Messages

Having seen some poor referees this year I find it offensive to Joe McQuillan to have a thread like this. He is a young referee who will learn from this game. Although I disagreed with some decisions he made he did a reasonable job. He had the bottle to send off the players when others would not, he played the full injury time and stoppage time in stoppage time and did not play for a convenient draw. As for the penalty given at the time I thought it was a penalty and still do. The views given in hindsight on this thread show that no one can say for certain if it was or not so we can not say he made a definite mistake here. As for the Donaghy 'penalty' it was only after a tv replay that I could say it was a penalty for sure so I can hardly blame the referee. In my opinion on this occasion he did a fair job. His efforts, however, were not helped by the attitude of some players from both sides. Threads like this could be started after most games but would only reduce the amount of referees we have and destroy our game. Leave the man alone!

Neilthemac. When I went to school I learned to add before I learned to multiply. When learning anything you start with the easiest task.

Neilthemac. If u8 coaches neglected to teach the handpass along with the other skills it would be a joke. Also at that age gaelic is an inclusive sport with children of all levels of abilities participating. They develop at different ages. If the handpass is not taught some will lose interest as they will never see the ball. Some of these may be late developers who will be lost to the game. Furthermore the better young players will not learn the team and social aspects of the game which help in life development as they will not pass as the other child cannot kick it back. The problem is not the handpass it is the fear of getting beat which causes many teams to funnell back and handpass the ball across the pitch. In many senior games players look like u8s chasing after the ball and not looking for the spaces for the pass. All elements of the game need to be taught and if the handpass helps children get an interest in the game and gives them the confidence to develop other aspects of the game then it is very useful.

Osin tipping Tyrone shows us why he lost so much gambling!

Is it not possible to have Armagh and Galway on Sat 9th with Dublin on the following Sat. That means Galway have two weeks to their possible semi and so would Dublin. Everyone would then get to play in Croke Park. Is there anything else on in Croke Park on the 16th. A concert maybe or a soccer or rugby match which may be more important than letting gaa players play there.

From an Armagh point of view I was wondering if we have to find a place for Tony Kernan on Sunday if Maurice Deegan is referee. There is bound to be plenty of frees and this could prove decisive.

Mourne Rover. I was not saying the 1991 team were not worth their All Ireland. After they limped past Armagh in the Marshes I cheered them on . My point was that I do not remember them using more than 18 or 19 players that year. To go far this year I believe they will have to do something similar. By 1994 I thought they were a better team. Besides I have always believed that Down had that admirable ability of getting the best out of the players they had. For Armagh's sake I hope they have lost this!

Red Army.

That has to be the most arrogant post in quite a while. Down had a great victory against Tyrone but one swallow doesn't make a summer. They may well beat Armagh but I still think they are still a couple short of being All Ireland contenders. To get that far they would need a lot of luck with injurys - similar to 1991 when they could play the same team nearly the whole way through. Also if Armagh have been as poor as down in the last two years how is it that they won Ulster two years ago?

As for next Sunday I think it will be close. My hope for Armagh is that they have more options on the bench than for a number of years eg Donaghy and McNulty in defence, O'Neill, Courtney and Swift for midfield and McConville, Kernan and Mallon in the forward line. If things are going wrong we can change things. Can Down? Have they as many options? I do not know. I will be going with hope rather than confidence!

Watched the highlights on TV last night and if this is anything to go on the referee dealt with the incident and thats it. Whelan was unlucky but because it happened so soon after the handbags it was always likely he would get the line. Watched the Dubs play Armagh last week and it was a good hard match as they always are. My worry for Dublin is that these incidents can create problems for them in the future as referees get influenced by the image created and come down harder on the Dubs than their opponents. Would not have a problem seeing the Dubs win an All Ireland - as long as it is not beating Armagh!

For the most part the match yesterday was a non event up until the last ten minutes. It looked as if both teams were merely going through the motions. I actually thought the full back line played better as a unit than in previous games without being particularly impressive. Francie looked fitter. Most of our midfield problems stemmed from not winning break ball and the referees interpretation of the rules. Vernon started brightly but faded and MOR did not appear overly interested until Armagh went behind. I thought Swift won ball well but his decision making was poor. However, he was a better option in this role than we had last year. The other MOR showed well. Oisin can still take a score but will need others to give him good ball. On another note I thought Aaron was very unlucky to be sent off yesterday. Managed to get a seat yesterday and the incident occurred in front of us. He was lying on the ground with the Cork man on top of him swinging for a good twenty seconds before he retaliated. If the referee had blown up straight away he would not have felt the need. Also the linesman was only about three yards away. This seemed to be the spark that started the other handbags.

As for the championship I would share most peoples concerns about midfield and the full back line. I would also add that I think that we need to get some Southern referees in to get there opinion on the tackle. Yesterday in the second half Armagh gave away numerous frees that we would never have considered to be fouls and it was the same in the Meath game. This frees will cost us in the summer. We need to be educated or educate these referees so that this problem is minimised.

Uladh I agree with much of your team. However, I would like to see Donaghy get a run in the half back line as I believe he would be more suited to this position and this is the best opportunity to find out. Also if Andy Mallon is fit he will need a run out.

No Mackers never been a snob. Was up about the 14 at the top goals as I had the young fella with me and he could not see further down. The aul fella even made it as well. No golf yesterday!

I think yesterdays match was the first proper football match I have seen in the league this year. The sun was shining and the ground firming up meaning there was less petty fouls. The referee blew less frees than I saw in previous games (although I do not know how he came to some decisions) which let a game develop. Although Dublin had an inexperienced full back line they tried to use Collie Moran as a sweeper to cover for this with some success. At the time I felt Armagh were then playing into Dublin's hands with there attacking play, however, the turnovers and breakball won by Armagh would suggest this was not the case. Although Armagh won well I thought MOR was the only player that played as well as he can (as he has done all year). We also had a number of players who were well below par. Our full back line came under alot of pressure without a covering defender but despite reservations about a couple of them they did improve as the game went on. Although we might not win anything this year we can see progress which will hopefully let us win something in the future. I am now just hoping someone can beat Kerry - as long as it is not Tyrone!!

Find it interesting that over the last couple of years Armagh have struggled in the half forward line and yet this Sunday in our biggest match so far it looks as if our half forwards are going to be the same three that played the last two matches under big Joe. Does this signal a return to the old playing style or will the style of play management seem to be trying to adopt suit these players better? Also, giving Aaron' s poor free taking over the last few matches will Paddy be given the responsibility to take the frees from his side. Looking forward to a good game on Sunday. Hope it does not rain too much before then as I do not fancy going to Cross again for Mr Fahy to call it of just before throw in!

Mackers the depression must really have set in if it took you from Saturday to now to mention the match. MOR appeared very subdued on Sat but I still thought he was our best forward. SK did make a contribution but disappeared somewhat in the second half. In the first half Swift was the only other player I saw pass the ball into the forwards instead of just hitting a big long ball. TK had a bad day with the frees but I remember Oisin having bad days in his early career too. He has to get more chances. At the minute the goalkeeping is a worry as not only have the three used this year dropped clangers but there does not seem to be any strategy to the kickouts. Still hope to be there on Sunday to see a great performance and depresson gone!