrong I totally believe we have the players to win this game I'm just not sure about the tactics. I think Fermanagh will have their homework done on us and have 2/3 systems of play to try out should things not be going for them. We will not have anywhere near that amount of planning and I think we rely too much on individuals to pull us out of the holes we get into. One of those individuals is Doc andfor his leadership alone he will be a big miss although we have strong backup in the MF department which should see us through.
Anyway I just think that the ability of our players far outweighs Fermanagh and for this reason I am going for us to win by 3... it won't be one for the faint hearted I imagine!
exile have to say im testing the strength of my underware also. I def think Derry are a better team man for man but MOR will be aware of that and will def have a sweeper in front of Bradley. We also cant fall into the trap that snared us against Monaghan last year where they broke alot of ball around Mid-field and picked up the breaks. I think this will be a stiff test of Croziers management and his tactical abilitys in particular.
However I still say Derry by a point or two but only just with no room for a below par game
Looking forward to this one as well, should be close to a full house in Omagh, but trying to get through the town on a Saturday will prove to be a nightmare. The team that wins, will be one that deploys the better tactics. Can we deal Bradley and stop the supply of ball into him, and can Derry cope with the small, nippy Fermanagh forwards. To be honest, I think this one is a tough one to call, and there'll defiently only be a few scores in it. On paper Derry are by far the better team but few teams out do Fermanagh in terms of hunger and determination. Screenexile is McElroy playing much club football at the minute? Did he only come on as a sub the other week?
Doherty is a huge loss for this one. derry don't have anyone in his mould who'll get the graft done from midfield back. that said, i still think derry should have too much firepower
Quote from: Uladh on June 16, 2008, 06:12:09 PM
Doherty is a huge loss for this one.
after the galway debacle i have a bad feeling about this one
fermanagh could sneak ulster if they get past derry
I haven't heard a peep from the Fermanagh set up. I don't think I have ever seen a Fermanagh side as motivated as this one. Mal O'Rourke has instilled such a refreshing confidence and self belief in this squad. On paper Derry are red hot favourites but in championship football you just never know. I'm really looking forward to this game. I don't usually get nervous about football matches but I have to admit I'm as nervous as hell. I think it's just the excitment of knowing that we're only one game away from an Ulster final appearance. Tyrone and Armagh supporters would probably laugh at this but when you've never seen your own county in a provincial final semi finals mean a lot!
Thats a good point, lets hope its this year. Good luck Fermanagh.
Quote from: inisceithleann on June 16, 2008, 06:00:04 PM
Looking forward to this one as well, should be close to a full house in Omagh, but trying to get through the town on a Saturday will prove to be a nightmare. The team that wins, will be one that deploys the better tactics. Can we deal Bradley and stop the supply of ball into him, and can Derry cope with the small, nippy Fermanagh forwards. To be honest, I think this one is a tough one to call, and there'll defiently only be a few scores in it. On paper Derry are by far the better team but few teams out do Fermanagh in terms of hunger and determination. Screenexile is McElroy playing much club football at the minute? Did he only come on as a sub the other week?
Well he wasn't around for our first Championship game but he has shown up hen he can and was around the week before the Banagher game. He's only been availabl for a couple of matches and trainings and we haven't lost al year so it was prudent to stick with a winning team for the gam but when needed he came on and made a big difference for us and even grabbed a nice point.
The sooner Fermanagh are out of the championship and the qualifiers the better so we can get him back full time ;)
The thing with Fermanagh is that they have a confidence and swagger about them, that their history shows they have no right to have. Almost Down-like if you will. I commented to a friend before the Omagh game that Down would be thinking that they would be favourites for the game and expect to come away victorious. Fermanagh seem to have that aswell.
Its this factor that sets a small fear in me for Derry. We're never ones to carry the weight of expectation very well. It would be no surprise to me if Derry fell flat on their faces on Saturday. I really hope they don't. No surprise of they do.
Quote from: screenexile on June 16, 2008, 10:40:51 PM
Quote from: inisceithleann on June 16, 2008, 06:00:04 PM
Looking forward to this one as well, should be close to a full house in Omagh, but trying to get through the town on a Saturday will prove to be a nightmare. The team that wins, will be one that deploys the better tactics. Can we deal Bradley and stop the supply of ball into him, and can Derry cope with the small, nippy Fermanagh forwards. To be honest, I think this one is a tough one to call, and there'll defiently only be a few scores in it. On paper Derry are by far the better team but few teams out do Fermanagh in terms of hunger and determination. Screenexile is McElroy playing much club football at the minute? Did he only come on as a sub the other week?
Well he wasn't around for our first Championship game but he has shown up hen he can and was around the week before the Banagher game. He's only been availabl for a couple of matches and trainings and we haven't lost al year so it was prudent to stick with a winning team for the gam but when needed he came on and made a big difference for us and even grabbed a nice point.
The sooner Fermanagh are out of the championship and the qualifiers the better so we can get him back full time ;)
Ciaran McElroy is Fermanagh's most improved forward this year. He has had a few chances with previous managers but he has really taken his opportunity this year to show what he can do.
Quote from: gaagaa on June 16, 2008, 10:22:12 PM
Quote from: Uladh on June 16, 2008, 06:12:09 PM
Doherty is a huge loss for this one.
after the galway debacle i have a bad feeling about this one
fermanagh could sneak ulster if they get past derry
sneak what, an Irish Dancin Title?!
would love to see it but Doire will swat them away like a fly in the same way Armagh did Cavan
Quote from: Gold on June 16, 2008, 11:02:55 PM
Quote from: gaagaa on June 16, 2008, 10:22:12 PM
Quote from: Uladh on June 16, 2008, 06:12:09 PM
Doherty is a huge loss for this one.
after the galway debacle i have a bad feeling about this one
fermanagh could sneak ulster if they get past derry
sneak what, an Irish Dancin Title?!
would love to see it but Doire will swat them away like a fly in the same way Armagh did Cavan
I would say more like Fermanagh swatting away Armagh!!!
Jaysus theres a lot of cute derry hoors about.
I dont think yis are that nervous - well at least the team seem confident enough, they were checking out the possible final opposition the other day anyway (ps Sidebottom, well recognised, all is forgiven) :P
Quote from: glenullinabu on June 03, 2008, 09:33:52 AM
Quote from: jodyb on June 02, 2008, 10:20:33 PM
There's no doubt, that our best 6 (bar dook) started yesterday, but the only man that's irreplaceable is still PB and no team has one of those on the bench. Derry, like it or not has 3 half forwards that will contribute no more than 4 points between them, on average, per game and the 2 corner forwards will generally contribute about 2 - 3 apiece
fermanagh will double team on paddy
whoever derry pick as the spare man will be vital
i would go for gerard okane - uses ball well and good coming forward
Come on Gerard, don't be looking the easy job, just because you can't mark ;D
Malachy O'Rourke's track record speaks volumes, he is a proven winner. Fermanagh will certainly not be lacking confidence.
Think McCloskey may track Paddy Bradley. If Gilligan plays deep for derry as usual then it invites a sweeper to sit in front of the derry full forward line and the roving wing forwards of Fermanagh may be left to pick up Gilligan when deep.
Will be a big game and test for Kevin McCloy. I am a big fan of Kevin and he will be the first to admit he has been below par this year. He would be well suited to McBarron but Murphy may cause more havoc at FF.
Think Michael McIvor should pick up Mark Lyttle, very comfortable out the field and can take a score.
Makes for a VERY interesting game, Derry to pull through by 2 - 3 points
Will McIvor keep his place on the team?
Good question Uladh. I would give him a reprieve on the last day. He isn't suited to marking the HF who is acting as an extra midfielder. A boy like Maguire or Little would suit him well imo so I would definitely give him another rattle. Horses for courses, you could saee McEldowney get another run out also!
Quote from: haranguerer on June 16, 2008, 11:25:03 PM
Jaysus theres a lot of cute derry hoors about.
I dont think yis are that nervous - well at least the team seem confident enough, they were checking out the possible final opposition the other day anyway (ps Sidebottom, well recognised, all is forgiven) :P
I saw some of the Fermanagh lads at the Tyrone v Down game in Omagh, so i suppose this could work both ways!! Or maybe they were just getting used to the surrounds of the pitch!
Fermanagh will be leaving no stone unturned in the build-up to this game. There is huge expectation within the county, with an Ulster Final appearance within touching distance.
My team for Sunday and wee comment on each would be as follows but this may not be the one selected;
Gillis (because Deighan out obviously)
McGuckin - Pulled a few times for jersey pulling and skated on thin ice against Donegal, hope normal service to be resumed
McCloy - A huge game for the captain. Hope he is marking McBarron who would be more suited
Lockhart - Very safe against Kerry when introduced, an automatic choice if fully fit IMO
O'Kane - Marking can be suspect but he may occupy the free role to good effect
McCucker - Absolute rock, physical presence to come to fore and distribution tidy
McIvor - Tailor made for Lyttle or Maguire, maybe good for a point
Diver & Conway - BOth attacking instincts, important to rotate and not both get caught out of position when on the defensive. Great aerial power
Lynch - Place could come under threat, like to see him taking on his man
Murphy - Playmaker role and good for dirty ball and good feet
Muldoon - Should be targeted with kick outs, let him roam
E Bradley - Will be buzzing with confidence and taking his man on flat out I imagine
P Bradley - Knows what to expect but keeps producing it, very reliable with the free's
Gilligan - Important he does not dilly dally in posession, few close frees to get confidence going
Quote from: Kentucky Blue on June 17, 2008, 11:06:25 AM
Think McCloskey may track Paddy Bradley. If Gilligan plays deep for derry as usual then it invites a sweeper to sit in front of the derry full forward line and the roving wing forwards of Fermanagh may be left to pick up Gilligan when deep.
Wouldnt think so. Clucker's an intelligent player, and very comfortable on the ball; hes perfect for a sweeping role.
Owens missing didnt worry me against Monaghan because I knew we could handle their forwards, this is a different proposition. To be honest, the only way i could see any of our cornerbacks dong well on Bradley is if they play better than I've ever seen them (at any level!). They're capable of doing a decent job, but that aint enough on someone like PB, and they'll need all the help they can get. I'm expecting a backlash form the Eoin boy as well - it'd be fecking typical if Paddy was kept quiet only for him to pop up with a mom display...
Left this up on your beloved hoganstand last night, may as well leave it where I might get some sensible feedback (only got my account here reactivated)
I would go for the following ...
1. R Gallagher - started the Monaghan game and deserves to continue
2. P Sherry - to follow the roaming Gilligan
3. H Brady - to pick up P Bradley
4. S Goan - to nullify E Bradley
5. D Kelly - tasked with curbing Lynch (if he starts), needs to focus on defending
6. R McCluskey - drop in front of fullback line and cover
7. T McElroy - can compete in the air with Muldoon, as seen when marking Finlay, plus will have too much pace for Muldoon.
8. M McGrath - as per Monaghan game
9. S McDermott - to pick up Murphy or whoever plays CHF, basically plays CHB
10.M Murphy - plays as a midfielder
11.J Sherry - has a lot to offer, we need his presence and point taking ability
12.M Little - drop deep to cover but also needs to attack wing backs in opposition scoring zone
13.R Keenan - two man full forward line with Eamon
14.C McElroy - play in half forward line, needs to win outlet ball and breaks and get into scoring areas
15.E Maguire - simply add end product and we have what we need
Team would thus line out as follows .....
R Gallagher
S Goan H Brady P Sherry
R McCluskey
T McElroy S McDermott D Kelly
M Little M McGrath M Murphy
J Sherry C McElroy
R Keenan E Maguire
S McCabe is obviously a key sub, and can be utilised depending on how the game develops. With 20 Min's to go would be ideal, when he can exploit tiring legs and the game has spread out and he can pick up ball out on the wings as he seems to prefer.
Other useful subs could be;
L McBarron (maybe to spoil in midfield if needed)
D O'Reilly (as a half back depending on how Kelly fares, his long kicks could help inside forwards get early ball)
S Doherty (good ball winner and uses possession effectively)
P Ward (could stretch tired legs for last 10)
T Brewster (we need a recognised freetaker and he may be needed quite early depending on circumstances)
S Lyons (in any defensive position or at full back if Brady is injured)
B Owens (?????)
Obviously there is the P Bradley conundrum! McCluskey would be preferable, however I believe he is too important to our game plan to waste in that respect. P Bradley will score on anybody, as we have seen, so why waste our best player in trying to curb him? If we can limit the possession he gets in the scoring areas, which would be central to how we shape up defensively, then we can limit him. If he is isolated then he will score, whether it is Goan, McCluskey or Brady. Play to a system and we can limit him (and simultaneously those around him.) Therefore let Brady 'unsettle' him and with the necessary support around him we can close their forward unit out. Lets just hope the referee is not pernickety! If we can keep Derry to 0-12 then we have every chance. Clearly we do not have the same firepower as Derry so we need to keep it tight for as long as possible, and as the game develops it will naturally open up, when our smaller forwards can exploit the Healy Park space! Derry have not found the correct balance in their defence yet, and we need to take advantage of this. Goals will be important, and we will probably not win it without one. Conversely it is imperative we do not concede any. Believe Fermanagh, believe. Derry 0-12 Fermanagh 1-10
Very good, but you seem to have Ronan Gallagher lined out in the corner of the pitch. This seems very risky - derry could shoot for goal from anywhere...
Quote from: haranguerer on June 17, 2008, 03:03:42 PM
Very good, but you seem to have Ronan Gallagher lined out in the corner of the pitch. This seems very risky - derry could shoot for goal from anywhere...
Its all a cunning plan to lead us into a false sense of something or other. It'll no work. Fermanagh 0-22 Derry 0-10
Quote from: the green man on June 17, 2008, 03:08:33 PM
Quote from: haranguerer on June 17, 2008, 03:03:42 PM
Very good, but you seem to have Ronan Gallagher lined out in the corner of the pitch. This seems very risky - derry could shoot for goal from anywhere...
Its all a cunning plan to lead us into a false sense of something or other. It'll no work. Fermanagh 0-22 Derry 0-10
Only 22 pts? With our renowned firepower? Confidence is indeed high in Derry :P
Quote from: Slapdash on June 17, 2008, 02:57:16 PM
Left this up on your beloved hoganstand last night, may as well leave it where I might get some sensible feedback (only got my account here reactivated)
I would go for the following ...
1. R Gallagher - started the Monaghan game and deserves to continue
2. P Sherry - to follow the roaming Gilligan
3. H Brady - to pick up P Bradley
4. S Goan - to nullify E Bradley
5. D Kelly - tasked with curbing Lynch (if he starts), needs to focus on defending
6. R McCluskey - drop in front of fullback line and cover
7. T McElroy - can compete in the air with Muldoon, as seen when marking Finlay, plus will have too much pace for Muldoon.
8. M McGrath - as per Monaghan game
9. S McDermott - to pick up Murphy or whoever plays CHF, basically plays CHB
10.M Murphy - plays as a midfielder
11.J Sherry - has a lot to offer, we need his presence and point taking ability
12.M Little - drop deep to cover but also needs to attack wing backs in opposition scoring zone
13.R Keenan - two man full forward line with Eamon
14.C McElroy - play in half forward line, needs to win outlet ball and breaks and get into scoring areas
15.E Maguire - simply add end product and we have what we need
Team would thus line out as follows .....
R Gallagher
S Goan H Brady P Sherry
R McCluskey
T McElroy S McDermott D Kelly
M Little M McGrath M Murphy
J Sherry C McElroy
R Keenan E Maguire
S McCabe is obviously a key sub, and can be utilised depending on how the game develops. With 20 Min's to go would be ideal, when he can exploit tiring legs and the game has spread out and he can pick up ball out on the wings as he seems to prefer.
Other useful subs could be;
L McBarron (maybe to spoil in midfield if needed)
D O'Reilly (as a half back depending on how Kelly fares, his long kicks could help inside forwards get early ball)
S Doherty (good ball winner and uses possession effectively)
P Ward (could stretch tired legs for last 10)
T Brewster (we need a recognised freetaker and he may be needed quite early depending on circumstances)
S Lyons (in any defensive position or at full back if Brady is injured)
B Owens (?????)
Obviously there is the P Bradley conundrum! McCluskey would be preferable, however I believe he is too important to our game plan to waste in that respect. P Bradley will score on anybody, as we have seen, so why waste our best player in trying to curb him? If we can limit the possession he gets in the scoring areas, which would be central to how we shape up defensively, then we can limit him. If he is isolated then he will score, whether it is Goan, McCluskey or Brady. Play to a system and we can limit him (and simultaneously those around him.) Therefore let Brady 'unsettle' him and with the necessary support around him we can close their forward unit out. Lets just hope the referee is not pernickety! If we can keep Derry to 0-12 then we have every chance. Clearly we do not have the same firepower as Derry so we need to keep it tight for as long as possible, and as the game develops it will naturally open up, when our smaller forwards can exploit the Healy Park space! Derry have not found the correct balance in their defence yet, and we need to take advantage of this. Goals will be important, and we will probably not win it without one. Conversely it is imperative we do not concede any. Believe Fermanagh, believe. Derry 0-12 Fermanagh 1-10
the old weather forecast doesnt look the best for Sat,windy, few showers... but Fermanagh will have to put in some performance to hold Derry to 12 points...Eoin Bradley is surely going to hit the onion bag at least once
should be a good aul Ulster tussle.
Ulster Abu
Living in Fermanagh, I can honestly say that this game has me worried !
The O'Rourke factor will have a big bearing on it. Don't think it will be a classic, but am hoping for it.
Think that it will be very very tight, maybe a last minute score winning it for either team
Plus, it is very quiet in Fermanagh, not much talk about it, a sign that Fermanagh are really up for it
was told that the county board have organised Derry div 4 and 5 matches for sat, 5pm throw-in...this surely cannot be correct. wouldnt be that surprised though
Anyone know if this is correct?
PQ
I can't argue with most peoples predictions for the Fermanagh team. However I don't think Fermanagh will start with McDermott. They'll drop Sherry back there from CHF and that will form the three man midfield set up. Only for this Sherry would probably not start. Shane McCabe is pusing him extremely hard for a starting position and will be crucial to us when he'll come on in the second half. I'm very worried about the lack of a free taker. Tom Brew is not really fit for county level yet and Ryan Keenan isn't a bad alternative but we don't have any left footed players to take the frees. This is a major problem and I hope it doesn't back to haunt us. I wonder if Hughie Brady has done enough to cement his place at FB as well. He did rightly in the Monaghan game but he is very prone to fouling his man. Shane Lyons was flying in the NFL and would have started only for his broken cheek bone. But I suppose these tough selections decisions for O'Rourke is exactly what we need and would want.
Just how unfit is Tom Brewster? He's been months now trying to get up to match fitness, what is he trying to shake off. He was excellemt for last fifteen minutes against Down in Newry and that was two months ago. Would he be worth it for frees alone? In all likelihood we'll win quite a few.
Few mentions on HS of Brady missing last Teemore game through injury, any word on that? Presume Lyons is back from his jaw injury in any case.
Quote from: ExiledGael on June 17, 2008, 06:19:08 PM
Just how unfit is Tom Brewster? He's been months now trying to get up to match fitness, what is he trying to shake off. He was excellemt for last fifteen minutes against Down in Newry and that was two months ago. Would he be worth it for frees alone? In all likelihood we'll win quite a few.
Few mentions on HS of Brady missing last Teemore game through injury, any word on that? Presume Lyons is back from his jaw injury in any case.
Great to see Fermanagh with a strong bench - in the past, substitutions rarely strengthend the team, not the case now.
I'd rather see Lyons in there than Hugh Brady, and would take a chance on Tom Brew for Ciaran McElroy. I'm getting sick of waiting on James Sherry to deliver, and would have no prob if McCabe is in there instead of him. Problem with Brewster is his game doesnt suit the Fermanagh (and most modern teams) method - he is likely to be a passenger for long periods then do something spectacular, but he can win games...
Having said all that, you cant underestimate the benefit of having a full USFC match under the belt.
I'm not 100% sure how fit Tom Brew is but he did miss Enniskillen's last league game against Lisnaskea 2 weeks ago. He's been trying to shake off a groin injury for the last few months. I'd be very surprised if he starts on Saturday. With Ciaran O'Reilly out injured as well we really do miss an accurate free taker. Yeah, I hear Hugh Brady is carrying a knock, not sure how bad it is. Although he did well the last day out against Monaghan if Shane Lyons is fit he'll go into full back IMO. I was reading the Irish Star today and everyone seems to think Fermanagh will replicate the seem tactics as they did against Monaghan with Mark Little falling back info the half back line. Derry are going to be completely ready for this tactic if Fermanagh deploy it so the element of surprise has gone. Mal O'Rourke is an intelligent manager and I'm sure he'll have a game plan designed solely for this match to try and exploit the weaknesses of this Derry team. This may result in one or two surprises in team selection. My team for Saturday would be;
Gallagher
Goan
Lyons
Pete Sherry
Tommy McElroy
Clucker
Kelly
Womble
McGrath
Ciaran McElroy
James Sherry
Mark Little
Ryan Keenan
Eamon Maguire
McCabe
I know people are suggesting that McCabe will be used as an impact sub but at the end of the day you start with the best players available. I've seen him play for Belcoo this year and he's arugably the best forward we have. If he starts Fermanagh will go with a two men full forward line of Ryan Keenan and Eamon Maguire and will try to run the legs off the Derry defence. I'm not a big fan of the long ball into square and anyway McBarron would struggle against Kevin McCloy. McCloy enjoys a good physical battle but he won't fancy having to chase Eamon Maguire around the full forward line. I've gone for James Sherry at CHF as i think Fermanagh will go for 3 men in the middle of the park. James was quiet enough against Monaghan but he gives us another midfield option. In defence I think Shane Goan will be given the job of man marking Paddy Bradley. The two Bradley's will cause us problems regards of who marks them so it's imperative we win the midfied battle.
This is really difficult game for Fermanagh but its's a game they can win if every player plays to their full potential and Derry have an off day. Roll on Saturday!
I'd defiently go with Tom Brew at CHF with McCabe in the corner. Brew can push back into midfield and will be there to take the frees off the ground, as we have actually no other options in this area. That is very dependant on his fitness though. I don't think anyone will man mark Paddy Bradley. McClsukey will sweep and cut out the supply of ball to Bradley. Bradley will then no doubt come out and try and get possession, taking him further away from goal which is exactly what we want.
Sound analysis FP, I'd be amazed if McBarron starts on Saturday, at full-forward anyhow. I'd also be very surprised if McCabe doesn't start, even if O'Rourke doesn't name him.
Given our full-back situation I wouldn't be surprised to see Muldoon on the edge of the square. Even further out he's a great asset for kick-outs and our half-back line are all under six foot. Midfield will need serious help if it's the trio of him, Conway and Diver out there.
Goan will pick up Bradley, but it's all about the system in marking someone like that and I'm confident O'Rourke can solve that. Agree that Eoin could be the dark horse here but again O'Rourke will be no stranger to his game.
But you could find strengths in all their forward six to worry us.
Have to wonder whether McElroy playing his club football up there is a help or a hindrance for him personally? I probably think the latter.
Quote from: AidyMac on June 17, 2008, 04:50:18 PM
Living in Fermanagh, I can honestly say that this game has me worried !
The O'Rourke factor will have a big bearing on it. Don't think it will be a classic, but am hoping for it.
Think that it will be very very tight, maybe a last minute score winning it for either team
Plus, it is very quiet in Fermanagh, not much talk about it, a sign that Fermanagh are really up for it
:D
The alternative being of course: They're all talking about it in Fermanagh; they're up for it!!
Love championship fever!!
And could we not just kidnap Bradley, or shoot him or something?
Quote from: ExiledGael on June 17, 2008, 07:10:30 PM
Sound analysis FP, I'd be amazed if McBarron starts on Saturday, at full-forward anyhow. I'd also be very surprised if McCabe doesn't start, even if O'Rourke doesn't name him.
Given our full-back situation I wouldn't be surprised to see Muldoon on the edge of the square. Even further out he's a great asset for kick-outs and our half-back line are all under six foot. Midfield will need serious help if it's the trio of him, Conway and Diver out there.
Goan will pick up Bradley, but it's all about the system in marking someone like that and I'm confident O'Rourke can solve that. Agree that Eoin could be the dark horse here but again O'Rourke will be no stranger to his game.
But you could find strengths in all their forward six to worry us.
Have to wonder whether McElroy playing his club football up there is a help or a hindrance for him personally? I probably think the latter.
I can see McElroy being really up for this game! Not only is it an Ulster Semi Final, but I chance to go out against players he plays in club football as well
This whole Fermanagh outfit will be up for it. All pressure is on Derry, and if Fermanagh can get on top in and around the middle they have the runners to cause Derry defence problems! They will need to have Derry on back foot for most of the game and take their shootin boots with them, as Bradley & co wont be as wasteful as they were against Donegal!
I can really see Derry struggling on saturday against fermanagh. Without Doherty, we look like an unbalanced team and the whole rhythm of our play is upset. Diver and Conway will no doubt provide us with strong forward support, but we could be caught out by the fermanagh runners through the middle.
In saying that, i feel that Derry still should have enough to progress, but Fermanagh on the handicap of +3 at 10/11 looks a good bet. This one will be close.
Fermanagh team apparently
Taken from http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/northern_ireland/7460960.stm (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/northern_ireland/7460960.stm)
Quote
Fermanagh manager Paddy Crozier has named an unchanged starting line-up for Saturday's Ulster SFC semi-final against Derry at Healy Park.
Liam McBarron, a late replacement for Shane McDermott before the throw-in against Monaghan, retains his place at full forward.
Ciaran McElroy moves from corner forward to wing forward while Mark Little moves inside.
The midfield is unchanged with Martin McGrath partnering Mark Murphy.
Derry boss Paddy Crozier has said that goalkeeper John Deighan is likely to be ruled out of the match.
Deighan picked up an ankle injury in a recent club game so Barry Gillis looks certain to start in the semi-final.
"I don't think John is going to be fit so Shane McGuckin will be on the bench," Crozier told BBC Sport.
Sean Martin Lockhart is also likely to be ruled out after tearing a quad muscle while playing for Banagher.
The defender and former All Star was forced to retire after 10 minutes of a club game two weeks ago.
Francis McEldowney and Michael McGoldrick are the possible replacements should Lockhart not be able to line out.
Joe Keenan and Liam Hinphey are ruled out while Raymond Wilkinson is believed to have quit the squad and Barry McGoldrick is an injury worry.
Crozier added that Fergal Doherty will not launch any further appeal against his four-week suspension.
On paper, Deighan's absence should not be a major blow to Derry's chances of progressing to the provincial final as he and Gillis have been battling for the number one spot throughout this season.
"Barry (Gillis) is an experienced goalkeeper and we have been rotating the goalkeeping position all this year," added the Derry manager.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Derry: tba.
Fermanagh: R Gallagher, S Goan, H Brady, P Sherry, D Kelly, R McCluskey, T McElroy, M McGrath (c), M Murphy, C McElroy, J Sherry, R Keenan, E Maguire, L McBarron, M Little.
Paddy Crozier is going to have a tough day on saturday. Managing both sides now!!
Quote from: Jimbobjnr on June 18, 2008, 01:47:08 AM
I can really see Derry struggling on saturday against fermanagh. Without Doherty, we look like an unbalanced team and the whole rhythm of our play is upset. Diver and Conway will no doubt provide us with strong forward support, but we could be caught out by the fermanagh runners through the middle.
In saying that, i feel that Derry still should have enough to progress, but Fermanagh on the handicap of +3 at 10/11 looks a good bet. This one will be close.
Derry may well start with Diver / Bradley and have Patsy shore up the middle
Derry by 5 points or more
A Very interesting game on Saturday night that may well be won on the sideline.
The fermanagh team that i posted from the bbc website is probably not worth the paper it is written on.
I feel that the team will be:
Gallagher
Goan Lyons/Brady P Sherry
McElroy Clucker Kelly
Womble McGrath
M Keenan J Sherry M Little
R Keenan E Maguire C McElroy
Goan and Brady/Lyons will probably pick up the 2 Bradley's with Sherry picking up Gilligan.
The center half back line picks itself and hopefully Womble and McGrath can do the business in the middle. They will not win the clean ball they won against Monaghan but they should be able to win a good share of possession.
Suppose upfront is the biggest question. For years the forwards picked themselves but this year we actually have competition for places. Brewster, McCabe, L McBarron, P Cadden, P Ward could all start and i would not be surprised if they do. The last day illustrated Fermanagh's need for a left footed free taker and thats why i have included Keenan. I think he is fit and he was our top scorer in the league. McCabe should be left for the last 20 minutes where he might expose some tired Derry defenders. Maguire could expose McCloy(If that's possible because i think he is a very good defender).He has pace and a great leap and we need him to be on form Saturday night. If we could play a sort of interchange system up there, it might just unhinge the Derry defence. We have to be clinical and we cannot afford to many wides.
The only way that we can stop the P Bradley is by cutting out the supply of good ball into him. But Derry have other quality players. Lynch has taken out in championship games before as has Muldoon. Gilligan impressed me in the league final with the amount of unselfish work he got through and E Bradley has got all the tools to be as effective as his brother. All our defenders must win there personal battles if we are to win on Saturday.
O'Rourke could be the key on Saturday. He knows all about Derry football. He will have a couple of game plans ready for Saturday and is not afraid to make a sub if a player is not performing.
It will be tight but i think Fermanagh can win this, but only just.
Can't wait for saturday, really think we have a chance. The papers have been pretty quiet this week with regards this match but, both camps must be keeping very quiet.
As usual Midfield will be key, if fermanagh can win this sector, I really fancy us. Derry are always prone to a bad day at the office as well, lets hope its saturday ;D
Bad decision to put an Ulster Semi Final on a Saturday, no??
Best of luck fermanagh on saturday,
Ulster doesnt seem as strong this yr as recent yrs, yeve a fair good chance of winning it outright IMO but Derry wont be easy. Ye can do it.
USFC Semi-Final Derry v Fermanagh Team News
Derry face Fermanagh in Omagh on Saturday night in the Ulster Senior Football Championship.
With John Deighan picking up an ankle injury in club championship fixture, Magherafelt's Barry Gillis takes over between the sticks. The Loups Shane McGuckin joins the panel as replacement goalie.
Francis McEldowney started in Ballybofey, and retains that position.
Fergal Doherty is out due to suspension with James Conway partnering Joe Diver in the middle of the park.
Captain: Kevin McCloy
Manager (s): Paddy Crozier (Manager);
John McCloskey; Bernie Henry;
Peter Doherty; Martin Heaney.
1 Barry Gillis
2 Kevin McGuckin
3 Kevin McCloy
4 Francis McEldowney
5 Gerard O'Kane
6 Niall McCusker
7 Michael McIvor
8 James Conway
9 Joe Diver
10 Mark Lynch
11 Paul Murphy
12 Enda Muldoon
13 Conleth Gilligan
14 Paddy Bradley
15 Eoin Bradley
16 Shane McGuckin
17 Patsy Bradley
18 Paul Cartin
19 Colin Devlin
20 Ryan Dillon
21 Enda Lynn
22 Barry McGoldrick
23 Michael McGoldrick
24 Ciaran Mullan
25 Paul O'Hea
26 Raymond Wilkinson
Bit of shameless bias here, but best of luck to Fermanagh. We've gotten to know each other over the last couple of years and I had good craic with the locals in Lisnaskea the couple of months back. Would be great to see both Wexford and Fermanagh reach the Provincial Finals this year (and maybe beyond) ......
I can't believe how much Ferm were written off on TV3 tonite and elsewhere. Worra lorra bollocks. They showed a couple of bad wides - big deal. I give them a rip-roaring chance on Sat evening. The only way to hold Paddy Bradley is to cut down the supply, and that'll be the key.
Is it live on TV down south?
well if ye get rte2 down in wexford then yes, it's on de tele - 6.00pm on saturday evening.
Quote from: SLIGONIAN on June 19, 2008, 09:30:14 PM
Best of luck fermanagh on saturday,
Ulster doesnt seem as strong this yr as recent yrs, yeve a fair good chance of winning it outright IMO but Derry wont be easy. Ye can do it.
Thats the type of condescending stuff that sickens my hole! ;)
I hope that its a free flowing, end to end game that reignites every young boys passion in the games. I also hope that Derry win. I think we will by 3 points.
Can see putting fermanagh putting it up to derry right to the end but i think and hope that we should pull away in the end.Derry by 4/5
Eamon Maguire has been our best forward now for a number of years. Two footed, a great leap, accurate, always shows and an eye for a goal - he has a lot of great attributes.
I have a suspicion that on Sunday night in Healy Park, when all eyes will be on the Bradley's, it could be "Wee Man" that steps up and makes his name on the intercounty stage as one of the best forwards in Ulster.
Fear Manach Abú
Quote from: barryownsafarm on June 20, 2008, 12:39:24 PM
Eamon Maguire has been our best forward now for a number of years. Two footed, a great leap, accurate, always shows and an eye for a goal - he has a lot of great attributes.
I have a suspicion that on Sunday night in Healy Park, when all eyes will be on the Bradley's, it could be "Wee Man" that steps up and makes his name on the intercounty stage as one of the best forwards in Ulster.
Fear Manach Abú
dont go missing the game sir
Hoping for a good game and a Derry win
I have a sneaky feeling Fermanagh are going to win this.
I think Derry have better players no doubt but I think they showed against Donegal that they are tactically very very limited and Fermanagh under O'Rourke will be far from it. Also Doherty is a big loss - I'm not sure those two midfielders will complement each other - who's going to hold?
Fermanagh by two.
(I don't mind who wins it by the way.)
Also I doubt that Fermanagh will ever get a better chance to win Ulster. Their bogey team seems to be Tyrone who are now out and like someone else said Ulster football isn't really at it's peak at the minute.
The night of the Donegal team, the Sunday Game team basically showed the country how Derry clear the right corner forward slot for P Bradley to run into, Tohill was amazed that Donegal did nothing about it. So that's a start for Fermanagh. Derry are still reliant on Bradley and if they can keep him quiet they're a good distance down the road to beating them. There are a few Derry backs that aren't as good as Paddy Heaney would have us believe. It's a definite banana skin for Derry.
First time I've seen Bradley go into that corner as much. He usually runs to the other predominetly.
I'm supporting Derry.
I have never seen any point in Fermanagh. Has anyone else?
Quote from: Doire abú on June 20, 2008, 11:15:31 PM
First time I've seen Bradley go into that corner as much. He usually runs to the other predominetly.
Sssshhhh you. Dont be giving it away.
There has been a lot of talk about Derrys mental strength for this game. A few years ago I would have been worried about that. Not now however. I believe that there is a more steely determination about this particular group of players. They know that this year is the one where they have to prove to the country that they are a good team. Now or never, so to speak. Last year, or previous years, we would have lost that game in Ballybofey. The time is now for this group and they know it. The question is, can Fermanagh deliver now that the weight of expectation seems to be on them? If this message board can be taken as a cross section of the support, there is a fair few who think Fermanagh can win. So possibly the onus is on the green team to prevail.
Fermanagh are a good side, lets make no mistake about that, and have the potential to have a good run in the qualifiers. I just think that this game is a bridge too far for them. A lot has been said about their nippy forwards, but Derry have a few nippy defenders as well. Were not all brawn and no brains.
From my biased perspective, there are too many question marks over too many Fermanagh players in regards as how they shape up to being on the back foot. If that happens. If we can stamp our authority on the game early, then I believe that a final appearance, our first since 00, is there for the taking
Good question. Well, let's set this scenario:
Would you ride an off-spring of the Brewsters or an off-spring of the Tohills?
In all honesty now.
Quote from: saffron sam2 on June 20, 2008, 11:36:50 PM
I'm supporting Derry.
I have never seen any point in Fermanagh. Has anyone else?
No, no point at all. They should concentrate on the hurling so as to have an excuse for being crap at football. Ulster titles seem handy enough to come by in it at least!
Hopefully Fermanagh can do it tonight ;)
A shower of Derry wans passed the house there. Horns blowing and shaking their fists at me. Bastards!
The older and slower wans will be by shortly shaking their sticks at ye. You might have time to plan an attack.
The women is on her way over with some beer for me to sit and watch the match ;D as I have been bus at work all day ;D
Some shower of in-breds in the one place at the same time. Must be a record.
The Beard interviewed beforehand. Wonderful shade of stubble. Didn't hear any abuse.
Imagine a match being delayed due to the crowd being late and Dublin not playing!!!
14 mins gone and game oveer, Fermanagh arnt near physical enough
Can someone confirm that you are only allowed 4 steps on the ball before playing it as Eoin Bradley must have taken about 10 steps twice in that score...
How in Gods name was that given as a penalty???
derry 1-04 ferm 0-01
derry 1-04 ferm 0-02
derry 1-04 ferm 0-03
Quote from: DUBSFORSAM1 on June 21, 2008, 06:24:25 PM
Can someone confirm that you are only allowed 4 steps on the ball before playing it as Eoin Bradley must have taken about 10 steps twice in that score...
Yes, the ref should blow on the fifth step or second.
Quote from: DUBSFORSAM1 on June 21, 2008, 06:24:25 PM
How in Gods name was that given as a penalty???
Good question, ridiculous call.
derry 1-04 ferm 0-04
derry 1-04 ferm 0-05
Does anyone have the link to listen live on BBC Radio Ulster?
Derry not looking much good to be honest and look very dodgy at the back
derry 1-05 ferm 0-05
Does anyone have the link to listen live on BBC Radio Ulster?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/radio/
Sidebotttom has to be one of the worst commentators ever! He is absolutely shocking.
The Muckers are in trouble I'd say: the Fermanagh workrate is awesome, and the Derry lads don't look the sharpest.
That link only provides live fm radio coverage from BBC radio ulster. I need the link to BBC Radio Ulster Medium Wave (MW)
Healy Park - 1805 BST throw-in
FERMANAGH 0-6 1-5 DERRY H/T
Fermanagh scorers: Keenan 0-3, McElroy 0-1, Kelly 0-1, McBarron 0-1
Derry scorers: McIver 0-1, E Bradley 1-1, P Bradley 0-2, Gilligan 0-1
Fermanagh looking good as the first half went on. Surely they have to hit the net at some stage?
Fair play to plucky wee Fermanagh, but they're still gonna get beat.
How did Eoin Bradley not get booked for blatantly trying to rip the jersey off the Fermanagh defenders back???
derry 1-05 ferm 0-07 Little
derry 1-06 ferm 0-07 P.Bradley
Goal by Barry Owens...
derry 1-06 ferm 1-07 B.Owens
That referee is pathetic.
derry 1-06 ferm 1-08 M.McGrath
Looks like its gonna be another draw.
10 yellow cards
Wouldn't be the most knowledgeable about Gaelic Football, but this has been a deadly match.
Come on Fermanagh
derry 1-06 ferm 1-09 Maguire
4 up - Derry look like a beat team!
derry 1-06 ferm 1-10 Keenen
Quote from: Orior on June 21, 2008, 07:04:16 PM
Fair play to plucky wee Fermanagh, but they're still gonna get beat.
Maybe not!
This is seriously making a bollix of my accumulator though :'(
wonder if Enda feels like punching Siddey at the minute.
1 sent off
Not over yet
Derry are absolutely pathetic in the 2nd half......Stupid sending off but Eoin Bradley is being blessed with the ref not booking him a couple of times...
Fermanagh's tactics much better.
If O'Rourke was Derry manager they'd be winning
Quote from: Gold on June 21, 2008, 06:22:49 PM
14 mins gone and game oveer, Fermanagh arnt near physical enough
;D
Red Card ferm Peter sherry
derry 1-07 ferm 1-10 Gilligan 5 mins left
Does anyone rate wilkinson? i have never seen him do anything special when introduced from the bench.
derry 1-08 ferm 1-11 Maguire and Wilkinson 2 mins extra
Quote from: glens73 on June 21, 2008, 07:33:55 PM
Fermanagh's tactics much better.
If O'Rourke was Derry manager they'd be winning
If the Derry players had the balls to play proper football and play as a team and put the effort in they would be winning
derry 1-09 ferm 1-11 Wilkinson
fair play fermanagh
f**k what a finish, happy days
Result: Fermanagh 1-11 1-9 Derry
Ulster SFC semi-final
Saturday - Healy Park
FERMANAGH 1-11 1-9 DERRY
Fermanagh scorers: Keenan 0-4, C McElroy 0-1, Kelly 0-1, McBarron 0-1, Little 0-1, Owens 1-0, McGrath 0-1, Maguire 0-2,
Derry scorers: McIver 0-1, E Bradley 1-1, Paddy Bradley 0-3, Gilligan 0-2 Wilkinson 0-2
Well done Fermanagh great win .Fergal Doherty big loss for Derry .God the teams lining up in the qualifiers is frightening
Brilliant, that's cheered me up no end after last weekend
Great result for Fermanagh, Derry were poor but Fermanagh took their scores well, hopefully they can win an Ulster title now , would be nice to see.
Well done Fermanagh indeed, great display of determination. Let's hope they now go on and win Ulster by beating Down in the final :P
Inbreds in shock
i love this game
Quote from: johnpower on June 21, 2008, 07:43:57 PM
Well done Fermanagh great win .Fergal Doherty big loss for Derry .God the teams lining up in the qualifiers is frightening
Surely the fact that they are in the qualifiers is because they are not that good after all...
Wonderful win for fermanagh. There will be some eejitry around there tonight.
Poor crowd and atmosphere at the game (at least across the telly divide).
That is some Goalie Fermanagh have .Great scenes at the end .
Anyone else suffering from severe anticlimax syndrome shock watching the soccer after that game?
Good result for Fermanagh
Derry are an average side without big Doc
I would say they will have a say in the c'ship after Fermanagh are gone
See the Fermanagh boys are at the Club Energise craic as well...
fair play to fermanagh, reallly enjoyed the game. think they've a better side than 2003/4. Derry were disappointing but weren't allowed play. There's my betting slip with Derry for Ulster gone up in smoke. I think Derry overestimated themselves a tad andmaybe took Fermanagh for granted which is easy to do when you're raging favourites. Still you have to hand it to Fermanagh, they were great on the night.
Quote from: DUBSFORSAM1 on June 21, 2008, 07:49:26 PM
Quote from: johnpower on June 21, 2008, 07:43:57 PM
Well done Fermanagh great win .Fergal Doherty big loss for Derry .God the teams lining up in the qualifiers is frightening
Surely the fact that they are in the qualifiers is because they are not that good after all...
May not be the case .Teams learn more in defeat .Since 2001 a lot of All Ireland winning teams have got back on track through the qualifiers . I am thinking from a Kerry point of view given our recent troubles .The Dubs have no such concerns I know
Well done to Fermanagh. Plenty of hype from Monaghan and Derry supporters over the last few months but its Fermanagh who have emerged from that side of the draw and well deserved. Hope they go on and win a long overdue Ulster championship.
I think I'm going to go outside now and shake my fists at the Derry wans heading home.
Quote from: Fear ón Srath Bán on June 21, 2008, 07:51:19 PM
Anyone else suffering from severe anticlimax syndrome shock watching the soccer after that game?
Actually theres a fellow called (sounds like)
"jerk off" playing so no ;)
Quote from: ziggysego on June 21, 2008, 07:58:10 PM
I think I'm going to go outside now and shake my fists at the Derry wans heading home.
You're far too pleasant Ziggy ;)
Quote from: ziggysego on June 21, 2008, 07:58:10 PM
I think I'm going to go outside now and shake my fists at the Derry wans heading home.
Now be nice,ye might have to play them in the qualifiers
Well done Fermanagh.
Great to see it and like other posters I would love to see them go on and win Ulster.
The official attendance was given as 14,123 by RTE which given the GAA populations of the respective Counties, a Saturday evening throw in, bad weather and live TV isnt bad at all.
It's hard tp believe Derry were 1-4 to 0-1 ahead after the first quarter so it's 1-10 to 0-5 for the Ernemen for the last 3 qtrs of the game.
Probably a fair reflection.
And could I finish by asking Referees for fcuk sake stop blowing up play when a player gets away after a minor foul. He stopped Fermanagh several times in the second half. How about common sense in the application of the rules lads?
Then at the end where Fermanagh should have got some frees - he didnt give them at all !!!
Well it is the year of upsets in the Championship.
Well done to Fermanagh and I hope they go on to lift the Anglo-Celt, and maybe.... just maybe Sam Maguire.
Brilliant! Nervous finish - I wouldn't have been biting my nails much more if it had been Monaghan. Makes our first round exit a lot easier to take. Would love to see them take Ulster now - and i genuinely believe they could beat Down or Armagh.
i bought a ticket for the game last night but decided not to go as i thought Derry would breeze it--(im a neutral by the way) and couldnt stand seeing Bradley and co winning
feel like a d*ck now for not going but happy for Fermanagh
Shane McCabe was very good and rarely wasted a ball, Owens looks like a real option to come on in full -forward from now on--what a super sub! The last 2 Allstar full -backs squared up and Owens won hands down--what a first touch of the year!
Would be great if Fermanagh could kick on and win it now, although i fancy Armagh
A Fermanagh/Down final would be great for a change.
What a Championship we have here in Ulster as Jarlath said on the BBC, the rest of the Country must look on in envy
QuoteWell done to Fermanagh and I hope they go on to lift the Anglo-Celt, and maybe.... just maybe Sam Maguire.
If they win Ulster they won't win Sam as they will spend the summer on the lash and who would blame them after 120 years of failure.
Yerra its nearly 3 years since a team from Ulster even made the AI Semi finals anyway, never mind getting to and winning an All Ireland :P
Quote from: Kerry Mike on June 21, 2008, 08:26:06 PM
Yerra its nearly 3 years since a team from Ulster even made the AI Semi finals anyway, never mind getting to and winning an All Ireland :P
It's 2 years! You can't go saying
3 years until year 3 reaches the semi-final stage. Cute Kerry whores :P :D
its nearly 3 years as I said the first time.
Quote from: Frank Casey on June 21, 2008, 07:59:33 PM
Quote from: Fear ón Srath Bán on June 21, 2008, 07:51:19 PM
Anyone else suffering from severe anticlimax syndrome shock watching the soccer after that game?
Actually theres a fellow called (sounds like) "jerk off" playing so no ;)
Fair enough Frank, to each his own, I suppose ;)
Quote from: Fear ón Srath Bán on June 21, 2008, 08:52:57 PM
Quote from: Frank Casey on June 21, 2008, 07:59:33 PM
Quote from: Fear ón Srath Bán on June 21, 2008, 07:51:19 PM
Anyone else suffering from severe anticlimax syndrome shock watching the soccer after that game?
Actually theres a fellow called (sounds like) "jerk off" playing so no ;)
Fair enough Frank, to each his own, I suppose ;)
There is a fella called "arseshaving" (Arshavn) playing too
Had a feeling that this was on the cards as I posted earlier, Derry have a few defenders that are over-hyped, McCloy being one of them. Caught badly for the goal, Fermanagh are a rotten team to play against and IF we manage to beat Down, Armagh will definitely not be taking Fermanagh lightly.
Paddy Heaney who is normally a balanced writer lost the run of himself this year and is sitting with egg on his face tonight.
Quote from: Gold on June 21, 2008, 08:23:54 PM
i bought a ticket for the game last night but decided not to go as i thought Derry would breeze it--(im a neutral by the way) and couldnt stand seeing Bradley and co winning
feel like a d*ck now for not going but happy for Fermanagh
Shane McCabe was very good and rarely wasted a ball, Owens looks like a real option to come on in full -forward from now on--what a super sub! The last 2 Allstar full -backs squared up and Owens won hands down--what a first touch of the year!
Would be great if Fermanagh could kick on and win it now, although i fancy Armagh
A Fermanagh/Down final would be great for a change.
What a Championship we have here in Ulster as Jarlath said on the BBC, the rest of the Country must look on in envy
Doesn't sound much like a neutral to me ??? ??? ???
Anyway, what can I say? Just home. Gutted!! Derry yet again flatter to decieve. Was in the worst seat in the house, so I'm not gonna say much about the game (most of the 2nd half took place beyond my line of vision and i left with 10 mins to go). I'm gonna put the glasses on and put myself through the torture of watching the video now, to try and figure out just how bad Derry were.
But words like gutless and aimless are what i'm thinking at the minute.
Not to take away from Fermanagh, they played like they wanted it more and fair play to them. I hope they go on and win the Anglo celt.
fair play to fermanagh, great to see them win but wont be worth a thing unless they win the ulster final. hopefully they will....
Quote from: The Real Laoislad on June 21, 2008, 09:23:51 PM
There is a fella called "arseshaving" (Arshavin) playing too
And what a player he is, in fairness.
Well done Fermanagh, great win, see you in the final, regrettably though i would like to see you win an Ulster, this is our year
Quote from: Kerry Mike on June 21, 2008, 08:32:42 PM
its nearly 3 years as I said the first time.
I know! I was just making the point that reaching the semi-final is something that can only be done once a year, therefore it hadn't happened in the last 2 years, and will only be 3 years if it doesn't happen this year. I was just making the (albeit pedantic!) point that there's no 'nearly'!
:'( Ten years. We thought the wait was over after 10 years. If Conleith Gilligan scores the penalty, it probably is over. But that's far from pinning the blame on Gilligan. Fermanagh were excellent, they cannot be faulted. They were superbly well drilled, they won 90% of the ball at midfield. Their half-forwards and even their inside forwards worked so incredibly hard to get back when they lost the ball.
Derry didn't do enough with the wind in the first half to win it. The wind was savage but Fermanagh's gameplan worked to perfection. Someone said on here 1-10 to 0-05 in the last three quarters was fair, I'd agree completely. Derry never got out of their own half for the first 20 minutes of the second half. They never got out of second gear. While some will compare it to Monaghan last year, it's more like the Donegal defeat at Clones in '05 for me. Wet, miserable old evening, off the back of a brilliant opening round win and completely outplayed.
O'Rourke had Fermanagh so well drilled they made Derry look like headless chickens. There was no gameplan. I felt sorry for Mark Lynch. He in particular was being forced to drop deep and when he got possession (which was often enough), he was being left with 70 yards of space and five green shirts before he could see either of the Bradleys - what was he supposed to do?
Diver and Conway will be blamed no doubt, but how many clean catches did Fermanagh take? Derry's half-backs were sleeping. Fermanagh's half-forwards just stood in front of them on kickouts and waited for the ball to be broken down, grabbing 90% of them.
Up front, Derry only ever looked threatening when Eoin Bradley got the ball. Paddy never figured, because the possession coming his way was snapped up long before it ever got there. Eoin's goal was superb, great pace and strength. He should have been brought out to half-forward for the second half, because Derry needed someone to run with the ball and take the pressure off. Paul Murphy never got a kick again, can't understand why his club form isn't being reproduced.
The referee was abysmal but he certainly didn't beat Derry. All said, Fermanagh were thoroughly deserving winners. I genuinely hope they go on and win Ulster now because the way their fans celebrated after the match showed how much it means to them. They made most of the atmospher and swamped the players at the final whistle.
Suppose our ten years looks short in comparison ;D
Still haven't watched the game on video RGR, but that sounds about right to me. Disagree with the point about Lynch. there were at least 3 occasions when he could and should have offloaded to ether of the Bradleys and he didn't. But Derry looked like they hadn't their homework done and were completely outplayed.
Quote from: THEREALGRASSROOTS on June 21, 2008, 11:02:54 PM
The referee was abysmal but he certainly didn't beat Derry.
He was poor indeed. If anything, i'd say Fermanagh suffered a bit more because of him - when he slowed things up when he gave them frees, effectively killing their advantage. The penalty decision was a borderline one (i thought it was a fair shoulder - hard to tell) and Eoin Bradley also won a few very handy frees when i think both players were pulling at each other.
Overall however, the amount of yellow cards was ridiculous in a game where there were very few bad tackles. Sherry was extremely unlucky to get sent off and McBarron's yellow was for nothing.
Quote from: jodyb on June 21, 2008, 11:09:21 PM
But Derry looked like they hadn't their homework done and were completely outplayed.
So are they just not good enough? Or did they actually underestimate Fermanagh as they did with Monaghan last year? It's funny actually that both Monaghan and now Fermanagh beat Derry in the Ulster semi-final, but by 2 points in each case when the winners dominated the vast majority of the game in both cases.
Quote from: mackers on June 21, 2008, 09:29:54 PM
Had a feeling that this was on the cards as I posted earlier, Derry have a few defenders that are over-hyped, McCloy being one of them. Caught badly for the goal, Fermanagh are a rotten team to play against and IF we manage to beat Down, Armagh will definitely not be taking Fermanagh lightly.
Paddy Heaney who is normally a balanced writer lost the run of himself this year and is sitting with egg on his face tonight.
You have to give it to heaney he over rated this derry outfit big time - the NFL is really not important to counties anymore and is in danger of becoming another McKenna Cup type competition - Fermanagh played with great hunger today and O'Rourke seems to be a very astute manager indeed.
Congrats to Fermanagh, best of luck in the final.
Quote from: spiritof91and94 on June 21, 2008, 11:14:48 PM
Quote from: mackers on June 21, 2008, 09:29:54 PM
Had a feeling that this was on the cards as I posted earlier, Derry have a few defenders that are over-hyped, McCloy being one of them. Caught badly for the goal, Fermanagh are a rotten team to play against and IF we manage to beat Down, Armagh will definitely not be taking Fermanagh lightly.
Paddy Heaney who is normally a balanced writer lost the run of himself this year and is sitting with egg on his face tonight.
You have to give it to heaney he over rated this derry outfit big time - the NFL is really not important to counties anymore and is in danger of becoming another McKenna Cup type competition - Fermanagh played with great hunger today and O'Rourke seems to be a very astute manager indeed.
Heaney wasn't on his own, to be fair. And there was a lot of talk about Fermanagh's great run in the league.
I'm looking forward to seeing Brolly and Tohill on TV tomorrow. :P
Quote from: Maguire01 on June 21, 2008, 11:13:04 PM
Quote from: jodyb on June 21, 2008, 11:09:21 PM
But Derry looked like they hadn't their homework done and were completely outplayed.
So are they just not good enough? Or did they actually underestimate Fermanagh as they did with Monaghan last year? It's funny actually that both Monaghan and now Fermanagh beat Derry in the Ulster semi-final, but by 2 points in each case when the winners dominated the vast majority of the game in both cases.
I think that when they went 1 04 to 0 01 ahead some of that hype might have crept in, I cant believe that they would have underestimated Fermanagh, because after the fermanagh monaghan game, they had to realise that fermanagh were a genuine threat. having said that, they have a history of faltering after every decent win. Monaghan last year, Donegal in '06, Armagh '05 and lots more games I dont care to get into.
Quote from: Maguire01 on June 21, 2008, 11:20:31 PM
I'm looking forward to seeing Brolly and Tohill on TV tomorrow. :P
Whereas I'm delighted for Brolly RIGHT NOW! :D
Quote from: Fear ón Srath Bán on June 21, 2008, 11:22:16 PM
Quote from: Maguire01 on June 21, 2008, 11:20:31 PM
I'm looking forward to seeing Brolly and Tohill on TV tomorrow. :P
Whereas I'm delighted for Brolly RIGHT NOW! :D
He is half a Tyrone man after all. Why wouldn ye be delighted for him :D
Quote from: THEREALGRASSROOTS on June 21, 2008, 11:02:54 PM
:'( Ten years. We thought the wait was over after 10 years. If Conleith Gilligan scores the penalty, it probably is over. But that's far from pinning the blame on Gilligan.
Twas never a penalty anyway. just one of a litany of uncalled for whistles all evening from yet another poor ref. they're ruining the games. LET THE FUCKIN GAME GO REF!
Quote from: jodyb on June 21, 2008, 11:25:38 PM
He is half a Tyrone man after all. Why wouldn ye be delighted for him :D
I disowned that half many moons ago, as did he I believe ;)
Great win for Fermanagh and good to see Barry Owens back and what an impact he had. That was never a penalty and Sherry should never have been put off.
Well done Fermanagh.
Ref was a joke, shouldn't be allowed charge of anything beyond U16 level. Confetti yellows. If this was the Euros Fermanagh would have no team for the final.
This ref is the best example in support of Tohill's argument that Ulster games need a ref that understands Ulster championship football.
On the bigger picture, the AI game requires inter county refs who perform with a common consistency?
Feel foolish for buying into the idea that Derry had developed some kind of backbone overnight. Same old Derry. I know Muldoon is a class act for Ballinderry but yet again I can say I've yet to see him justify his elevated status in a big county game. Lynch, unfortunately, is not going to be the colossus he looked like being as a minor. Some very un-athletic looking players on the in-bred side too. In saying that, they played fairly shite and could still have won so they could get a bit of a run going again.
Well done Fermanagh. O'Rourke is some cookie - imagine winning a buckin Ulster title with the Loup! THE LOUP!!!
Referee - made sure he'd be on the TV. Pure cnut of a ref (is that defamation?), punishing the sinned against repeatedly by stopping attacking play to get some fella's phone number.
It looked like a fair shoulder charge. But if it was a fair challenge why did the Derry player hit the ground clutching his face with both hands?
Sad to say but the ref got fooled by an out and out cheat
Quote from: Fear ón Srath Bán on June 21, 2008, 11:27:33 PM
Quote from: jodyb on June 21, 2008, 11:25:38 PM
He is half a Tyrone man after all. Why wouldn ye be delighted for him :D
I disowned that half many moons ago, as did he I believe ;)
I think he still struggles with and is tormented by his inner tyronie :D
Anybody who attends league games in the past number of years can see the trend .First Jersey tug yellow card then the ritual book keeping followed by linesmen and umpires feeling lonely calling the refs attention where he will book both players having held up the game .
Fear Meath don't do moaning or indignation
Congratulations to Fermanagh, who should have at least doubled their winning margin. They got their tactics right on the night, and won every individual battle on the pitch. Doherty was an enormous loss for Derry, as Paddy Bradley is a wonderful talent but most certainly not a team leader. He spent most of the night waving his hands at his colleagues and the bench rather than going out the field and making something happen.
All the talk has been about the 1982 Fermanagh team, but, in the Brewster Park clubhouse, the picture on the wall is on the side which beat Down in the following year's championship for the only time in living memory. There are an incredible number of Fermanagh supporters who also follow Down (because they hate Cavan to the south and Tyrone to the north) and they would all much prefer to get Armagh in this year's Ulster final.
Finally, in the BBC box, Jarlath Burns said last week and again this week that James passed to Mickey for the winning goal in the 1994 AI final. It was bad enough last week but this week James was sitting beside him and simply smiled to himself. Time to dust down that video, Jarlath.
great fecin win for Fermanagh! as a Wexford man Ive watched your lads play ours a fair few times over the last few years and was cheering ye on tonight. Hopefully the yelllablellies can do the same again laois tomorrow!
Well done Fermanagh, hopefully they go on and win it now, but down or armagh will have a big say in that
The Derry lads are quiet!! What a performance from the Erne men. After 15 mins i was startin to feel a bit sorry for them, as thought we would have a cricket score!!
Derry couldnt live with the running game of Fermanagh players. Derry tried to run it, but as indiviuals not as a team. Never the option ov an overlap for them, or if it was they didnt take it. Onve the pressure was on them they cracked, giving away needless ball time and time again.
Not many will want them in the qualifiers for all that!!
Fair play Fermanagh
well done fermanagh, fully deserved their win. they looked alot more fitter and mobile than derry!
div3 teams going well.
Derry were totally inept for the last 55 minutes of the game. Management have to take a large slice of the blame, this is worse than the last 2 ulster semi-final defeats, although the performance was identical. Fermanagh were the better team, but their tactics for the last 10 minutes of the game were absolutely disgusting, someone mentioned sherry's ending off, by the end fermanagh should have had about 4 more gone, the cynicism in their play (whilst understandable) is not something we should want in gaelic football. Of course in Derry we're well aware of the way O'Rourke sends his teams out, so it shouldn't have come as a surprise.
The other point is once more the injury time, the ref decided on 2 minutes, this despite the fact that he'd handed out what, 10, 12 yellows, each taking a good 30 secs, and whilst you may say that Derry would have lost anyway, it had a huge bearing, twice in the 2 mins of injury time derry had the chance to cut the deficit to the minimum with very scoreable frees, but given the time left they had to try and work a goal.
All in all, Derry were well beaten by a team with a plan. The gilligan penalty was a turning point, but even so, I would need to watch it again to try and see what went wrong, but that's not happening!!
Hope the grapes haven't been too sour here, but, hey, what can you do!!
Derry,over hyped and over here. . . . . Kevin Mc Cloy, over rated. mark lynch, when he gets the ball his first instinct is to solo for 50 yards then see whats on,well Mark Fermanagh have funnelled everyone back. . . . . . .
Derry crash out
Ewan MacKenna
Fermanagh make first Ulster final in 26 years with stunning win over league champions
Erne go bragh: Fermanagh's Eamonn Maguire celebrates his late point against Derry in last night's Ulster football championship semi-final inpho/dan sheridanWanted further proof of Derry's All Ireland credentials? Buddy, you're going to have to wait for the qualifiers. Last night the summer continued to shred all preconceptions, Fermanagh's spirit seeing them soar above the league champions by 1-11 to 1-9. And boy did they deserve it. After being left in the blocks by their highly-rated opponents, they had the perfect ingredients to pick up only their second ever championship win against Derry (the other time was in 1982 when Dominic Corrigan kicked the winning point as a 19-year-old). Their free-flowing possession game left a physically bigger Derry to stagger through the mud before they fell to their knees long before the finish line.
By the time Barry Owens made his return, being brought on at full-forward, Derry were wilting, but the two-time All Star's goal effectively killed off the favourites midway through the second half. In fact his comeback from a serious heart operation at the start of the year summed up Fermanagh's fearless attitude while Malachy O'Rourke's tactical move in throwing him in on the edge of the square summed up what the manager has brought to this side in a stunning debut season.
During the first half, they caused Derry's full-back line to creak and as the second half progressed it splintered. Kevin McCloy was again left to contemplate his performances of last season, Kevin McGuckin was run ragged by Eamonn Maguire while Francis McEldowney didn't see the second half. The Bradley brothers were left to answer all the questions in a forward division that continues to threaten a chorus but remains a duet while the midfield of Joe Diver and James Conway lost their way.
Fermanagh hustled and harried directly into a galeforce wind during the first half but endured the sort of opening most thought would kill their flighty spirits. After taking the lead through a Ryan Keenan free, Mark Lynch briefly glowed around the 40 and while Shane Goan shadowed Paddy Bradley like no one has managed this season, his brother Eoin left Peter Sherry lame.
It was Bradley the younger who put Derry ahead after Michael McIver had opened the favourites' account and moments later he goaled with the sort of jinking run and dashing finish that famously marked his championship debut against Down. There was more. Paddy finally found some space and opened a five-point gap while Conleth Gilligan could have ripped open the Fermanagh wound further only to have a controversial penalty turned away superbly by Ronan Gallagher. His resulting 45 seemed ample consolation.
But Fermanagh are too wieldy to be pinned and their performance was exemplified by the brilliant Mark Little. Hard in the tackle on his own 40, where he spent much of the opening half, while his breaks ghosted through the Derry half-backs and left a sinking ship at the back in increasingly choppy waters.
Their inside domination was allowed to prosper as both Mark Murphy and Marty McGrath got to grips at centrefield. Both wing-backs, Damien Kelly and Tommy McElroy, scored to send Fermanagh towards the break like a comet. McBarron reduced the gap to a goal and despite Paddy Bradley keeping Derry bobbing uneasily, a Keenan free left the score at 1-5 to 0-6 at the break. And while Derry disappeared deep into the bowels of Healy Park, O'Rourke kept his players out in the open for just a minute, convincing them they were worthy of an Ulster final.
It's a thought that stayed with them right through the second period. Little reduced the gap to the minimum while it took Paddy Bradley 15 minutes to get Derry's first score of the half. Then came
Owens' goal on 54 minutes, as he beat both McCloy and Barry Gillis to hit home Maguire's looping ball. After that they were unstoppable. McGrath pointed. Maguire pointed. Keenan pointed. Even two late Raymond Wilkinson points, the dismissal of Peter Sherry and some nervous goal-line moments failed to halt the surge.
Fermanagh in an Ulster final. That's a stage on which they must ensure this astonishing performance wasn't all for nothing.
FERMANAGH R Gallagher; S Goan, S McDermott, P Sherry; D Kelly (0-1), R McCluskey, T McElroy (0-1), M McGrath (0-1), M Murphy; C McElroy, J Sherry, R Keenan (0-4, 0-3 frees); E Maguire (0-2), L McBarron (0-1), M Little (0-1) Subs S McCabe for McBarron, 41 mins; B Owens (1-0) for J Sherry, 52 mins
DERRY B Gillis; K McGuckin, K McCloy, F McEldowney; G O'Kane, N McCusker, M McIver (0-1); J Conway, J Diver; M Lynch, P Murphy, E Muldoon; C Gilligan (0-1, 45), P Bradley (0-4, 0-2 free), E Bradley (1-1) Subs B McGoldrick for Muldoon, 8-22 mins; M McGoldrick for McEldowney, h-t; C Devlin for Lynch, 62 mins; Paul Cartin for McIver, 63 mins; R Wilkinson (0-2) for Diver, 67 mins
Referee S Doyle (Wexford)
June 22, 2008
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great win for fermanagh, fair play! a really enjoyable game to watch for the neutral (well half neutral, any team bringin derry down a peg or 2 will get my support!!) lookin forward to hearing/reading brollys opinion on tv and his columm in the gaelic life which for a while seemed to be the joe brolly/ joe diver love fest!! Where were you tonight diver? Any other tyrone fans get the feelin it'l be us an derry drawn out 1st round qualifiers?
Quote from: tyrone86 on June 22, 2008, 03:35:12 AM
in particular their attitude to Crozier and McCloskey.
whats that about?
why is it when derry get beat the bradleys always get targeted??
the class of the Tyrone folk never fails to surprise me.
Derry wiped out in the middle, toothless in attack and, well rubbish for a good portion in defence. Enough of this sports science rubbish, lets get back to playing for the jersey, passion for the county colours.
Fair play to Fermanagh and good luck in the final
Anyone know when the back door draw is?
Quote from: tyrone86 on June 22, 2008, 03:35:12 AM
I've yet to see it mentioned here, maybe I'm the only one that thought it, but the two Bradley's attitude is beyond rotten. A pair of ill mannered, disrespectful cnuts, in particular their attitude to Crozier and McCloskey.
and less of the personal attacks on amateur sportsmen ye begrudging clown.
Thought it was first time Bradley Junior took responsibility and was by far Derrys best player. Fermanagh had their homework done on Paddy. Think both were right to show frustration. Be something wrong if they didnt!!
Where do i start??
What a game, what a night.
Great result for us last night.
Just after watching the match again there now and it was a bit less nerve racking this time around.
After 15 minutes i thought that we were going to be on the receiving end of an awful stuffing.
But fair play to the lads. They never stopped and the heads never dropped. There is a confidence in the Fermanagh team that has never existed before. Taking to some of the players before the match and after, the idea of defeat never entered there head. They just believe that they are going to win. Must be the Club Energize ;)
Derry were great in the first 15 minutes. They looked very assured and did not panic when they had the ball. The worked the ball around until they found an opening and then punished Fermanagh. Great penalty save from Gallagher, even if he was a mile of his line when he saved it. It should never have been a penalty in the first place. After the penalty miss all that stopped and The Derry forwards got some brutal ball.
It was great to see P Bradley giving Crozier and McCloskey a roasting after about 20 minutes on the stand side. From a playing point of view, its always great to see the other team yapping at each other.
O'Rourke again showed his mangerial skills last night. He did not play 1 sweeper, he played 2. Our WHFs played in front of the two Bradleys for most of the match which left T McElroy and Kelly loads of space to run into. Then they joined the attack, running at the Derry defence. We gave good accurate ball into E Maguire and later S McCabe and then supported them with runners. It was very hard to defend against and showed the fitness of the Fermanagh team.
Derry decided to mark our sweepers and that played into the Fermanagh game plan. It meant more bodies in our half of the field and also we could get the ball away quick because Derry had not played a man in front of our Full forward line.
Womble and McGrath got the better at midfield and we won nearly all the break ball. E Maguire was magnificent yesterday along with Lyttle. Thats the best Lyttle has played since 04. McBarron did not have a great game and McCabe was a big help when he came on. You could not have written the script for B Owens. He has had a long, hard road back from a serious enough condition. Honestly did not think that he was fit enough to play but hopefully come the 20th July, he will be fit enough to take up his natural position in the full back line. Finally I must say S Goan marked Bradley as best any man could. He was magnificent.
The referee yesterday was not the best. Stopped the game far to many times to book players when he could have let the play go on and book the man after. Some of the yellow cards were ridiculous and P Sherry was unlucky to get sent off. One thing i will say was he kept the game going when some Fermanagh and Derry players were "injured". Was amazing to see how these players recovered so quick when they realized the referee was not going to stop the game. Fair play to him for that
And Now its on to Clones for the Ulster final for the second time ever and the first time in 26 years.
Do not care who we play. Does not matter because we will go in as underdogs and we will win. We are after beating one the of the best teams in the country and I see no reason why we cannot win our first Anglo-Celt cup.
If you are reading this Mark Sidebottom, Tommy McElroy is for Brookeborough, not BallieBorough. That would be in Cavan
An unbelievable result !
Disgusted, shocked and embarrassed about the way that Derry performed yesterday! Fair play to Fermanagh for sticking to a well-thought game plan. Just like Monaghan ('07) and Donegal ('06), Derry just didn't perform as a team, there were far too many passengers!
Felt sorry for McCloy, the fella has had a major dip in form and if he wasn't captain, he would surely have been dropped - he didn't look comfortable at all on the pitch and should have been taken off along with McEldowney at half time as the pair of them had been booked.
Derry were tactically naive, when they went 1-04 to 0-01 up, the Erne men threw in a sweeper, who must have easily collected/intercepted 6/7 passes into the forward line, and when that happened the Fermanagh men came flying out of defence, passed the statues that were the Derry midfield and half forward line!
The penalty was the major turning point in the game, despite coming so early in the match, I would have rather had a 14yd free kick for Bradley to tap over.
The second half was just one way traffic, very reminiscent of the first half in Healy Park two years ago. The defence just couldn't get the ball into hand and clear it at speed, there was very little off the ball running, no support play, the amount of times the FF line, stood looking at players with the ball, without making a decent run was a disgrace.
The management team were very poor, completely out of ideas. In three years, with a good bunch of players Derry have failed to reach an Ulster decider, which is nothing more than a complete failure.
Those people who have described Derry as a one-man team are absolutely right - Its Fergal Doherty. Derry were completely rudderless around the middle of the field without him.
I do hope Fermanagh go on and break their duck, but I can't see them beating Armagh or Down. Their management team will not be afraid to make the hard calls, and change tactics mid-game!
All in all, I feel that O'Rourke's ability to impose his gameplan on the match was were the game was won and lost. Derry players and management just had no answers to a very good and very mobile fermanagh team. The loss of Fergal Doherty around the middle of the park was immense and I can't remember Derry winning one clean ball around the middle of the park. McCloy looked extremely dodgy and I don't think Owens would have got in so handy if big Niall had have been marshalling the edge of the square...
Anyway I hope Fermanagh now go on and lift Ulster. Congratulations Fermanagh, O'Rourke and Maxie in particular, at least we might get one Ulster medal in Derry this year, lol!
Quote from: screenmachine on June 22, 2008, 11:00:58 AM
All in all, I feel that O'Rourke's ability to impose his gameplan on the match was were the game was won and lost. Derry players and management just had no answers to a very good and very mobile fermanagh team. The loss of Fergal Doherty around the middle of the park was immense and I can't remember Derry winning one clean ball around the middle of the park. McCloy looked extremely dodgy and I don't think Owens would have got in so handy if big Niall had have been marshalling the edge of the square...
Anyway I hope Fermanagh now go on and lift Ulster. Congratulations Fermanagh, O'Rourke and Maxie in particular, at least we might get one Ulster medal in Derry this year, lol!
Totally agree with that. Forgot to mention McElroy in my previous post, fair play to him, done well throughout!
Great victory for Fermangh and fully deserved. The Ulster football championship is the ony one worth watching now adays.
Quote from: Gold on June 21, 2008, 06:22:49 PM
14 mins gone and game oveer, Fermanagh arnt near physical enough
Heh heh heh. Its f**king great having a look at this the nxt morning!
Brilliant result last night. I didn't think I would be saying those words after the first 15 mins but the boys didn't panic, they stuck to their game plan and were deserving winners. Man for man Derry have the better players but Fermanagh out fought them for every ball and they clearly wanted it more. I think most people now appreciate why so many Fermanagh supporters wanted Malachy O'Rourke as manager. He's probably the best young coach in Ireland at the moment. He has instilled such a work ethic and confidence in the team that I haven't seen before. One thing that has held back Fermanagh teams throughout the years has been fear. For too long Fermanagh feared the big boys of Ulster and they almost felt out of place competing against them. Hopefully those days are gone. As a team we have been steadily improving for the last 10 years so I suppose last night's victory shouldn't come as too big of a surprise. A NFL division one semi final, All Ireland quarter final and semi final in 04 indicates that we belong with the top tier of counties in Ireland. So maybe this year wil be our year when we finally break our duck and lift our first ever Ulster title. Well done to everyone last night. I think the scenes on the pitch after the match showed our much this means to us. Fear Manach Abu!!
Quote from: Bogball XV on June 22, 2008, 01:38:59 AM
Fermanagh were the better team, but their tactics for the last 10 minutes of the game were absolutely disgusting, someone mentioned sherry's ending off, by the end fermanagh should have had about 4 more gone, the cynicism in their play (whilst understandable) is not something we should want in gaelic football.
Eh? please elaborate. Fermanagh were very unlucky to have had one player sent off, never mind 4 more. I think you must be the only person to have posted who doesn't think that the ref was 'card happy'. Can you point out who else should have been shown a red?
Quote from: Bogball XV on June 22, 2008, 01:38:59 AM
The other point is once more the injury time, the ref decided on 2 minutes, this despite the fact that he'd handed out what, 10, 12 yellows, each taking a good 30 secs, and whilst you may say that Derry would have lost anyway, it had a huge bearing, twice in the 2 mins of injury time derry had the chance to cut the deficit to the minimum with very scoreable frees, but given the time left they had to try and work a goal.
A genuine query - is the time taken to discipline players meant to be added onto the end? I thought 'injury time' was time added on when the game was stopped due to injury?
Quote from: Estimator on June 22, 2008, 10:52:37 AM
The management team were very poor, completely out of ideas. In three years, with a good bunch of players Derry have failed to reach an Ulster decider, which is nothing more than a complete failure.
Quote from: FermPundit on June 22, 2008, 12:05:56 PM
Man for man Derry have the better players but Fermanagh out fought them for every ball and they clearly wanted it more.
Hard to know whether to keep buying this. Is it not a case that the Derry players have simply been overrated? Surely a team supposed to have so many good players should and would have made a real breakthrough by now?
Also, as a non-Fermanagh and non-Derry man (albeit with Fermanagh bias in this tie), if i had to pick a starting 15 from both squads, there's be at least as many green shirts.
Quote from: FermPundit on June 22, 2008, 12:05:56 PM
Man for man Derry have the better players but Fermanagh out fought them for every ball and they clearly wanted it more.
Hard to know whether to keep buying this. Is it not a case that the Derry players have simply been overrated? Surely a team supposed to have so many good players should and would have made a real breakthrough by now?
Also, as a non-Fermanagh and non-Derry man (albeit with Fermanagh bias in this tie), if i had to pick a starting 15 from both squads, there's be at least as many green shirts.Fair comment. Although I agree that Derry were over hyped last week I genuinely believe Derry have some outstanding footballers. They lost this game because they under estimated the challenge that Fermanagh would give them. I know you could give me many reasons why this would have been a mistake but I just feel Derry lost this game in the changing rooms before they came out.
Quote from: Maguire01 on June 22, 2008, 12:35:44 PMQuote from: Bogball XV on June 22, 2008, 01:38:59 AM
The other point is once more the injury time, the ref decided on 2 minutes, this despite the fact that he'd handed out what, 10, 12 yellows, each taking a good 30 secs, and whilst you may say that Derry would have lost anyway, it had a huge bearing, twice in the 2 mins of injury time derry had the chance to cut the deficit to the minimum with very scoreable frees, but given the time left they had to try and work a goal.
A genuine query - is the time taken to discipline players meant to be added onto the end? I thought 'injury time' was time added on when the game was stopped due to injury?
According to the rulebook:
Quote3.2 The playing time shall consist of two periods
of thirty minutes each, but time shall be added
on in each period for incidental or deliberate
delays
I imagine the 400 bookings would be classed as incidental. As for the fermanagh tactics at the end, I can't single any one incident out, but every time a derry man got the ball in any sort of threatening position he was dragged to the ground by 2/3 players, it was total cynicism at it's worst and incidents such as that should be punished more severely, it's probably more a failing in the rules, it's definitely time for a sin bin imo. I appreciate that fermanagh were only doing what they had to do to win, but the last 10 mins were total rugby league.
Anyway, good luck to you, it'll be a long time coming if you can manage it, but i still think armagh may be the team to beat.
BTW Maguire, I've come round to your way of thinking about the closed roof stadium, wish to f**k that omagh had one yesterday ;)
not that i think this affected the game in any way but here goes...did anyone notice the fermanagh man who scored maybe their last or second last point 'double bouncing' the ball as two derry man had been previously blown up for earlier on. This rule really annoys me when a player slightly loses control of the ball and then has to readjust, i don't see it as a double bounce but if the referee is going to blow it then he has to blow it all day long...seen bradley have a we slap at our maxie in the first half, only the mans made of sterner stuff he could have been rollin around like he was shot...or from tyrone ;)
Quote from: tyrone86 on June 22, 2008, 03:35:12 AM
I've yet to see it mentioned here, maybe I'm the only one that thought it, but the two Bradley's attitude is beyond rotten. A pair of ill mannered, disrespectful cnuts, in particular their attitude to Crozier and McCloskey.
just keep them away from industrial sanders, is that what youre saying ???
Fantastic result for plucky wee Fermanagh. (I'll stop using that term if they win the Anglo Celt, lol)
Cant believe how the Derry forwards went missing. The great white hope Lynch? Not this year matey.
The soccer afterwards was as dull as dishwater compared to the football.
Quote from: orangeman on June 22, 2008, 10:50:03 AM
An unbelievable result !
no it wasnt.
many of us have beeen talking about the poor full back line and how bad mccloy and mcguckian are
this team was picked on past glories and until derry picks on current form they have no c hance
even gilligan has a split fanbase - good at club but gives appearance of glory hunter at county level - wants handy ball and frees
who the hell decided he should have hit the penalty?
even if derry had a big lead fermanagh would have come back when they started running at derrry - derry teams are worse with s big lead
defence should have been built around mccusker at full back - (i also feel mcivor gets a hard time unfairly)
anyway the qualifiers will show how good or bad we really are
i think crozier must go now - he seems to be too uncertain
at club level we can all wait for the ballinderry backlash with some of their county men looking to live up totheir reputations
might be worth a few pounds for the ulster club
Quote from: FermPundit on June 22, 2008, 12:05:56 PM
Man for man Derry have the better players
no they dont - fermanagh spould have been in ai final few years ago ( and would have but for terrible decision near the end to give mayo a free)
these boys should win ulster, but i think theyll freeze if they play against armagh
they play great football and are a pleasure to watch when they get going (except in omagh yesterday)
belief is all they need
Bogball, hows them grapes? Cynicism is bodychecking players runs off the ball like Derry did all day yesterday.
Havent seen the match on TV yet, so yet to see what it was like properly, all I know was that it seemed like a great game at it - and thats not looking back with rose tinted specs.
Derry are fragile, and so it proved again yesterday. SM Lockhart was a big loss to Derry imo - championship football is made for players like him. Every team can only play as well as they're let, and Fermanagh stifled Derry to an unbelievable extent. They were the far better team - a 6 point victory wouldnt have flattered them. With such a big psychological hurdle to get over however, Fermanagh were always just going to scrape through.
With regards to an Ulster title, it (and more) are there for them. Everyones going to be harping on about Fermanagh being good yesterday but they weren't great. They gave derry a 6 point lead, then when they were completely dominant for the 1st 15 min in the 2nd half, they didnt score. At that point, I thought they had kicked themselves out of it. There is a lot more in this team, I just hope I see them fully firing some time. Defence is brilliant, and thats without the allstar fullback (roy of the rovers stuff that, wasn't it!): if Fermanagh score 15 points in any game, I'd expect it to be enough.
The final - its gonna be tough. Hard to know who you'd 'prefer' - The aristocrats, (isnt that a class thing for people to call you..) Down, when their tails are up are a serious proposition, while Armaghs method and similar incredible work rate to fermanagh would make for an exhausting game even to spectate at.
I'd imagine there will be serious hype, given fermanghs record, I just hope it doesnt get to them. But theres plenty in the tank, bring it on!
Quote from: gaagaa on June 16, 2008, 10:22:12 PM
Quote from: Uladh on June 16, 2008, 06:12:09 PM
Doherty is a huge loss for this one.
after the galway debacle i have a bad feeling about this one
fermanagh could sneak ulster if they get past derry
gaa i dont think they could beat armagh but i hope im wrong
Quote from: screenmachine on June 22, 2008, 01:37:38 PM
not that i think this affected the game in any way but here goes...did anyone notice the fermanagh man who scored maybe their last or second last point 'double bouncing' the ball as two derry man had been previously blown up for earlier on. This rule really annoys me when a player slightly loses control of the ball and then has to readjust, i don't see it as a double bounce but if the referee is going to blow it then he has to blow it all day long...seen bradley have a we slap at our maxie in the first half, only the mans made of sterner stuff he could have been rollin around like he was shot...or from tyrone ;)
I'm loathe to say I thought the ref wasnt too bad; in general you're better saying he was crap so that when the other side say it too they cancel each other out, and neutrals reading dont get the impression that he favoured your team (i possibly think too much). But, I thought the ref wasnt too bad (havent seen it on tv yet though). Of course I screamed at him every time he gave a free to Derry, but thats what I paid in for. The penalty wasnt a big surprise, looked as though the boy was bending down and mcgrath was to the front of him (my memory could be dodgy tho, I was locked last night). Seen the 'double bounce' you refer to, at the time thought was lucky to get away with it, but to balance, he was also strict on the pick-up. and very late on a derry man lifted it clean off the ground with 1 hand. Also, i think it was after the throw up near the end, fermanagh got the ball and were surrounded by derry men - usually theres a few half fouls and the ref will give a free out, he didnt on this occasion. I thought it was brave enough of him, and the right decision (even tho Derry got a pt from it)
Quote from: screenmachine on June 22, 2008, 01:37:38 PM
not that i think this affected the game in any way but here goes...did anyone notice the fermanagh man who scored maybe their last or second last point 'double bouncing' the ball as two derry man had been previously blown up for earlier on. This rule really annoys me when a player slightly loses control of the ball and then has to readjust, i don't see it as a double bounce but if the referee is going to blow it then he has to blow it all day long...seen bradley have a we slap at our maxie in the first half, only the mans made of sterner stuff he could have been rollin around like he was shot...or from tyrone ;)
Absolutely right screenmachine. It's not a foul. Unless the ball is taken back into the hand, you're allowed to bounce it as often as it takes to get under control. That incensed me yesterday, as it broke down a couple of derry attacks. When the fcukin ref doesn't know the rules what do ye do :-\
I posted about this on the Fermanagh v Monaghan thread. Marty McGrath (I think) got blown for it in that game. I always thought the rule was that it only counted as a double bounce if it was under control, i.e essentially if you catch it again in between, but a few on that thread said they heard refs were under instructions to clamp down on it. Of all the things to clamp down on, like!
Firstly let me say well done Fermanagh, completely deserved the victory hard as it is for us to accept.
From a Derry point of view I alway knew we would struggle in this game, though I did think we would still win if we played to our full capability which unfortunately we didnt.
We were missing Doc, Lochart and Hinphy...all 3 vital IMO for this Derry defence. McCloy, McGuckian and McEldowney were awful start to finish. Apart from Nial the half back line was poor, particularly O'Kane. Diver and Conway hardly touched a ball and never tracked back. As for our half forwards....Paul Murphy might not have had a great game but he was the only one to win any break ball for us, then he was taken off for a midfielder. Muldoon was advised not to continue after his injury early in the first half by the medical team but Crozier put him back in and he was not fit...apparantly he couldnt see out of his injured eye. Thought Lynch tried really hard but had no support when he needed it. Paddy B did what he could with the limited supply he got, Gilligan was very poor and although Eoin scored 1-1 he is the laziest player I have ever seen. I saw him at least twice stand around the 40 watching lynch surge up the sideline getting tackled by 3 ferm players and when he lost the ball Eoin just stood shaking his head rather than trying to help him out in the first place.
We were tactically non-existant and I actually think Crozier could not see the tactics fermanagh were playing. I'm not surprised PB was shouting at the line.
I do think had we been in any way tactically aware of what was going on we could still have beaten fermanagh...but the indecision on the line filtered through to the players who didnt know where they were supposed to go or what they were supposed to do against the tactics everyone knew fermanagh would use. This is very disheartening for a player and it's no surprise a lot of the Derry players looked lost. I think the lions share of blame from a Derry point of view lies with the manager.
I dont want this to take away from the Fermanagh team...they played with more hunger and organisation than the Derry team. Their manager knew exactly what he was doing and the players all knew what they were supposed to be doing. I hope they go on to win Ulster now and will support them regardless of who they are up against. I do worry about their scroing power though...having totally dominated Derry for 70% of the game they only won by 2 and Derry missed some very easy frees and the penalty so on another day Fermanagh could still have been beaten. I think if they can improve a bit up front no-one would fancy their chances against them.
As for the referee...total joke. He wasnt even consistently bad. 2-3 times he blew frees against Derry for the double bounce...then let a fermanagh player do exactly the same thing and score from it (just one biased example I know, but it's the stand out balls up I remember). Totally awful...couldnt see the penalty from our seat but what I will say is Niall McCusker is not a player to lie down easily...and if the keeper was off the line when the penalty was taken it should have been re-taken. Also thought Derry should have had a penalty near the end for a foot block but wasnt given.
Ok rant over....good luck fermanagh. I fear it's season over for us yet again.
Delighted, only word for it.
First time today my eyes can focus on the screen, but I wasn't surprised by the patronising sh&%e I heard & read before and after the game!
I have just read Bogball's post and I must have been watching a different game! Fermanagh have been relatively naive for years by trying to play the game and getting punished for it, by 'hard tackling'. Now when they have a few lads that are no small men, they are dirty and negative tactics, it really is sour grapes. Fermanagh were no worse than Derry yesterday (in my opinion Fermanagh were cleaner) and to say any different is rubbish. Can anyone enlighten me as to how Maguire had to leave the field with blood when the ball was at the other end of the field?? What happened him?
Anyway, here goes with the negative before the positive:
The referee was shockingly bad. I watched it on TV (i'm ashamed to say, although in a different country) and he was terrible. Muldoon hit McGrath with a carbon copy of the penalty challenge minutes earlier, and he waved play on. The penalty was a joke, no-one was even sure what he was giving and the only injustice was the 45 going over the bar.
Peter Sherry was extremely unfortunately to be sent off. Two fouls that weren't bad, were punished by (in my opinion) an incompetent official. Does he miss the final? If he does, Fermanagh should have an appeal in before the offices open in the morning. He was roasted by Bradley time and again yesterday, but I still maintain he is a natural half back and looks a bit lost in the corner at times
Analyists/Experts/Posters : Please, please, please stop being so patronising! This wee Fermanagh thing has been annoying me for years and the fact that it is still trotted out is silly (trying to keep the language clean). We were a Division 1 that got shafted in the new format. Have been highly competitive when you take out the teams that have won AI's in the last 5 years and yet still we get this patronising crap. Someone posted that they can't see us having a chance against Armagh, why??????
Surely beating the two favourites for Ulster this year would buy us respect but instead everyone spouts on about Derry. As someone said earlier, all of the fellas on the panel were confident they would win, as were a large number of fans. Even when Derry had there purple patch we were by no means being steamrollered.
The funiest bit was at half time one of the commentators informed us that Derry would pull away because they could throw it over from 40 yds which Fermanagh couldn't do, my blood was boiling! They couldn't do it in the first half with the wind but it was only a matter of time before they pulled away apparently.
And they constantly called players by the wrong name, at one point they called Keenan, McElroy! Now Ryan was pratically glow in the dark yesterday with the good weather in Tempo recently ;) but they still couldn't spot him!
Anyway rant over, but for all you people from bigger counties you have to be in the situation
Well done to everyone yesterday. O'Rourke has kicked on from were Mulgrew left off, and has (i'm repeating someone here) made the players believe. There was no panic after Derry took an early lead and again at the end when the pressure was on, they held firm.
Our lads wanted it more and got the reward for the effort. Little, Maguire, Kelly, McElroy interchanged and covered an unreal amount of ground. Every single player showed there worth and the subs had the desired impact at the right times.
Not many counties can leave a 2 times allstar on the bench ;) . Delighted the Owens got the goal and he deserved a bit of fortune at the right time.
I didn't see the stats but I would think our chances to conversation ratio would have been better than the Monaghan game?
Anyways as I've said before Well Done and thanks to all the Fermanagh contingent. I can't wait to another game where we don't have a chance ;D
Quote from: wanderer on June 22, 2008, 05:09:43 PM
Surely beating the two favourites for Ulster this year would buy us respect but instead everyone spouts on about Derry.
Two
of the favourites. As far as i recall, Tyrone were the favourites at the start of the Championship. And to be fair, there's no lack of respect for Fermanagh, here or anywhere else.
wanderer did you switch off before the end? fermanagh men were hanging off derry men right, left and centre for the last ten minutes. Eoin Bradley was dragged down at every opportunity.
I know the grapes ares sour, but i don't care, the gaa have to stop that sort of cynicism, sin binning is probably the best option. Did you feel the additional time in any way reflected the stoppages (many the referee's own doing via the yellow cards).
As for your chances next day, well who knows, i think it'll be armagh, and you have form there, but once bitten etc. Finally, delighted for owens, and hope he can play a full part in the final.
Bogball, were you at the game? If so then you must have seen fermanagh players frequently being bodychecked off the ball to stop the runs, in particular both wing backs - it seemed like a tactic.
Much more cynical than a tired team who are a man down tackling badly. At least Derry got frees for those infringements.
If you are serious about stopping cynicism, thats where you start.
When we're talking about cynicism, there were some frees given where the attacking player was clearly the one holding onto the defender. E Bradley got a few handy enough frees.
Well done Fermanagh. Although there is no point beating Derry in the semi and not winning the final. I hope youse do go on and win it and get that (0) from the end of your name. I'm a fermanagh man for the rest of the Ulster championship
Eoin Bradley would have been the first man in the sin bin. Too lazy to tackle and just pulled on the shirts constantly to stop attacks. Maybe those new shirts are helping. Enough about that nonsense though.
Fermanagh were the far better team. Knew from the first minute McEldowney went to Eamon Maguire he would torture him and you'd have to question whoever made that decision, McGuckin was eventually put onto him and did better. We were just hungrier everywhere, and after watching PB running out to the half fouling Ciaran McElroy (for which he should have seen yellow) and then mouthing at his own bench knew Derry had a very questionable attitude and no leaders to turn to.
For the most part Fermanagh were great all over the field, maybe McBarron the only man not playing his best.
On a day like that midfielders were going to have to get through the dirty work and forget about the high fielding and surging runs, none of the four made a clean catch all night. But thought Marty McGrath was superb. 'Maurice without the tan' hit him a heavy shoulder, he clattered fairly into 'Big Niall who uses a wheelbarrow with a flat tyre' and near the end hit a really inspirational point when charging into a fifty fifty with his eyes on the ball, taking the hit but still firing the loose ball over the bar. True leadership and a brute of a man. Truly believe we have the best midfield in Ulster now, maybe even further afield.
Little and Maguire outstanding, and Damien Kelly and Tommy McElroy have really flourished under O'Rourke. McCabe excellent again in possession, hope the's available for the final with the Glens involved in Europe around then, but he'll do everything in his power to be there like everyone else in the county.
Delighted for Owens, nobody deserves it more, you just couldn't write that.
Enough of this plucky stuff and patronising, we were far better than Derry last night, and far better than Monaghan last time out. Quite simply we now have a number of excellent players, other really talented men and all with a superb work ethic and managed by the right man.
Thank God Malachy took the job. Very confident he'll get them back down to the job at hand Tuesday night and the players on TV and last night were constantly churning out the 'we've done nothing yet' line. That's the difference this year - attitude, professionalism and belief.
Roll on Clones
Fermanagh, God bless them.
Isnt it great that Tyrone people take such a great interset in Fermanagh and Derrys fortunes. Always seem to bombard Derry games' threads. They really are true gaels
Why, thank you. All-round good gaels.
Quote from: wanderer on June 22, 2008, 05:09:43 PM
Analyists/Experts/Posters : Please, please, please stop being so patronising! This wee Fermanagh thing has been annoying me for years and the fact that it is still trotted out is silly (trying to keep the language clean). We were a Division 1 that got shafted in the new format. Have been highly competitive when you take out the teams that have won AI's in the last 5 years and yet still we get this patronising crap. Someone posted that they can't see us having a chance against Armagh, why??????
whose bein patronising? better fermanagh teams have wasted leads against armagh in recent years
its well recognised that ferm seem to freeze against armagh (aiqf few years ago apart)
i would love to see new champs in ulster - i said i hoped i was wrong but we'll see
come on fermanagh ;D
Ok here's my take on things.
Fermanagh were FAR better than us in every area of the pitch! The reason for this was the system that O'Rourke has used to let them play to our strengths. I outlined 3 ways that we would best Fermanagh 1. Work the ball in 2. Put Muldoon in FF and play long ball into him 3. Take Long range points. For the first 15 mins we worked the ball in and got serious reward for it and I was cconvinced we had the game sown up if we continued to play like that. Then what did we do? Decided to hoof balls in from all angles to a Fermanagh defence that had 4 men on Paddy Bradley... this continued for the entirity of the game and nobody changed f**k all!
For us I thought McGuckin was good (glenullinabu seems to have a personal vendetta against him I don't know why) as he robbed his man maybe 3 times and was out in front as much as he could be given the space the Ferm forwards got. McCusker, Gilligan and Bradley were also good and after that we had nothing.
Our midfield was exposed something serious yesterday. Given the conditions there was no possible reason to have 4 men in there who can catch a ball when there wasn't a clean catch to be had. What happened was they jumped on top of eachother and invariably the ball fell into a Fermanagh defenders hands. That is where we miss Doherty because on a day like that he is the man to dive on top of those breaking balls and get the dirty work done for us.
As for the ref and the pulling and hauling well it seemed to me Fermanagh were keen to foul away down the pitch to stop us getting early ball in and if Sherry's was a 2nd booking it was completely deserved. Having said that both teams were using the 3rd man tackle all day long and the ref didn't do anything about it. Poor ref and very inconsistent but nothing to do with why we lost the game.
I think our management were shown up badly yesterday as not having any tailored gameplan. The subs we introduced weren't going to change the game and didn't have much of an impact at all. As for the Paddy Bradley situation they should have sacrificed him getting 5/6 points and use him as a decoy to pull Fermanagh defenders out of the way for someone else to take over the mantle of scoring... that's why it's a team game!!
Fermanagh are an excellent team! Well drilled, fit as hell (much fitter than our lads), hungry, great spirit, fantastic belief in themselves, a tight gameplan (and I'm sure anothe one or two tucked away should one not work). Armagh or Down will have their fill of it against them and if Down progress I fancy Fermanagh to beat them but I think Armagh will win Ulster now as they will not be as tacticaly naive as we were yesterday.
As for where to now we jus have to wait for the qualifier draw an try and build things back up. We still have the players to win an All Ireland I am convinced of it and if Doherty had played yesterday I think we would have won. In all seriousness though I think this year is a write off. We need a new manager next year to come in and have a bit of tactical awareness and who isn't afraid to lay down a few home truths to a few players. We still have a relatively young squad that can win more! I just don't think it will be this year.
Anyway Fermanagh will have my full support for the Final and fai play to McElroy I hope he can bring an Ulster medal back to the club! Fermanagh abú!
Quote from: screenexile on June 22, 2008, 07:42:54 PM
For us I thought McGuckin was good (glenullinabu seems to have a personal vendetta against him I don't know why) as he robbed his man maybe 3 times and was out in front as much as he could be given the space the Ferm forwards got. McCusker, Gilligan and Bradley were also good and after that we had nothing.
As for the Paddy Bradley situation they should have sacrificed him getting 5/6 points and use him as a decoy to pull Fermanagh defenders out of the way for someone else to take over the mantle of scoring... that's why it's a team
i dunno about the vendetta thing with glenullinabu- im not sure kevin is as good as he was either - full back line has been a problem for a while
i totally agree derry could have used pb as a decoy - it would have surprised fermanagh as they wouldnt have been expecting that
fermanagh have excellent footballers who are now having a bit of belief in themselves
Gentlemen. Kevin McGuckin is a class footballer, that any county team would by glad of. Lets stop this nonsence that he is past his sell by date.
Quote from: tyrone86 on June 22, 2008, 03:35:12 AM
I've yet to see it mentioned here, maybe I'm the only one that thought it, but the two Bradley's attitude is beyond rotten. A pair of ill mannered, disrespectful cnuts, in particular their attitude to Crozier and McCloskey.
Are you surprised at that ??
I'd have to agree with Greenman - Kevin Mc Guckin is one of the best defenders in Ireland -
I don't know what has happened Mc Cloy after being the best full back in Ireland bar none last year - maybe the All Star ?
Had Gilligan scored the penalty, Derry would have been out of sight and could have won by 10 - that was the turning point, no doubt.
Quote from: ONeill on June 22, 2008, 06:51:57 PM
Why, thank you. All-round good gaels.
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Quote from: ONeill on June 22, 2008, 06:51:57 PM
Why, thank you. All-round good gaels.
Aren't yis. I was going to propose that it was the same as Ballinderry commmeting on Moortown/Ardboe, but then I realised that them'un's would never come close to that standard, and deceiced to leave it.
Just to rub salt into Derry's wounds, you'll be fined £500 for going to the wrong goals for the pre-match warm up.
great result yesterday, its there best chance for a ulster title this year
Quote from: screenexile on June 22, 2008, 07:42:54 PM
As for the Paddy Bradley situation they should have sacrificed him getting 5/6 points and use him as a decoy to pull Fermanagh defenders out of the way for someone else to take over the mantle of scoring... that's why it's a team game!!
I could just see this now...
Paddy Crozier - "Right Paddy I'm going to use you as a decoy, run out to a corner and we'll kick the ball into the other corner where we'll have at least one free man who can do the damage, ok?"
Paddy Bradley - "I'm not playing. Eoin lets go."
Eoin Bradley - "Ok, f**k you Crozier."
Quote from: Orior on June 22, 2008, 10:27:08 PM
Just to rub salt into Derry's wounds, you'll be fined £500 for going to the wrong goals for the pre-match warm up.
What's the point in a £500 fine? If a punishment isn't prohibitive, it's pointless.
Quote from: the green man on June 22, 2008, 08:58:19 PM
Aren't yis. I was going to propose that it was the same as Ballinderry commmeting on Moortown/Ardboe, but then I realised that them'un's would never come close to that standard, and deceiced to leave it.
I see you haven't learned the Englsih yet, but passable.
Glad to see Fermanagh wans getting a big day out in July. That usually meant a trip to Lough Derg. God Bless 'em.
Quote from: screenmachine on June 22, 2008, 11:29:25 PM
Quote from: screenexile on June 22, 2008, 07:42:54 PM
As for the Paddy Bradley situation they should have sacrificed him getting 5/6 points and use him as a decoy to pull Fermanagh defenders out of the way for someone else to take over the mantle of scoring... that's why it's a team game!!
I could just see this now...
Paddy Crozier - "Right Paddy I'm going to use you as a decoy, run out to a corner and we'll kick the ball into the other corner where we'll have at least one free man who can do the damage, ok?"
Paddy Bradley - "I'm not playing. Eoin lets go."
Eoin Bradley - "Ok, f**k you Crozier."
:D
They should have a gaa spitting image with wee puppets and all. I can see this scene im my head!!
Quote from: ExiledGael on June 22, 2008, 06:52:39 PM
Quote from: Bogball XV on June 22, 2008, 04:12:41 PM
Quote from: Maguire01 on June 22, 2008, 04:06:05 PM
Quote from: Bogball XV on June 22, 2008, 03:47:40 PM
i thought the standard was well above the tripe served out yesterday in healy park (those grapes are still very bitter), obviously a totally different style of football, but at least it was a bit entertaining for the neutral.
TV3's commentary and analysts are pretty good too.
??? Yesterday's game was highly entertaining.
obviously i didn't find it entertaining at all, i genuinely thought it was poor fare, it may have been a good result for fermanagh and the neutrals, but there wasn't a pile of football played (bar skinner's goal).
Pathetic, have you watched the game again? Hope the Derry management and players don't have the same attitude as you or Derry have no chance of re-grouping and maximising their potential.
Delighted for Wexford, and agree about Forde. He'll be bursting himself for the final.
Just can never understand Laois and all this underage potential, must be a b**tard of a team to support.
Nope, haven't watched it again yet, but I will - I can't understand how you think a derry supporter could find that match decent, we didn't score for nearly an hour, not exactly entertaining. Anyway, I promise to watch it again and try and do so with a more open mind this time round - i'll even see if maybe I was a bit harsh about fermanagh's tactics for the last 10 mins (at least they had tactics).
The problem with paddy being a decoy runner was that there was't anyone else to take a score, why leave devlin on the bench until the last 5?? Puzzling, like virtually everything else. One other thing, paddy did free up the space for eoin's goal by making a decoy run.
Watched it on tape again there and didn't think it was a particularly good match either. McGuckin has taken a bit of stick on here and had a poor first half, but he was one of the better defenders on show after the break considering Derry's tactics didn't give him much protection. I think a few changes from that 15 definitely have to be made for the qualifiers so long as we get everyone back. McCloy is in poor form and should be replaced at FB by McCusker, and McEldowney and McIvor will hopefully drop out for Lockhart and M McGoldrick or maybe even Hinphey although I'm not sure if he's close to being ready to return. Conway was slightly better that Diver in the middle but both look lost without Doherty alongside them. Murphy was guilty of some very sloppy passing yesterday and should probably be dropped too for Devlin with Skinner possibly going back to the HF line.
I still think Derry (with everyone back) are capable of negotiating the back door again and reaching the quarters. Would be very worried if drawn against another Ulster team though.
f**k that was piss. Hope we recover.
Well done to Fermanagh. Watched the game on TV and for me they out fought, out thought and totally out played Derry. In the same way they did against Monaghan. I tipped them for Ulster from the start this year and I think I will be proven right. It would be great for them to finally win one and I think most of us Cavan folk will be cheering them on in the final.
What did you think of Tohill on the Sunday game last night ?
Talk of big heads and egos !!!!!!! Wonder who he was talking about ? Could it have been Paddy Crozier ?
Quote from: orangeman on June 23, 2008, 10:19:16 AM
What did you think of Tohill on the Sunday game last night ?
Talk of big heads and egos !!!!!!! Wonder who he was talking about ? Could it have been Paddy Crozier ?
he was referring to the players
Quote from: whiskeysteve on June 23, 2008, 10:58:33 AM
Quote from: orangeman on June 23, 2008, 10:19:16 AM
What did you think of Tohill on the Sunday game last night ?
Talk of big heads and egos !!!!!!! Wonder who he was talking about ? Could it have been Paddy Crozier ?
he was referring to the players
The players wouldn't have egos ? Based on what ? A national league ? Tohill seemed disgusted last night with Derry's performance - might he be manager someday ?
Quote from: orangeman on June 23, 2008, 11:03:47 AM
Quote from: whiskeysteve on June 23, 2008, 10:58:33 AM
Quote from: orangeman on June 23, 2008, 10:19:16 AM
What did you think of Tohill on the Sunday game last night ?
Talk of big heads and egos !!!!!!! Wonder who he was talking about ? Could it have been Paddy Crozier ?
he was referring to the players
The players wouldn't have egos ? Based on what ? A national league ? Tohill seemed disgusted last night with Derry's performance - might he be manager someday ?
Tohill was definitely talking about the players last night when he referred to egos and big heads!!
Quote from: orangeman on June 23, 2008, 10:19:16 AM
What did you think of Tohill on the Sunday game last night ?
Talk of big heads and egos !!!!!!! Wonder who he was talking about ? Could it have been Paddy Crozier ?
Talking about the players. He hit the nail on the head and this is not the first time this has effected Derry. They always beat themselves more than the other team does. Armagh a cert for Ulster now. Their experience will carry them through.
Quote from: EC Unique on June 23, 2008, 11:07:41 AM
Quote from: orangeman on June 23, 2008, 10:19:16 AM
What did you think of Tohill on the Sunday game last night ?
Talk of big heads and egos !!!!!!! Wonder who he was talking about ? Could it have been Paddy Crozier ?
Talking about the players. He hit the nail on the head and this is not the first time this has effected Derry. They always beat themselves more than the other team does. Armagh a cert for Ulster now. Their experience will carry them through.
If Armagh beat Down, I'd agree with that - but Down are still in the competition.
Any decision made on where the final will be?
Quote from: orangeman on June 23, 2008, 11:03:47 AM
Quote from: whiskeysteve on June 23, 2008, 10:58:33 AM
Quote from: orangeman on June 23, 2008, 10:19:16 AM
What did you think of Tohill on the Sunday game last night ?
Talk of big heads and egos !!!!!!! Wonder who he was talking about ? Could it have been Paddy Crozier ?
he was referring to the players
The players wouldn't have egos ? Based on what ? A national league ? Tohill seemed disgusted last night with Derry's performance - might he be manager someday ?
I would agree with Tohill that a few players seem to have a high opinion of themselves. At the very least saturdays performance showed a streak of complacency in some quarters.
Some of the things Joe Brolly and Paddy Heaney have written about Derry players would not help in keeping the feet on the ground
With Fermanagh in it, it can only be Clones.
Quote from: whiskeysteve on June 23, 2008, 11:21:29 AM
Quote from: orangeman on June 23, 2008, 11:03:47 AM
Quote from: whiskeysteve on June 23, 2008, 10:58:33 AM
Quote from: orangeman on June 23, 2008, 10:19:16 AM
What did you think of Tohill on the Sunday game last night ?
Talk of big heads and egos !!!!!!! Wonder who he was talking about ? Could it have been Paddy Crozier ?
he was referring to the players
The players wouldn't have egos ? Based on what ? A national league ? Tohill seemed disgusted last night with Derry's performance - might he be manager someday ?
I would agree with Tohill that a few players seem to have a high opinion of themselves. At the very least saturdays performance showed a streak of complacency in some quarters.
Some of the things Joe Brolly and Paddy Heaney have written about Derry players would not help in keeping the feet on the ground
I agree with that Steve but in fairness to Brolly's article last week it was pretty much spot on! I wouldn't be so hard on Heaney as he was just saying that McCusker is a tank of a man which in fairness he is and was probably our best player the other night. Brolly did go slightly over the top with Diver but one bad game doesn't make him a bad player overnight, alongside Doherty he is still a formidable player!
Quote from: orangeman on June 23, 2008, 11:13:07 AM
Quote from: EC Unique on June 23, 2008, 11:07:41 AM
Quote from: orangeman on June 23, 2008, 10:19:16 AM
What did you think of Tohill on the Sunday game last night ?
Talk of big heads and egos !!!!!!! Wonder who he was talking about ? Could it have been Paddy Crozier ?
Talking about the players. He hit the nail on the head and this is not the first time this has effected Derry. They always beat themselves more than the other team does. Armagh a cert for Ulster now. Their experience will carry them through.
If Armagh beat Down, I'd agree with that - but Down are still in the competition.
Im well aware that Down are still in and think that Armagh will have no problems with them either. Down struggled past a Terrible Tyrone team with little or no threat up front. Take a look at Armagh's full foward line. Prob the best in Ireland!! :-\
Quote from: the green man on June 22, 2008, 06:49:32 PM
Isnt it great that Tyrone people take such a great interset in Fermanagh and Derrys fortunes. Always seem to bombard Derry games' threads. They really are true gaels
There was no shortage of inbreds giving us the benefit of their GAA knowledge on the Down v Tyrone thread ... looking forward to Will Cunting's take on Saturday night's humiliation for the London boys
I'm disappointed that we dont get to take on Derry in the Ulster Final.
An Dún Abú
Up Fermanagh!
Are the Derry fans complaining about the Fermanagh tactics of dragging down defenders to prevent quick attacks etc the same ones who applauded them tactics when you beat Tyrone by doing the same thing???
I'm not complaining about it! Not too many have in fairness. Fermanagh did what the had to to win. They did systematically foul us in certain areas of the field and I think the card count of 10 yellows to 3 reflect this but we weren't up for it mentally and didn't use the right (if any) tactics to impose our style of play n them or to counter the style they imposed on us!
Also... why the fcuk are you talking about something that happened 2 years ago? It has no relevance to this game whatsoever!
I agree with Oneill f***ing Dubs! ::) ::) ::)
Screen - Its a simple concept that fans who complain about something which happens against them often cheer when it works out for them so just checking if there was hypocrisy involved (and most Derry fans 2 years ago thought they were great tactics against Tyrone so why decry them now?)
Anyway you go back to your natural home in the qualifiers where you seem to belong.... ;) ;)
well said Dubs.
You live by the sword you die by the sword.
It's been a bitter pill for us Tyrone fans to swallow but we've been out Tyrone'd now by quite a few teams.
I can't say I'm not glad to see the Derry folk be on the receiving end now that they bought into the deal.
Will the back door be the harder route this year?
Come join us Kerry and Armagh
Dick's!
Why are you so worried about Derry anyway? Apparently we're no threat now anyway so what's the problem. As for the 'Out Tyroning Tyrone' thing. We aren't crying like little bitches like the rest of Tyrone were a few years ago so there shouldn't be any reason why this is discussed.
As for DFS1 I'm sure when you come across Fermanagh/Tyrone/Donegal you will be crying about 'the day the football died' in an 'American Pie'/'Jackeen Pie' stylee.
Derry adopted that particular tactic for one game in PC's tenure so this 'buying into the deal' thing is also a stupid notion Fuzzman. In each of the last 3 years we have gone down playing decent football and forgetting about the blanket. Sometimes when you're playing a team they drag you down to their level so I wouldn't be comparing Derry too much with the inbreds based on the strength of one match 2 years ago!
There are no sour grapes over the defeat here lads, we have decried our own players and our own management, a few observations of the match and Fermanagh's tactics have been made but nobody is holding it against them. If you have nothing constructive to add to the discussion other than trying to stir the pot I suggest you worry about your own teams and let us Derry folk worry about ours. ;)
Quote from: ONeill on June 21, 2008, 05:59:34 PM
Some shower of in-breds in the one place at the same time. Must be a record.
I take it thats the Tyrone AGM your on about you dickhead.
Screen - If we do come accross Fermanagh/Tyrone/Donegal etc then I am convinced our players know that kicking a ball quickly is the best way to beat that defence...
Quote from: billy the kid on June 24, 2008, 10:24:15 AM
I take it thats the Tyrone AGM your on about you dickhead.
No, Derry and Fermanagh. On the Derry and Fermanagh thread. Whilst the Derry and Fermanagh game was on.
I'll write it slowly next time.
QuotePosted on: Today at 07:41:38 PMPosted by: DUBSFORSAM1
Screen - If we do come accross Fermanagh/Tyrone/Donegal etc then I am convinced our players know that kicking a ball quickly is the best way to beat that defence...
Which of course Dublin have proven in the past when beating Armagh and Tyrone on their way to All Ireland titles in the last few yea... oh... wait, they didn't. "Convinced" huh?
Quote from: mc_grens on June 24, 2008, 07:54:47 PM
QuotePosted on: Today at 07:41:38 PMPosted by: DUBSFORSAM1
Screen - If we do come accross Fermanagh/Tyrone/Donegal etc then I am convinced our players know that kicking a ball quickly is the best way to beat that defence...
Which of course Dublin have proven in the past when beating Armagh and Tyrone on their way to All Ireland titles in the last few yea... oh... wait, they didn't. "Convinced" huh?
Yes but that was Armagh at their best ever and Tyrone at their best ever who we came very close to - Losing by 1 point to Armagh in 02 and but for Cluxton in 03 we would have won and we drew with Tyrone also......Both these teams would comfortably beat the rest of the Ulster teams at the moment...
Quotebut for Cluxton in 03 we would have won
Idle speculation.
Problem is your lads aren't getting any better either.
Dublin are going into the Championship having still not fixed the same problems that have plagued them in previous years, or at least not having shown any evidence of having done so.
And to be honest, the qualifiers are tougher than Leinster.
Tyrone, Derry, Limerick, Armagh or Down, Mayo or Galway, Cork or Kerry, Limerick. All these teams are already involved or will be involved before too long has passed.
To win Leinster you lads will have to beat Louth, Westmeath, and Wexford. Only one of whom has even made it to a Provincial final in the last 10 years!
Quote from: whiskeysteve on June 23, 2008, 11:21:29 AM
Quote from: orangeman on June 23, 2008, 11:03:47 AM
Quote from: whiskeysteve on June 23, 2008, 10:58:33 AM
Quote from: orangeman on June 23, 2008, 10:19:16 AM
What did you think of Tohill on the Sunday game last night ?
Talk of big heads and egos !!!!!!! Wonder who he was talking about ? Could it have been Paddy Crozier ?
he was referring to the players
The players wouldn't have egos ? Based on what ? A national league ? Tohill seemed disgusted last night with Derry's performance - might he be manager someday ?
I would agree with Tohill that a few players seem to have a high opinion of themselves. At the very least saturdays performance showed a streak of complacency in some quarters.
Some of the things Joe Brolly and Paddy Heaney have written about Derry players would not help in keeping the feet on the ground
I would suggest that the Derry team graced by Tohill had its share of underachieving egotists also.
Possibly moreso than the current team.
How are we not getting better? Guys like Vaughan, Quinn, Brogan, Connolly, Fennell etc all coming through providing a lot more options.....
Problems that have plagued them -
Mouthing/Indiscipline etc - Evidence from Louth game is that this has disappeared.
Lack of options - Conolly, Fennell, Quinn, McMenamon, Andrews, Flynn all coming through
Meath knocked out Tyrone last year, Dublin knocked out Derry etc so Leinster teams are beating Ulster teams
At least there are more teams in leinster winning Leinster title or getting to final than in Ulster...
Quote from: saffron sam2 on June 24, 2008, 08:18:04 PM
I would suggest that the Derry team graced by Tohill had its share of underachieving egotists also.
Possibly moreso than the current team.
maybe they had something to be big headed about ;D
Quote from: DUBSFORSAM1 on June 24, 2008, 08:23:50 PM
How are we not getting better? Guys like Vaughan, Quinn, Brogan, Connolly, Fennell etc all coming through providing a lot more options.....
Problems that have plagued them -
Mouthing/Indiscipline etc - Evidence from Louth game is that this has disappeared.
Lack of options - Conolly, Fennell, Quinn, McMenamon, Andrews, Flynn all coming through
Meath knocked out Tyrone last year, Dublin knocked out Derry etc so Leinster teams are beating Ulster teams
At least there are more teams in leinster winning Leinster title or getting to final than in Ulster...
We'll see how much of the 'mouthing/indiscipline' has disappeared when they play Westmeath. Speaking of which, as I'm sure you know, you'll get exactly the same that Derry got against Fermanagh and gave to Tyrone 2 years ago, maybe you'll agree that it's time for a sin bin after that?
Apparently this decade, only Antrim haven't reached an ulster final.
Bogball - Always agreed with the sinbin myself and booking players for blatantly grabbing players back or 3rd man tackles etc
Quote from: DUBSFORSAM1 on June 24, 2008, 08:50:46 PM
Bogball - Always agreed with the sinbin myself and booking players for blatantly grabbing players back or 3rd man tackles etc
Seriously, it has to be reconsidered, doesn't have to be every yellow card, but as you point out there is a different class of yellow card that could be covered by sin binning, an official time-keeper would be a good idea too.
Quote
How are we not getting better? Guys like Vaughan, Quinn, Brogan, Connolly, Fennell etc all coming through providing a lot more options.....
Problems that have plagued them -
Mouthing/Indiscipline etc - Evidence from Louth game is that this has disappeared.
Lack of options - Conolly, Fennell, Quinn, McMenamon, Andrews, Flynn all coming through
Meath knocked out Tyrone last year, Dublin knocked out Derry etc so Leinster teams are beating Ulster teams
At least there are more teams in leinster winning Leinster title or getting to final than in Ulster...
Vaughn and Quinn have been around for 2 years now- at least.
Indiscipline, both on the team, and in the back room was in evidence during the league, there was no real pressure against Louth, and no reason for dodgy temperaments to flair (also a few of the dodgy temperaments e.g. Whelan were suspended for that game).
Lack of options, whatever, I wasnt thinking of that...
Lack of on field leadership in tight situations- no proven step forward.
Discomfort in the full back line due to half backs eagerness to go forward, and problem position at full back exposed again and again by top class forwards deep in the championship- no proven step forward.
Management's poor decision making vis a vis substitutions and tactical changes in key times during big games- no proven step forward.
Yes, Meath beat Tyrone, but a shadow of former tyrone teams, and probably not as good a side as the one Down beat. Yes Dublin beat Derry, but an inexperienced Derry who shit the nest and let them off the hook.
BUT, the facts remain, since Dublin last won the All Ireland in 95, only Meath in Leinster have won one, versus Armagh and Tyrone.
Meanwhile 2 Leinster teams have reached AI Semi's since the introduction of the back door, meaning more than one team from each province can make it there. 5 different Ulster teams have done the same by my reckoning.
Away from the Dubs for a minute (who gives a fook about the Dubs?), this is the view of the match from the local paper in Derry (taken from a different source though, f**ked if I'm retyping it all!), I wouldn't be a wile fan of the writer (if you read previous posts, you should be able to guess who it is :D) but I think this sums it up pretty well...
Ps it's a bit long, you don't need to read all the fluffy shit. Actually, probably best not to read most of it....
You'd think us Derry folk would be immune to heartbreak by now. Eight times in as many years, the Oak Leaf fans have stepped back into their cars and headed back down the road with the same thoughts running through their heads, the same tears in their eyes, the same insatiable hunger in their bellies.
But, even after all that time, it still hurts the same. The same questions are still asked, year on year. From Casement, from Clones, from Croker, it doesn't matter. The drive home after a semi-final defeat has become an annual routine.
It will have stung the players and fans alike on Sunday night, but the poison will truly be swallowed when Fermanagh's stars rip out on to the Clones pitch on Ulster final day, seeking their first ever provincial crown.
It's a day that the Ernesiders deserve. Ten years without an Ulster title feels like a long, long time in Derry. Imagine how a lifetime of that feels in places like Tempo, Roslea, Derrylin and Teemore. Only the coldest, bitterest of hearts could have begrudged Fermanagh their win amid the joyous scenes of those green-clad souls who stormed on to the pitch to rejoice with their heroes at the final whistle.
And, to a man, there were far more heroes in green than there were in red and white. 1982 is the last time they were involved at the climax of the nation's most competitive provincial championship. The picture of the '82 side hangs proudly on the wall in Brewster Park. But they won nothing.
There is of course no guarantee that the class of '08 will win anything either. But Armagh or Down better be well prepared. Because Fermanagh will be. They were simply much better than Derry on Saturday evening. They had 15 men on the one wavelength. As soon as they lost possession, 13 men funnelled back behind the ball. They played two, sometimes three, sweepers in front of the Bradley brothers. They won almost every single ball at midfield. Even when they went down to 14 men after Peter Sherry was sent off for a second yellow card, they still looked as though they had three men spare.
Derry, in comparison, looked devoid of a way to demolish the green wall in front of the Fermanagh goal. It was frustrating to watch as countless times, Mark Lynch or Conleith Gilligan picked the ball up ten yards inside their own half. When they looked up, all they saw was green. Green grass, green shirts, and nowhere to go. Against the wind in the second half, the Derry half-forwards were withdrawn so far that when they got the ball, they had two options – run into a cul de sac with it, or try to play an impossible 60-yard pass over the heads of six Fermanagh defenders into the arms of Paddy or Eoin Bradley.
It was only when the younger of the Glenullin men got the ball in his hands that Derry really threatened, and that wasn't nearly often enough. Raw pace complimented by brute strength. Peter Sherry was left clutching thin air, staring at the number 15 on the back of Eoin's jersey as he ripped viciously through to drill home a simply brilliant goal after 12 minutes.
Things were rosy beneath the overcast skies at that stage. After Ryan Keenan had opened the scoring for Fermanagh from a free, Michael McIver found rare space 25 yards out to equalise before Bradley junior cut in and swung over off his left foot from a similar distance.
Then came his goal, which relied too on a lovely pass played in front of him by blood sub Barry McGoldrick. The rest was all Bradley's own work.
To say that the defining moment came five minutes later, just after Paddy Bradley had swung over his first of the darkening evening, wouldn't be much of an overstatement. Maybe a wee bit, but not much.
The penalty award itself looked a bit suspect as Niall McCusker was tackled in the square by Martin McGrath, whose shoulder charge earned him a yellow card (one of too many handed out by the petty Syl Doyle, who didn't do much in the way of improving the game).
But aren't the undeserved ones always missed? Those with long memories will have pictured Ronan Gallagher pawing away Paddy Bradley's penalty in a McKenna Cup game at the start of the season. This time he faced Conleith Gilligan. This time the penalty went the other way, high towards the 'keeper's right, but Gallagher's strong right arm turned it brilliantly away for a 45' which the Shamrocks man did well to compose himself for before stroking it casually over.
And so began the fightback. A moment that might have killed the game as a contest became a great source of inspiration for the Ernemen.
Their domination at midfield started to tell. There was one single clean catch made by a Derry player from a kickout down the middle (Gerard O'Kane and Michael McIver grabbed one each on the wings), with McGrath and Murphy just beating everything down to their alert half-forward line, who snapped up break after break after break.
Roving wing backs Tommy McElroy and Damien Kelly grabbed much needed points before Derry pushed the self-destruct button, with Francis McEldowney surrendering possession and Kevin McCloy lifting it off the ground to give Ryan Keenan a simple free that made the score 1-04 to 0-05.
Paddy Bradley swung it back Derry's way with an absolutely brilliant score from the right wing off his right boot, but the half-time margin was reduced to two thanks to another Keenan free after he, McCloy and McEldowney had all been booked.
For the first 20 minutes of the second half, Derry couldn't get the ball out of their own half. They put 13 men behind the ball, just as Fermanagh had done, except the runners weren't there and they were losing the ball by the time they got to halfway, bottled up in a slightly more advanced sea of green.
But it took the dramatic introduction of All-Star full-back Barry Owens to turn the game. Not at full-back, but at full-forward he came in for James Sherry and within thirty seconds, he had the same fans who had roared him back on to the field after his lengthy absence in raptures. A dropping ball came too close to Gillis, who had earlier made a fantastic save from Eamon Maguire, to allow the 'keeper a running jump at it and Owens slipped away from McCloy to take advantage of the 'keeper's standing start by rising to punch into the roof of the net with his first touch.
The next score told its own story. A 50-50 ball. Marty McGrath simply wanted it more. He grabbed it, strode down the right wing and curled over the equaliser. 1-08 to 1-06. After Donegal, this was another real test of character. Only this was a failed test.
Eamon Maguire (wearing his third clean jersey of the day, each with a different number) extended the Fermanagh lead to a goal and you could see it slipping away from Derry. Again.
Ryan Keenan scored from the right wing after Conleith Gilligan surrendered possession deep in his own territory, but the Ballinderry man did slot over a free to keep his side in contention as the last five minutes rolled around.
Maguire opened the four point lead again before Raymond Wilkinson, brought in for Joe Diver, pointed twice to set up a nail-biting finale.
Derry smothered the Fermanagh attempts to walk the ball out of defence, winning a free on the wing which Paddy Bradley was told would be the last kick. He dropped it in and, with arms and legs flailing and the ball three yards from the packed net, Syl Doyle's whistle sparked chaotic Fermanagh celebrations that wouldn't have looked out of place at Croke Park on All-Ireland final day.
But it's Ulster final day they'll be worried about. They, with Armagh or Down, will be the ones with butterflies in the stomachs on July 13. They could face the long disappointed drive home again. Or they could finally, after more than a century, lift the Anglo Celt Cup and write their names into the history books.
But whatever happens, at least they won't be watching it on TV and waiting to find out where the Qualifiers will take them. Again.
DERRY: Barry Gillis; Kevin McGuckin, Kevin McCloy, Francis McEldowney; Gerard O'Kane, Niall McCusker, Michael McIver (0-01); James Conway, Joe Diver; Mark Lynch, Paul Murphy, Enda Muldoon; Conleith Gilligan (0-02, 1f, 1 45'), Paddy Bradley (0-03, 1f), Eoin Bradley (1-01)
SUBS USED: Barry McGoldrick for E Muldoon (Blood sub, 7, reversed 22), Michael McGoldrick for F McEldowney (HT), Patsy Bradley for P Murphy (45), Paul Cartin for M McIver (58), Colin Devlin for M Lynch (63), Raymond Wilkinson (0-02) for Joe Diver (68)
FERMANAGH: Ronan Gallagher; Shane Goan, Shane McDermott, Peter Sherry; Damien Kelly (0-01), Ryan McCluskey, Tommy McElroy (0-01); Martin McGrath (0-01), Mark Murphy; Ciaran McElroy, James Sherry, Ryan Keenan (0-04, 3f); Eamon Maguire (0-02), Liam McBarron (0-01), Mark Little (0-01)
SUBS USED: Shane McCabe for E Maguire (Blood sub, 4, reversed 20), Shane McCabe for E Maguire (Blood sub, 35, reversed HT), Shane McCabe for L McBarron (41), Barry Owens for J Sherry (53), Shane Lyons for T McElroy (71)
REFEREE: Syl Doyle (Wexford)
Quote from: DUBSFORSAM1 on June 24, 2008, 08:04:08 PM
Yes but that was Armagh at their best ever and Tyrone at their best ever who we came very close to - Losing by 1 point to Armagh in 02 and but for Cluxton in 03 we would have won and we drew with Tyrone also......Both these teams would comfortably beat the rest of the Ulster teams at the moment...
Ach, should've, would've, could've. The last words of a fool, according to the song
Quote from: THEREALGRASSROOTS on June 24, 2008, 10:34:52 PM
Away from the Dubs for a minute (who gives a fook about the Dubs?), this is the view of the match from the local paper in Derry (taken from a different source though, f**ked if I'm retyping it all!)
Did you leave anything out?
well unless the copy n paste button didn't work, i woudn't think so!